Being Church in a Post-Christian World

S1, E12: Secularization, Church Structures, and the Missional Witness of Unity

As a broad, national church the Protestant Church in the Netherlands holds together different wings with very different theological perspectives. Different from the USA, where many experience unity and purity of the church as opposites, the PCN believes the church’s unity expresses its purity. In this episode we host Marco Batenburg, who for five years was the moderator of the national synod of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. He currently directs the largest independent organization that supports missional work within the PCN. With him we talk about what it looks like to hold together a church as broad as the PCN, and how secularization impacts the national structures of a church, as well as old and tired oppositions between the left and the right. About the church’s vision of the unity of the church, see also: https://www.academia.edu/7080996/Church_and_Covenant_Theological_Resources_for_Divided_Denominations [https://www.academia.edu/7080996/Church_and_Covenant_Theological_Resources_for_Divided_Denominations]

S1, E11: Theological Education for a New Missional Era

When contexts change, ministry changes; and when ministry changes, theological education will also need to change. In this conversation we talk about the ways in which the Protestant Church in the Netherlands approaches the education of its (future) pastors, and how the praxis of ordained ministry itself changed over the last decades. Our conversation partner is Klaas Bom, associate professor of theology and intercultural theology, who oversees the educational program of the Protestant Theological University. https://www.pthu.nl/en/about-us/people/k.l.bom [https://www.pthu.nl/en/about-us/people/k.l.bom]

S1, E10: Preaching within the Immanent Frame

How do you preach about God, eschatology, or salvation to people who have no sense of the transcendent at all? How do you introduce them to what the Christian faith is all about? This is not just a question relevant to those reaching out to the unchurched; the same challenge holds within the church. In this episode we speak with Kees van Ekris. He is a pastor, podcast maker, was elected “national theologian” in 2023, and wrote several books about preaching in a post-Christian world.   https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kees_van_Ekris [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kees_van_Ekris]

S1, E9: Secularization and Salvation

What is the unique thing we find in Christianity but nowhere else? Recent research among Dutch pastors and church planters revealed that while most of them would answer this question with “Jesus” – but that they find it difficult to express what difference he makes. Older soteriological models no longer seem to resonate; past language no longer feels life-giving or even feels somewhat embarrassing. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is not much different among North American church leaders. In this episode we speak about these questions with Jan Martijn Abrahamse, who was involved with the Dutch research project on these issues. Abrahamse studied theology in the Netherlands and the USA (Duke), was a Baptist pastor in the Netherlands, and currently is lector in theology. https://christelijkehogeschoolede.academia.edu/JanMartijnAbrahamse [https://christelijkehogeschoolede.academia.edu/JanMartijnAbrahamse] The research on salvation will be published in: Hans Schaeffer, Jan Martijn Abrahamse, Karen-Zwijne-Koning, and Stefan Paas, eds., Visions of the Good Life: Salvation, Church, and Mission in the Secular West. Leiden: Brill, 2025.   In the conversation, Abrahamse refers to a number of other books: * Rowan Williams, Christ The Heart of Creation. * James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation. * Clive Marsh, A Cultural Theology of Salvation. * Christian Smith, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. * Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane. * Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ. * Hartmut Rosa, Resonance.

S1E8: Church, Art, and Secularity

While society might be secularizing, many are still drawn to the beauty of religious art. Over the last couple of decades, traditional Anglican Choral Evensong became very popular in the Netherlands. This is highly surprising, since the Netherlands is neither Anglican nor religious anymore. In this episode we talk to Hanna Rijken, who in cooperation with Oxford University studied the ways in which Choral Evensong reaches a secular audience. She tells us about her research and the ways in which it led to a new worshipping community rooted in the practice of choral singing in Utrecht. Dr. Rijken’s research was published in: Hanna Rijken, ‘‘My Soul Doth Magnify’. The Appropriation of Anglican Choral Evensong in the Netherlands, Amsterdam: VU University Press, 2020.   See also: https://www.pthu.nl/en/about-us/people/c.s.h.rijken/ [https://www.pthu.nl/en/about-us/people/c.s.h.rijken/] https://www.hannarijken.nl [https://www.hannarijken.nl]