The former reformed church was built by order of the Bentinck family in 1880. It is a simple hall church, which offers space for over 100 to a maximum of 110 visitors. The gentlemen's benches and the choir screen were removed in the past. The building is not a monument. In 1993, the foundation started renovating the dilapidated building.
This process was largely completed in the spring of 2001. The result is remarkable. The building looks fantastic inside and out. The organ in the church has now been restored and was playable again in the spring of 2010.
Initially, there was a small church for the Protestant community on the site where Victor's Hof is now being built. The mixed population contested the ownership of this church and in this process the Protestant community of Obdam came out on the losing end. In 1802, they suddenly found themselves without a church. The municipality temporarily held prayer services in the village school.
On 22 April 1803, the Count of Wassenaar purchased a building opposite the current church that could be used as a house of prayer and parsonage. The house of prayer was put into use on 6 November 1803. On 12 May 1881, the foundation stone was laid for the church that we now know as the Brakenkerkje. First, there was an offer from Count Aldenurg-Bentinck to build a church and a parsonage for the small reformed community of Obdam, but he made a few demands (keeping the church in his possession and taking over the administration of church property) that the church council of the community could not agree with. In the end, the members of the community themselves proved able to pay for the new construction.
The church was put into use as a reformed church on 15 January 1882 and served for 110 years. The current organ is also used pipe organ purchased from the Spanjaard company in Alkmaar. Due to the limited resources of the church community and the limited number of members, the church council decided in 1992 to offer the church for sale. A number of Obdammers then put their heads together and set up a foundation that was able to take over the church for the symbolic guilder at the end of 1992. It was mainly the start of a thorough renovation in which almost nothing was left out and parts could also be added in two phases. The complete construction, purchase of the land, furnishing of the church and public gardens came to fl 26,000 in 1881.
The costs of the complete restoration, despite the approximately 8,000 hours of volunteer work, in which professionals were often called upon, came to a multiple of this. However, the result is impressive, a building in good condition that looks impressive both from the outside and the inside and has lost its original obscurity for many Obdammers after they visited the church for one of the many activities and meetings that have been held there in the meantime. The organ in the church has been restored and is playable again. The foundation not only strives for the structural condition of the building, but also wants to develop it into a meeting place for all Obdammers.
The restoration was completed and the chairman, Mr. Martien de Boer, stepped down in December 2012 and was succeeded by Mr. Martien Vleugel.