DUTCH BAPTISTS

65 comprise 25 percent of church membership, a figure expected to rise by another 10 percent in the next 15 years. UBC is exploring ways to take advantage of this reality for

missional purposes. “You can see it as a threat or an opportunity to witness,” Boerrigter stated. They are seeking ways to enable the generations to share together in a healthy way that not only bridges the generational gap, but that leads to growth. There is also focus on church planting. In 2013, five graduates

from the Baptist Theological Seminary of the Netherlands chose to become church planters in urban communities rather than to become pastors of established congregations. Newer and younger Christians sometimes choose to live in urban neighborhoods to start new Christian communities, explained Hans Riphagen, director of mission for the Dutch Baptist union. “We have within our union a team of people who think about missional church development, how to help churches move in a missional direction.” He said there are “very promising initiatives being taken by existing churches and new church plants, fresh expressions of what it means to be church.” The presence of immigrants from countries such as Myanmar,

a nation that has a strong Baptist presence among certain ethnic groups, has led to growth and diversity of membership within Dutch Baptist congregations. An estimated half a million Christian migrants have entered the Netherlands in recent years. The integration and participation of these immigrants is one

of the challenges currently faced by the churches and the union. Boerrigter made reference to the famous quote popularized by Martin Luther King Jr. about churches in the United States, “Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning [is still] . . . the most segregated hour in this nation.” Other challenges include ministry in a pluralistic, relativist

and secularized society, according to Riphagen. “The Netherlands is secularizing rapidly, Riphagen said. “Churches have to find their voices again.” He explained that Dutch Baptist churches need to change focus

from being inward looking to opening up more. “When you are very much inwardly focused you have strong convictions on how the world is but when you start opening up you see the world has different convictions and there is a lot outside going on. We are going through the process of relearning what the Gospel means in a plural society. ” The secularization started in the 1970s when, according to Riphagen,the belief began to take hold that there was no place for

Leaders and workers of the Union of Baptist Churches in the Netherlands

Offices in Amsterdam that house the European Baptist Federation, IBTSC and the Union of Baptist Churches in the Netherlands

Another challenge is to have a unified voice among Baptists

in the Netherlands. Discussions are being held with another Baptist group, the Alliance of Free Baptist, on future relationships and cooperation. “I think that the outcome should be that we go together,” Boerrigter said. Many of the Alliance of Free Baptist pastors are already trained by the union’s seminary. A combination of the two groups, Boerrigter believes, will

create a much stronger body, one numbering some 30,000 members. This would help to maintain Christian work and ministry in the country. He also emphasized that “we are missing the boat with young people” who do not have strong denominational ties and many of whom, themselves, are coming from a Reformed and other backgrounds to become Baptists.

the church, and religion generally, in the big cities. But though secularization is still problematic, things are starting to change. “Nowadays religion is popping up everywhere. It has changed. It is much more fragmented.” This new fragmentation has led to the loosening of ties to denominations. “Young people today won’t see being Baptist as something important as much as being Christian,” Riphagen indicated. “Authority is not in denomination or even in a church. It is much more subjective.”