Posted on 12/13/2003 11:02:49 AM PST by Destro
Dutch Protestant Churches Agree to Merge
Fri Dec 12, 1:42 PM ET
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Three Dutch Protestant churches formally agreed Friday to put aside their ideological differences and merge, the culmination of a process that began more than 40 years ago.
The Dutch Reformed Church, the Calvinist Reformist Church, and the small Lutheran Church will unite to form the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, together representing about 2.2 million churchgoers — or about 14 percent of the population.
In much of the country, the churches already have been merged in practice for some time.
The synods of the three churches approved the merger by large majorities at three separate meetings at different churches in the city of Utrecht, 30 miles southeast of Amsterdam, Dutch national television reported.
Approval required a two-thirds vote of the Dutch Reformed and Calvinist Reformist synods, and three-fourths of the Lutherans. Some swing voters were persuaded by an 11th-hour amendment to the new church's charter allowing the merger to be dissolved after four years if members were unhappy.
Although the new church won't officially exist until May 1, 2004, a service is planned for Friday evening in Utrecht and will be broadcast on television Sunday morning.
The service is being held on neutral territory — a Roman Catholic church on Utrecht's main square — and will be attended by leaders of the three churches and by Cardinal Adrianus Simonis.
Queen Beatrix also will attend, signifying approval of the royal house which is by tradition Dutch Reformed.
Conservative members of the Dutch Reformed Church viewed the merger with "great apprehension," but decided that unifying the church was more important, chairman Arie van der Plas was quoted saying by the Dutch broadcaster NOS.
The Reformed Church represents around 15 percent of the 16 million Dutch population, followed by the Calvinist Reformist Church at 7 percent and the Lutherans at less than 1 percent.
The new Protestant Church will permit gay marriages and women pastors, but will not force any local congregation to accept them — which is the current practice in the mostly liberal Netherlands.
However, some conservative congregations are unhappy with the decision, and small ultraconservative minorities of the two larger denominations are likely to break with the new church and file lawsuits over church funds and real estate.
Although religious debate has played an important role in Dutch history, many people abandoned their churches in the last half century, and now nearly 40 percent of the country identifies itself as agnostic or atheist.
Roman Catholicism remains the country's single largest religion, representing around 30 percent. Islam follow the Protestants as third largest, with 5 percent, and is the only religion that is still growing, because of high birth and immigration rates in the country's Turkish and Moroccan communities. Small but significant numbers of Dutch are practicing Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.
Concur. If they commit a Sodomite Ceremony there, I'd be all in favour of demolishing the Church. The Bishop permitting this is extremely irresponsible.
Neener Neener Neener
{!}
Neener all you want... but I don't think that even Jean Chauvin (who is of the general Dutch Reformed tradition in America) would deny that Protestantism in the Netherlands has been headed downhill ever since The Dutch Arminian Church of the Remonstrants against Calvinism became the first church in Europe to bless homosexual unions almost twenty years ago.
I feel very happy, honoured and proud to be at this conference. It is a great pleasure for me as a gay man to speak to such a large audience of gays and lesbians. I am honoured as a representative of the Remonstrants to be invited to talk about our experiences with blessing ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples. And I am also proud that our small church made a contribution to the struggle for equal rights for gays and lesbians, as we were in 1986 the first church in Europe to officially recognize such ceremonies.
Yet again, we see the Arminians introducing novel and fascinating new ideas into the pure Reformed stream of Protestantism, just as they have been doing for 400 years. So, Thanks again, Arminians! We can always depend on you!!
Though from those things of which we can always depend on Arminians to bring in their wake, may God save us.
Ah, personal responsibility has never been a srong Calvinistic trait has it? Its the Arminians fault. But ultimately it is God's decree that homosexuals have taken over our Church. Yeah, that's it. It's God's will. God predestined them to be Calvinist Homos.
You know, OP, you are making a strong argument for the error of the entire Reformation Movement. If both Arminians and Calvinists are in apostacy and God is sovereign and has decreed it from the foundation of the earth, then maybe the RCC does hold the keys to the kingdom after all.
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