THE JOURNEY

An important night in Utrecht!

I came back from Holiday and dove straight into the Utrecht project. Tonight was an important night! We are just past the half-way point in the process and it now looks like the project is going to result not in on, but in two church plants!

Here’s what has happened so far:

• We talked about ‘missional church planting’: what it is and how you do it.
• We then spent three evenings looking at inspiring examples of church planting: Matthijs and Lindsey’s work in The Hague; Redeemer in New York and Amsterdam, and Crossroads Rotterdam.
• All the while we have been talking about vision and trying to specify what it is that we want to see.

As I have interacted the 35-or so participants in the process it became clear there were really two visions that were emerging: one group of people have a vision for a church of 30-somethings (well-educated, tomorrow’s leaders, our friends and neighbors); the other group wants to see a church community come into existence in a specific neighborhood with lots of Turks and Moroccans.

Tonight we divided the whole group into these subgroups for the first time. For the rest of our time together they will work on vision, target-audience and strategy. By the end pf June this should result in two church planting proposals that will then be brought to the denomination for consideration.

I am excited about this process. Is it fragile? Yes, it is: very fragile. But I see lots of good things; I see passion and commitment; I see wisdom growing and insight being sought. I think these two projects have a real chance of both becoming a reality!

Serve The City: The big Freeze!

Serve The City is coming again! Serve The City Amsterdam asked me to video their projects. They did a promotional event on March 29th which was really fun: they brought a group of people together that ‘froze’ for three minutes in specific locations in Amsterdam. Here is a Youtube video that I made of the event.

I have so many videos on Youtube now – I should start my own channel…

Here are the some Serve The City dates. Why not pick one or more projects and participate? Sophie and I plan on participating in Amsterdam and Brussels. We would have participated in Rotterdam too, but we are out of town.

Rotterdam: May 1-4
Amsterdam: May 9-12
Brussels: June 27th – July 8th.

The Utrecht project begins tomorrow!

Just a quick note: tomorrow night is the first evening of the Utrecht church planting project! I am busy preparing. It is exciting, but I am also quite nervous!

Last Sunday I presented the plans in the Jacobikerk. That was an event in itself: a large formal church building (dating back to 1600!) filled with people (really full) with a broad ange-range - but many younger than 40! The sun was streaming through the windows, and the missional pastor who spoke, amde a nice connection to the church planting project. Than I was introduced and I talked for five minutes. Response was really positive.

I think this project is a God-project. There are so many reasons why this project should have died an early death already — and yet every time something happens to make it sail through and go to the next phase. It's not mem honestly: I just sit back and watch (usually in amazement).

Jesus uses the mustard-seed as an illustration for the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-19). I have been thinking about that a lot. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds — yet it becomes a large plant/tree. This project feels a little buit like that: it starts small and the question has already been asked a lot: is this viable? But almost every day in the last few weeks that I've started talking to a new person about the project, their response has been "Oh, I've heard about this already!" Everywhere I go I see little tiny roots, branches, shoots forming.

I am not sure how many people will come tomorrow night. Because of scheduling problems (one of the problems we had to deal with) we were late in communicating the time and place of our first meeting. Quite a few people have already said they can't make it — people I was hoping would come. But I also keep getting emails from people I have never heard of that they are coming.

I appreciate your prayers!

A weblog about the Utrecht project

I have started a web log about the Utrecht project. Check it out - it's in Dutch!

DE NIEUWE PLANT

I will be blogging about my experiences, conversations and experiences. The intent behind the blog is to stimulte thinking, inspire creativity and move the project forward. This project is a God-thing — my prayer is that he will flow through this whole project, and that this blog will also facilitate that.

The real heroes

Two years ago I first met Peter Jansen, a pioneer in Utrecht. I met him at one of the network-evenings Matthijs Vlaardingebroek organizes. Immediately I was impressed with his softness of heart. Now that I am working in Utrecht I thought I'd spend some time with him and try see the city through his eyes.

Peter works in Kanalen-eiland (channel-island). It is a part of Utrecht built between two water-channels. This area, consisting mostly of high-rise, is one of Holland's most troubled residential areas. Most of the residents are Turkish and Morroccan. There is real despair and hopelessness. Kids drop out of school, crime-rates are high.

For a number of years Peter and a small group of people have been working, serving and praying. They sweep a part of Kanaleneiland every Friday morning. While they do this they pray and greet people. Peter distributes boxes of food to addresses where he thinks there is real need. God guides him to the right places for this. In the picture you see Peter by his car: three boxes of food are ready to be delivered.

We walked around Kaneleneiland, while Peter told story after story. Stories of hardship (I remember a story of a Afghan woman-refugee whose husband was murdered); stories of crime (I remember a stoey of Peter visiting a son of a Morroccan family he knows in prison and praying with him); and stories of guidance (Peter told a story how God led him to the first family to bring a box of food).

Peter shared his heart. He helped me see Kanaleneiland through his eyes. He let me see his sense of helplessness at the size of the problems. I also saw his dedication and commitment. When I pushed him, he was very clear: "this is where I need to be."

Peter also shared how he feels unsuccessful. After years of working here no one has come to faith yet. There is not a church. Volunteers move on; it seems the church at large has no vision to reach Muslims. Sometimes, in the circle of church planters, Peter does not feel like he belongs.

But as I walked through Kanaleneiland and heard Peter's stories, I was blown away. I felt small. Peter and his wife have been living lives of 'giving themselves away' for many, many years. They adopted five kids from the third world (and had one son of their own). Their adopted kids have all had their share of problems — Peter and his wife have taken care of them, and are now taking care of their grandkids.

I only discovered God was a social God three years ago. I am still trying to figure out how to put that into action. Peter and his wife have been doing it for decades. To me, they are the real heroes.

Homes in churches and churches in homes

I spent today in Utrecht. Met with Frank en Marieke – and their two week old baby. Frank and Marieke have made a consicious decision to live in Overvecht – a run-down area of Utrecht, mostly Morroccan in nature. The building in which they live is condemned. Their neighbours are all of ethjnic origin. Their appartment small and simple.

But they live there out a conscious choice. A while ago they decided that light shines clearest in darker places, and beauty is more visible in ugly surroundings.

I went to meet them to talk about the Utrecht church planting project. They are excited about it and interested in participating. But they are clear in their commitment: they are committed to Overvecht.

They asked me how a church could be started there. As I looked at them it struck me: they are already the church! They meet with people and pray. They offer hospitality and give away food. They love on people and care for them. They meet together and celebrate communion. They may not have a church building and a pastor and a pulpit and a service and a program – but since when did that become church? I though it was a great example of a church in a house.

And then I met with Rev. Zoutendijk. He is the pastor of one of the churches participating in this project. An impressive and large man with a unique take of things, living in a beautiful home in one of the nicest parts of the city.
My meeting with him was very nice and helpful and interesting – but the reason I mention it here is the church building behind his house. The rear-side of his house looks out onto the ‘Holy Hart of Jesus’ church – a large church building that is completely converted into appartments. They look like very nice appartments too (picture at top)!

I thought it was interesting: you have churches that meet in homes – and you have homes that are placed in churches.

The church order and church planters

OK, further to my adventures of the day. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how the 'church order' of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands (PKN) facilitates Church planting and and how it hinders.

What a great question! First, let me explain that that PKN has a church order. This is sort-of like their constitution: it regulates who does what and where and when. It enables 2400 churches who are quite different one from another — can stay together and work as one whole. This church order is a book of legal language, some 200 pages thick, I think.

There were two groups of people in the room. On the one side there were 10 Dutch church planters who are all working within the PKN right now. They are happening people doing cool things — and I was priviliged to be among them. I am simply encouraged by the quality people and projects the PKN has!

The second group of people consisted of Mrs. Willemze and Reverend Van der Heuvel — two older people who helped craft the church order and have guided it through a series of revisions. Hey initiated the meeting. Their question, very simply, was this: how is this church order helping you — and how should it be changed?

I think that question is amazing! When a church can ask that question and is willing to do the hard work of re-writing its church order, something is going on.

And, honestly, something is going on! Here are a few developments I see.

1. There has been a mass-exodus from the PKN in the last three decades. Some people have landed in more conservative churches, some in more evangelical ones; but the bulk of the people has left the church all together. The PKN has had to close church after church after church
2. Liberal voices within the PKN are increasingly a minority. You can only proclaim that "God does not exist" and the whole purpose of the Christian faith "is that we love and tolerate each other" so long before people decide to stay at home and watch TV. Liberal Christianity does not produce life, does not create community, and does not inspire a dream of participating with God in something new.
   The exodus of people from church has largely been the result of this liberal message — and what stays behind is a group of people who hold to a more vital version of the Christian gospel.
3. There are missional and church planting initiatives all over the PKN again. The people in the room with me today represent a much larger group — and that is very encouraging.

It was a very fruitful conversation. Not only did it help me to understand the PKN far better — but we discussed 13 topics related to church planting. I won't go into them here (that would be too much detail), but one quick example: we discussed the three forms of church that the church order presently allows for a church to take. A church plant has these three options. But then we also discussed if there was not need for a fourth category (that of the status ofd a church plant), and what would that look like.

Mevr. Willemze and Rev. van der Heuvel invuted our input and wrote it all down. They will feed this back into the the 'system' of the PKN. Chances are it will take a few years for changes to become effective — but when they do it will mean that more churches can be planted. Meanwhile, these 10 guys in this room will create a storm: in a few years there will be many more potential church planters ready to go!

I keep thinking about Mark Twain's words, and applying them to the PKN: "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!"

The Centre of Christianity in The Netherlands

Today I was an amazing day. I was invited to attend a meeting at the ‘Landelijk Diensten Centrum of the PKN’ pr: the national service centre of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss church planting initiatives – and how they relate to the rest of the the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. More about that meeting in this post.

This was my first time to the National Service Centre. It is quite impressive for Dutch standards! The Protestant Church of the Netherlands (PKN) is the largest denomination in my country with some 2400 churches. The second largest denonination is the Roman Catholic Church, but it does not have a central governing body or location in The Netherlands; instead it is divided into regions, each with its own bishop who reports to the Vatican in Rome. So if Christianity has one central place in Holland, this National Service Centre is it! What Mecca is to the Muslims, and the Vatican to the Roman Catholics, this Centre is to the Dutch Protestants.

I took some pictures of the complex. It’s very nice, with a nice atmosphere. I think it offers space to about 240 staff – 60 of them not directly part of the PKN, but working for a subsidiary.

Dutch Churchplanters meet together

Today was a great day! Some 110 Dutch church planters met together in Utrecht. It was the first event of its kind and size that I know of. The main driving force behind this event was Ronald van der Molen, of Gemeentestichting.nl (I call him Mr. Gemeentestichting in my mind).

So incredibly encouraging to meet so many people with a love for Jesus, a passion for his kingdom, and a wiillingness to go and serve where he calls. They came from many different denominations, different cities, and diifferent philosophies of life - but the sense of 'being on the same side' was strong.

Some high points: Stefan Paas gave an excellent historical overview of church planting in The Netherlands; Ronald van der Molen asked some really powerful questions. We had some great group discussion around the topic of multiplying church plants. In the afternoon Richard Groenenboom of EO Radio interviewed three church planters (really helpful) and this was followed by four workshops. At the end Martijn Vellekoop presented his research into church planting: since 1990 over 200 new churches have been started in Holland. These figures are just what we know, he said: chances are at least the same amount of churches were planted by and among immigrants.

I put a picture gallery of 61 photo's online. People who attended the day are welcome to use pictures on their blogs and in newsletters.

Two church planters who are friends of mine and who I admire: Matthijs Vlaardingebroek (left) and Hans Den Dolder.

Some other people I really enjoyed meeting: Ronald van der Meer from Amsterdam; Arthur Moen; Jan who serves with CAMA in Woerden (just starting a Starbucks-styled prayer-coffee house); Ron Becker (new pastor for Crossroads Rotterdam); Matthijs and Lindsey Vlaardingebroek, Ronald van der Molen, Martijn en Rosalie, Nico-Dirk, Theo Visser (ICF now has 10 projects!); Peter Jansen (church planting in Utrecht) and Arjan ten Brink, doing a church plant in Den Haag.

Tall Skinny Kiwi in Amsterdam

Attended a meeting last night with Andrew Jones, also known as the Tall Skinny Kiwi (also the name of the blog). Andrew is one of the central leaders (inspirators) in this movement called Emergent, and has certainly always inspired me! I think of Andrew as a friend, even though we have only met a handful of times: he is just that kind of guy: warm, generous, fun-living, thoughtful and very inspirational. Andrew’s life motto (which I have stolen at times) is: I exist to make friends, give gifts, tell stories, and throw parties!

Last night our CA friends Phil and Laina Graf graciously opened up their home and hosted a meeting with Andrew. There were a bunch of really cool people, including my new friend Nico-Dirk (amazing guy) and two really cool guys (bottom picture) planting emergent churches in Soest and Utrecht (Johan ter Beek en Erik Zwart). Other cool people in the room were Gerard kelly (Crossroads Amsterdam), Andrew Perriman (of Open Source Theology), Marc vd Woude (Joel News), Eric Folbrecht, Martijn from Crossroads Amsterdam, Gea Gort from Rotterdam, Andrew Last – actually, everybody in the room was cool; I just didn’t know everybody.

We discussed a bunch of things and Andrew Jones said some really interesting things. Here is a brief recap of things I remember:

• Andrew talked about the work he is doing in Orkney, the small Scottish island where he lives. The island has about 20.000 people, and Andrew is staring 12 micro-businesses with friends he has made locally. Not all of them are Christian, and that is not the point. What Andrew is trying to do is just to have local, healthy, normal community – based on the way Jesus taught us to live.
• We talked about the need for a new community to replace the old system. Andrew referenced Jesus’ statement to the disciples they could have faith to tell a mountain to be moved.
• We talked about how God’s people are a nomadic tribe: they always leave one place and journey to the next. We seem to have lost that. Andrew encouraged us to find that again. This spoke to me.
• What he also really emphasized was the fact that he doesn’t want to ‘hype’ emerging church. If anything, he wants to de-hype it. It isn’t about emerging church; it’s about doing church they way Jesus taught us and the first Christians lived it – and treating that as if it is normal.