Faith among the ruins

At the recent Global Cities consulation in New York, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a vigorous church planting movement was well under way among Reformed churches in Amsterdam. Several pastors from these churches shared in a breakout session about the inspiration and support they were receiving from Pastor Tim Keller's Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.

I also discovered I had been scheduled on the plenary programme, sandwiched between main speakers Tim Keller and Vishal Mangalwadi, to present reflections on Europe's urban churches.

My first reflection was on the irony of travelling across the Atlantic to learn what God was doing in Amsterdam.

Stereotypes
I then shared some of the stereotypes many have about Europe-of empty and dying churches, a European Union with no room for God, a prodigal continent in pursuit of materialism and hedonistic pleasure.

Yes, Europe had indeed become a continent of spiritual pygmies, when compared to the dynamic, growing churches on other continents.

As often quoted, there were more spiritist healers in France than doctors, lawyers and priests combined. There were more members of the Assemblies of God in Brazil than all the evangelicals in Europe; and more Anglicans in Nigeria than in England and the US together. There were more believers in China than Germans in Germany. One church in Korea had a membership as large as the population of Amsterdam. (The evening before a Nigerian pastor had told us about his church that was a mile long and half a mile wide and seated one million!)

And now, of course, Europe was being flooded by Muslim migrants and was well on the way to becoming 'Eurabia'.

Ah, but wait!  That's not the full picture, I warned. It may be too soon to conclude that God had written Europe off.

Death... & Resurrection
Europe's historic churches were perhaps in ruins, as historian Philip Jenkins concedes in his book, God's Continent. But, as he hastens to add, there was still faith to be discovered among the ruins. Like a dying white dwarf star that shrinks in size but increases in intensity, so too as nominal believers have left the church in large numbers, those who remain or join were much more committed and genuine.  

Renewed interest in pilgrimages and spiritual retreats, and large turnouts of youth to Taizé and World Youth Days indicated renewed Christian faith in Europe. After all, Jenkins argues, Christianity is all about death and resurrection.

The history of the church reflected a pattern of decline and renewal, I said. It resembled more the fluctuations of the market on a busy day at the stock exchange, than the trajectory of a cannon ball disappearing over the horizon.

This was the moment to throw in the quote from Odon Vallet, cited in Jenkins' book: if you are the type of person who likes to buy stocks and bonds, I'd buy Christianity; the price is low; it has to go up.

Fresh Expressions
Among the signs of resurrection were the fresh expressions of church emerging  all over the continent, resembling new shoots stemming out of the trunk of an old tree that had lost its branches. The church planting movement in Amsterdam was one example of the new coming out of the old. Cells, house groups, simple churches, churches in pubs, groups for new age seekers and Alpha groups were further expressions, I proposed.

Migration in Europe was not all about Islam, I continued. Half of all the immigrants entering the EU were already church members. Less than a third were Muslim.

Migrants were bringing colour and vitality to Europe's urban churches, often creating megachurches as in Kiev (where an African pastors Europe's largest church) or in London where four of the biggest ten churches are African-led. Many churches were engaging with urban social issues. University research had shown, for example, that in Rotterdam church-based social services saved the city €130 million annually.

Examples of city-wide expressions of unity among Christians of all confessions, from Vienna, Stockholm and Berlin, helped convince at least some of my audience of 300 delegates from global cities that God was not finished with Europe yet.

People from literally every continent thanked me over the following days for giving them fresh hope for Europe.

Till next week,

©YWAM Europe - Weekly Words are the personal reflections of Jeff Fountain and do not necessarily express the official position of YWAM.
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