Ministers
As a minister, pastor, or church leader, you are an important link. You can be the first point of contact for people from other cultures and also help your congregation become even more welcoming to newcomers. We are happy to support you in this and would love to get in touch with you.
Not in my backyard II
Working meeting for pastors. Prophetic and connecting sermons
As a pastor, how do you provide direction in a time of polarization, migration, and social unrest? Our government wants the strictest migration policy ever. In many places, social unrest is arising around the arrival of asylum seekers’ centers. Prejudice is also encountered in the church. What is your role and calling as a pastor when it comes to national and local developments surrounding migration?
During this working meeting, we will focus on preaching. How can you preach in a way that is both prophetic and unifying?
We will reflect on what it takes to preach on topics such as asylum and migration in a polarized society. An administrative advisor from COA will provide input on the topic of fact and fiction in asylum migration. But above all, it will be a day in which you will also get to work yourself. By the end of the day, you will have a sermon outline that fits your context.
Trainers:
– Dr. Robin ten Hoopen, Reverend in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands and Scholar at the Protestant Theological University
– Drs. Corine Dijkstra, administrative advisor at COA
– Rev. Marien Kollenstaart, pastor for migrants
For: pastors, ministers, church workers
Date: Friday, November 28, from 9:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: De Oostpoort Gouda, Aderpolderweg 19, 2807 KL Gouda
Organized by: Samen Geloven, a project on intercultural church life by the PKN, Verre Naasten, and the Geloofsinburgering foundation
Cost: €40 (includes coffee, tea, lunch)
Participants will also receive a free copy of Marien Kollenstaart’s book: Allemaal vreemdelingen (All Strangers). Biblical-theological perspectives on migration and intercultural church life (In dutch)
Order your ticket here
European Network Conference
From November 13 to 15, a conference on intercultural churches in Europe will take place in Spangenberg, organized by Himmelsfels Akademie and Stichting Geloofsinburgering.
This European Network Conference is entitled: Mission Possible, Europe 2030.
Leaders of national intercultural church networks and pastors of intercultural church initiatives who are concerned with how the gospel can be communicated and experienced interculturally in secular Europe are invited to attend.
The aim of the conference is twofold: to build a European network in which experiences of intercultural church life in different European countries are shared, so that we can learn from each other’s expertise.
The first meeting took place in 2023 in the Netherlands with participants from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and England. We now hope to expand this with participants from even more European countries.
The second goal is to reflect on the theme “Mission in a secular European context” and to think together about the contribution that intercultural churches can make in this area.
We will meet in the form of a working conference: participants will be asked to present their context and experiences, and the above themes will be discussed in several rounds. Prof. Dr. Johannes Reimer will provide substantive input on this theme.
If you are a pastor interested in this conference, please send an email to info@geloofsinburgering.nl
Pastors for refugees
In 2022, we started the ‘pastors for Ukrainians’ project together with Stichting Gave, to offer a listening ear to many Ukrainian refugees. In a short period of time, 300 pastors took the free online training course. Many of them were active for a while in providing shelter and talking to Ukrainians.
The urgency of that time has passed, and many have now found their way, either within or outside the congregations. But people who can provide professional pastoral care are still needed, including for refugees from other countries.
We are building a database of active pastors to whom we can refer refugees if they have questions about faith and/or life. Would you like to be available for this? We hope you will sign up using the form below. We will then contact you and would like to hear about your wishes and possibilities.
Intervision
If you are involved in or planning to become involved in forms of intercultural church, this is a wonderful task, but it can also cause you a lot of headaches. We offer you a one-year intervision program in which you meet every six weeks in a small group of up to six colleagues and in which you can bring in your own cases. Depending on where the participants live, this will be offline or online. You can express your interest via the contact form. The group will be led by an experienced pastor.
Sign up as a pastor
Are you available to provide pastoral care to refugees? Sign up here.