Pioneering Spots in the Netherlands: A Missional Mainline Church’s Turnaround and The Discovery of Innovative Ways of Communicating the Gospel in a Pluralistic Society (A research overview on the years 2012 – 2020)

Authors

  • Achim Härtner Academic Dean and E.Stanley-Jones Professor of Evangelism, Reutlingen School of Theology, The United Methodist Church in Germany

Keywords:

Evangelism, Missio Dei, Fresh Expressions of Church, Theology, Practice, Pioneering ministries

Abstract

The article reflects on the Missio Dei on a biblical basis as being the crucial "Why" (Simon Sinek) of the Church's mission. The second part analyzes the mainline turnaround in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, founded in a re-discovery of the basic Christian values of what church is about and opening up new ways of being church in a highly secularized society by starting "Pioneer Places/Pioneering spots". The third part reflects on learning outcomes from the Dutch development for other contexts of Western imprint. The last part takes up a suggestion by Facebook-CEO Mark Zuckerberg on developing "meaningful communities". What if the church of the 21st century didn't leave meaningful-community-building to commercial digital giants, but took the mission of Jesus Christ seriously, to build up communities of faith, hope and love? In an outlook, taking up recent reflections of the Fresh-X-movement in Britain, the article suggest, that it may be from God, to lead the church to the fringes of society and encourages a fresh approach for mission and evangelism from that perspective.

Author Biography

Achim Härtner, Academic Dean and E.Stanley-Jones Professor of Evangelism, Reutlingen School of Theology, The United Methodist Church in Germany

Ordained Elter of the United Methodist Church in Germany

Academic Dean and E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism

References

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Published

2020-09-01

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Articles