2000 People Visit Refo500 Opening in Gouda

09-11-2010

Other speakers that evening, including Mr. Kees van der Staay (SGP) and Dr. Anne van der Meiden, called the church division after the Reformation a negative result. There was a positive evaluation also, for example on the part of Dr. Heleen Dupuis (VVD), who dubbed Protestantism and liberalism “obvious partners.”

The day program attracted many visitors. After a somewhat hesitant start Saturday morning, throughout the day some 1500 people finally found their way to St. John’s Church in Gouda for the opening of Refo500.

Program components that they could enjoy with such great interest were, for example the activities of the group Sela, a workshop “Sing along with Luther,” a debate about the church as scapegoats, led by Andries Knevel, and a roundtable discussion with Sadik Harchaoui (Forum) and Ahmed Akgunduz (Rector of the Islamic University of Rotterdam). This roundtable discussion stressed, from the rector’s perspective, that Islam in principle grants space to non-Muslims in the political sense, but a reformation in Islam like which occurred in the Christian church has been impossible. Fear of the rise of Islam was also raised. Sadik Harchaoui could imagine some of that fear, but indicated that he would be happy to discuss that fear further.

Also, the debate on the church as the scapegoats, with the cooperation of Dr. Christiane Berkvens, Rev. Wilma Hart Field (Protestantse Kerk Nederland), Mariska Orbán-Haas of the Catholic Newspaper, and Dr. Arjan Plaisier, secretary of the Protestantse Kerk Nederland, attracted much interest.

During “5en9 Stellingen”, a part of the youth program referring to Luthers 95 theses, an interview was conducted with Arenda Haasnoot, vice-president of the PKN Synod, Eric van den Berg, a Roman Catholic internet entrepreneur, and Hans Maat, a staff worker with the HGJB. Questions on the Church and youth that had been submitted via Twitter were discussed. The speakers addressed such questions as: “Does Twitter have an ascendant place in the Church?” and “How can you spread the Gospel with Twitter?” According to these speakers, Twitter and other social media appear to function as a means to reach youth. Young people are looking for role models, which also can be found through social media. The church must therefore put forth inspiring leaders.

The organization as well as the Refo500 partners were very pleased with the number of visitors. The Refo500 partners indicated that there was a great amount of interest among those who came by their booths. Many partners have also realized that Refo500 is a good platform to collaborate with other organizations, despite their differences in religious background.