On April 10, last year, we stopped in Groothusen and found the church. Although we had spent a night in a Bed & Breakfast in Groothusen (in 1997) we didn't have time to explore the church.
This is a Reformed Church, but it has a beautiful golden swan on its steeple. The story goes that a woman from Swedish royalty wanted to ensure that the churches in Ostfriesland became Lutheran after the Reformation. She had a swan installed on the steeple of this church and then called a Lutheran minister. However, the people had a different idea. They liked the beautiful swan, but were determined to be a Reformed Church. So forever thereafter, against the common thought, a swan still flies above this Reformed Church.
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| If we had come later in the year, this view would have been obscured by leaves on the trees. |
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| The sanctuary was beautifully white, in preparation for Easter. Ahead is the organ and to the left, the pulpit and Communion Table |
A colorful sign made by the youth in a confirmation class was hanging in the entryway which said:
"Tradition is not holding the ash, but continuing the flame."
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