Thanksgiving Day Service
November 25th, 11:00 a.m., Pieterskerk, Leiden. “I felt a respect and veneration upon entering the church at Leiden.” Abigail Adams
Please join us at this non-denominational service on Thanksgiving morning at the historic Pieterskerk. There will be a Catholic priest, Protestant ministers, a rabbi and a cantor. Our Dutch friends and friends from all nations and of all faiths are welcome.
This is a service for everyone!
Thanksgiving at the Pieterskerk in Leiden is unique. In that church, the Pilgrims recorded their births, marriages and deaths. They lived in its surroundings from 1609 to 1620. Some of the descendants of Moses Fletcher, a Leiden Pilgrim and subsequently a signer of the Mayflower Compact, still live there – the Koet family. They are the only non-American members of the Mayflower Society.
On the occasion of the first visit of a sitting American President to The Netherlands, the Pieterskerk was the chosen site for President George H.W. Bush to speak. The Bush family trace their ancestry to Francis Cooke, also a signer of the Mayflower Compact and a Leiden pilgrim. In fact, nine American Presidents trace their roots to Leiden. Former President Barack Obama traces his to the Blossom family.
In Leiden, one feels how inextricably the values of the American nation are linked with The Netherlands. A group of English dissenters were welcomed there and able to live and worship freely and even publish at a time when freedom of religion and the press were certainly not the norm. It is a Dutch story, an American and the story of all nations that aspire to be free.
The congregation will sing familiar hymns. Coincidentally, one of them, “We Gather Together,” considered by Americans to be “very American” is actually a Dutch hymn and familiar to Dutch people as “Wilt Heden Nu Treden”.
The Vice -Mayor of Leiden will welcome everyone and the Honorable Marja Verloop, US Chargé d’Affaires will share a Thanksgiving Day Message.
The Choir JAKK and the Concert Band from the American School will be there, as well as the Scouts and “The Little Pilgrims”. Children are an integral part of the Service as they should be.
You won’t forget Thanksgiving in Leiden! Bring your friends and neighbors. We hope many of our Dutch friends will join us to commemorate our shared history.
Roberta Enschede,
Coordinator