Encouraging an Organic Ecclesiology for Adolescents: Deconstructing the Church from Institution to Instituted

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Harmen van Wijnen ◽  
Rein Brouwer ◽  
Marcel Barnard
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The relationship between adolescents and the church is troubled. Recent quantitative research in the Netherlands has shown that church membership and church attendance of adolescents are at an all-time low. This article tells the story behind the numbers, based on the results of qualitative research among adolescents in five small groups affiliated in some way with the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Based on their perspectives, it can be concluded that the relationship between adolescents and the church is indeed problematic, mainly because of the institutional and organisational characteristics of the church. This article suggests that a new, organic approach, beyond the traditional institutional and organisational perspectives, is needed for the Protestant Church and its associated youth organisations.

scholarly journals Reformatorische ambtstheologie en de eigenheid van mannen en vrouwen

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-137
Author(s):  
J. Hoek ◽  
R.T. Te Velde
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Functional Difference ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
God's Image ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

This article responds to dr. Harmen Jansen’s critique of the classic Reformed position on women in office, as maintained by the Gereformeerde Bond in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. While men and women are created equal in God’s image, and thus share equally in Christ’s salvation, this does not exclude a functional difference in task and responsibility. An appeal to cultural and social patterns should not relativize Scripture’s authoritative teaching. The church welcomes the participation of women and their Spirit-given talents in various ministries, even if the offices of pastor and elder remain closed to them. The dynamics of mutual dedication and love that mirrors the relationship of Christ and his church can only function if the distinct identities of men and women are preserved.

Church and Society in Aberdeen and Glasgow, c. 1800–c. 2000

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER HILLIS
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
The Social ◽  
Church And Society ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

This article discusses the relationship between Church and society in Aberdeen and Glasgow, c. 1800–c. 2000, with specific reference to levels of church attendance and membership, alongside the social and gender composition of church membership. Despite contrasts in economic development, both cities experienced a sharp decline in levels of church attendance. However, this decline was partly offset by an expanding membership in suburban areas such as Bearsden and Cults. The article confirms previous analyses of religion and social class, but further reinforces more recent research which highlights the important role of women in the Church.

scholarly journals Reformed missionary work at Richmond (KZN): A historical analysis of its Dutch roots

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Wielenga
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

In this article the Dutch roots of Reformed missionary work, based at Richmond (KZN) since 1960 are analysed. The following three aspects were investigated: the church-historical background of Dutch missionary work in KwaZulu-Natal; the political context within which the work was undertaken, the relationship between the Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (GKSA) and the Dutch churches that sent missionaries to KwaZulu-Natal, the Netherlands Reformed Churches (Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerken). The investigation undertaken in this article attempts to contribute to a deeper understanding of the sometimes uneasy relationship between the GKSA and one of her missionary partners from abroad.

scholarly journals Longitudinal, Transverse or Centrally Aligned? In the Search for the Correct Layout of the ‘Protesters’ Churches

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Harasimowicz
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Art History ◽  
Church Architecture ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The article was written within the framework of a research project “Protestant Church Architecture of the 16th -18th centuries in Europe”, conducted by the Department of the Renaissance and Reformation Art History at the University of Wrocław. It is conceived as a preliminary summary of the project’s outcomes. The project’s principal research objective is to develop a synthesis of Protestant church architecture in the countries which accepted, even temporarily, the Reformation: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Island, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden and The Netherlands. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of spatial and functional solutions (specifically ground plans: longitudinal, transverse rectangular, oval, circular, Latin- and Greek-cross, ground plans similar to the letters “L” and “T”) and the placement of liturgical furnishing elements within the church space (altars, pulpits, baptismal fonts and organs).

scholarly journals Sejarah Gereja Belanda Austin Friars di City of London: Refleksi Sejarah Gerakan Reformasi � Harapan dan Tantangan

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Henk Ten Napel
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City ◽  
Church In The World ◽  
The Church ◽  
Formative Years

In the centre of the City of London one can find the Dutch Church Austin Friars. Thanks to the Charter granted in 1550 by King Edward VI, the Dutch refugees were allowed to start their services in the church of the old monastery of the Augustine Friars. What makes the history of the Dutch Church in London so special is the fact that the church can lay claim to being the oldest institutionalised Dutch protestant church in the world. As such it was a source of inspiration for the protestant church in the Netherlands in its formative years during the sixteenth century. Despite its long history, the Dutch Church is still alive and well today. This article will look at the origin of this church and the challenges it faced and the developments it experienced during the 466 years of its existence.

scholarly journals Syncritism in Pentecost-Charismatic Movement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredy Simanjuntak ◽  
Alexander Djuang Papay
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Charismatic Movement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The history of the church notes that to this day the Protestant Church is a family whose history is most often divided. Nevertheless the development is quite significant in the present. The process of developing the church resulted in various streams in the church such as Lutheran, Calvinist, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Evangelical, Adventist, until Jehovah's Witnesses, in the course of the Pentecostal & Charismatic flow so fertile in today's growth. The flow of Pentecostalism and Charismaticism, in its origin and method, has a unique and phenomenal history in Indonesia. The uniqueness of Indonesia's spiritual context is illustrated by rapid growth. The Pentecostal and Charismatic movements felt their influence in various churches around us. Phenomena such as the ability to speak in tongues, healing, and prophecy and aspects of emotional experience that are so prominent in this movement make the public wonder, is it true that all of this is the work of the Holy Spirit? The purpose of this paper is to provide an observation of facts, spiritual life background, the meaning of faith, and understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit adopted by followers of the Pentecost-Charismatic Movement in the context of the challenges of contextualization and syncretism in the relationship between Pentecostal-Charismatic and Christian spirituality in Indonesia. In light of the significant regional diversity in Indonesian religious thought and experience, the scope of this research is limited to the idea of contextualization also limited to its use in the missiological context.

scholarly journals Lutheranism and The Reformed Faith on the Continent

1934 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolf Keller
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Statistical Point ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Character ◽  
The Church

It is a well known fact that the Lutheran Reformation has found entrance mostly into the nations of the Germanic race. The larger part of Germany and the northern countries around the Baltic Sea are Lutheran. Lutheranism has also gathered small groups in France, Holland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, but it is safe to say that there exists a certain affinity between the Lutheran faith and the Germanic race. The Reformed faith, in the form of Calvinism or of the Zwinglian Reformation, has a more international character. From its birthplaces in Zürich and Geneva it penetrated into France, Holland, Scotland, Hungary, Lithuania, and conquered even the House of Hohenzollern. The relationship between the two confessions, considered from a statistical point of view, has undergone but little change in the last few centuries. The most important alterations perhaps have taken place as a result of the union in the Church of Prussia and of the formation of the Czechoslovak Church of the Czech Brethren. The Reformed faith has been nearly extinguished in Russia where the larger parishes disappeared or were dissolved into Lutheran parishes. In Greece a young Presbyterian church is in the process of formation, and was considerably increased by the emigration of Greek refugees from Anatolia where the Southern Presbyterians had planted a hopeful missionary church.

Ding Guangxun: Maintaining the Church

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloë Starr
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Church Leader ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Theological Thought ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
Intense Debate

Ding Guangxun (K. H. Ting, 1915–2012) was heralded during his lifetime as the premier church statesman of the PRC era, a figure whose leadership of the authorized Protestant church and its national seminary spanned five decades and whose theological thought guided the church through much of that period. Ding’s theology is highly pragmatic in orientation, and his effect as a church leader was as important as his effect as a theologian. This chapter concentrates on the early writings of Ding Guangxun, from the 1940s and 1950s, to create a base understanding of his theological position in the first years of his ministry as comparator for later developments. The period encompassed intense debate on the relationship of church and state and includes Ding’s difficult debates with the staunchly separatist church leader Wang Mingdao—debate that precipitated the split of the Chinese Protestant church and whose ramifications are still ever-present.

scholarly journals Religion and the Transmission of COVID-19 in The Netherlands

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Vermeer ◽  
Joris Kregting
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Bible Belt ◽  
Worship Services ◽  
Latent Effects ◽  
Government Statistics

The aim of this study was to find out if the typical spread of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in The Netherlands, with significantly higher levels in the Dutch Bible belt and the southern, traditionally Catholic provinces, is related to the specific religious composition of the country. To do this, government statistics regarding the level of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 per municipality were combined with statistics regarding church attendance and church membership rates. Results showed that in the Dutch Bible belt the level of patients with COVID-19 was strongly related to church attendance, but in the southern, traditionally Catholic part of The Netherlands nominal church membership mattered more than church attendance. On the basis of these findings, the conclusion was drawn that religion probably facilitates the spread of the virus in both a direct and indirect way. It facilitates the spread of the virus directly through worship services but also indirectly by way of endorsing more general cultural festivities like carnival and maybe even by strengthening certain non-religious social bonds. Epidemiologists monitoring the spread of the virus are called upon to focus more on these possible indirect or latent effects of religion.

Prophets of the Round Table: The Protestant Church in the Netherlands and the Public Domain

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-409
Author(s):  
Frits de Lange
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Moral Formation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Public Role ◽  
Constitutional State ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Church

In the current Dutch public debate on the public role of religion, three political options are defended: secularism, pacified pluralism and social cohesionism. They correspond to three types of ecclesiology: the church as witness, the church as a platform of moral deliberation and the church as a community of moral formation. In the document ‘The Church and the Democratic Constitutional State’ (2009) the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN) set out its vision on its own public role. The church is presented as ‘prophet at the round table’; a combination of the first two types of ecclesiology. It results in a ‘polder-ecclesiology’, fully understandable within the Dutch context of a radically secularized, democratic constitutional state, but probably inadequate as a response to its reigning political, ethnic and social instability.

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