The Association Friends of the Grote Kerk in Dordrecht, hereafter referred to as the Friends, would like all residents of Dordrecht and the surrounding area to consider the Grote Kerk as a monument that binds these residents with the generations that have built and maintained this church over time. The Friends want to emphasize that all residents of Dordrecht and beyond are most welcome to visit this astonishing building regardless of the social or cultural background as the Grote Kerk is a monument to be proud of and together we should all engage in taking the responsibility for preserving it for future generations. During the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Association, the Friends have therefore come up with the following slogan for the Association: “The Grote Kerk belongs to us All”.
Ownership
The hall church of the building is owned by the religious church community. This community belongs to the PKN community (Protestant Churches in the Netherlands), while the tower attached is owned by the Municipality of Dordrecht.
The Church is well maintained, normally freely accessible, and where many activities take place. In terms of tourism statistics, the Grote Kerk is scoring very well and with more than 100,000 visitors it is almost the biggest attraction of Dordrecht, thus contributing significantly to the popularity of the city of Dordrecht as a whole. In this context, the Friends greatly appreciate the work of all those board members and volunteers who make this possible.
The Friends are there for all the people who want to contribute to the Grote Kerk, either through the structure of the association structure or externally, just benefiting and enjoying the activities. Through this structure, members of the religious church community of the Grote Kerk work together with all those who are not ecclesiastically bound to the it, for example with people who are not or are otherwise religiously active. The Friends strive to ensure that everyone is fully involved with the Grote Kerk regardless their religious or cultural affiliation.
Even today, more than ever, the association continues to help shape the future of this church by caring for its distinctive historic character and championing our past and future architectural legacy.