July 1, 2023
Slowly and painfully, the unfinished business of the Dutch slavery heritage is forcing its way into the collective conscience of the Dutch population. Today the speech of King Willem-Alexander at the Keti Koti (broken chains) Festival in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark, celebrating the end of slavery in the Caribbean and Surinam, was awaited apprehensively by descendants of […]
June 24, 2023
Believers across Europe would affirm the statement that ‘Jesus is Lord of all’ with a hearty ‘Amen!’ Yet when it comes to spelling out what the lordship of Jesus looks like outside of church affairs, or personal discipleship, where do we begin? Where, for example, can we go to learn about what that lordship means […]
June 17, 2023
George Verwer truly lived a radical life. He met the radical Jesus at age sixteen and served him until his death aged 84 on April 14. Today, Saturday June 17, a thanksgiving celebration of his life will be live-streamed at 14:00 UK time (15:00 CET) from the centre of his adopted home city of London […]
June 11, 2023
Overshadowed by the catastrophic destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, a huge step was taken this week by ministers of EU members towards agreement on how to handle the millions of those trying to find safety in Europe. While many of us may be happy to leave such matters up to the politicians, migration, […]
June 3, 2023
In this month’s Schuman Talk, Slovakian politician Jan Figel’ tells about the harsh reality of growing up under an atheistic communism in Czechoslovakia, and of the role his Christian faith played in bringing hope for freedom and peace. He was named after his uncle, who as a 26-year-old teacher was taken by Secret Service agents […]
May 27, 2023
(This was the ‘weekly word’ on Pentecost five years ago). Pentecost reminds us that the end goal of God’s purposes in human history is the ingathering of a multi-lingual global church ‘from every tribe, language, people and nation’, as John writes in his Revelation (5:9). Pentecost saw the birth of this ‘rainbow’ church with the […]
May 20, 2023
Ascension Day is a largely forgotten celebration. Surprisingly, in some of Europe’s most secular countries like France, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, it is a public holiday. Equally surprising is that in the United Kingdom – where the central role of the Anglican Church was evident in Charles’ recent coronation – it is not a […]
May 13, 2023
Whose is the story of the origins of Europe? …of the ‘European’ values of freedom and peace? …or of the process of European integration? At the first Swedish Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Stockholm last week, parliamentarians heard an alternative to the popular secular narrative on the origins of Europe which marginalises God. Then at the State […]
May 6, 2023
Maidan Square in the heart of Kyiv is these days a blaze of red, yellow and purple tulips. They are a gift from The Netherlands to show support and appreciation to a nation under attack. Alyona, who faithfully translates Weekly Word into Ukrainian and Russian, sent me the photos above, saying how much Ukrainians love […]
April 29, 2023
This week it was the Dutch. Next week it will be the Brits. Honouring their kings, that is. Last Thursday was the annual Koningsdag in Holland, Willem-Alexander’s birthday. The day was less about the king himself, whose popularity has waned some twenty per cent over the corona period. Koningsdag was more about celebrating a nation-wide […]
April 22, 2023
Last weekend the church Romkje and I attend, the Noorderkerk, celebrated 400 years of Christian presence in the city of Amsterdam, with concerts, tours, exhibits and a mayoral visit, among other activities. On Easter 1623, fifty-five years after the city chose to become Protestant, the doors of the Noorderkerk opened to its largely migrant neighbourhood. […]
April 14, 2023
What an intriguing city Stockholm is to explore! This week I began to discover one of the best-preserved medieval districts in Europe, the Gamla Stan or Old Town, with its cobbled pedestrian streets, picturesque alleys strangely reminiscent of Malta’s Valletta, and its famous royal palace, one of the largest castles in the world. Gamla Stan […]
