But what if more Christians dreamed of similar ventures, partnering together for the sake of the Kingdom? How can we not only penetrate such public spaces, but also best serve them with the gospel?

Redeemer City to City, a Redeemer NYC related ministry which focuses on church planting for the renewal of global cities recently reported that the Free University in Amsterdam (interestingly, a secular university founded by theologian Abraham Kuyper), appointed Dr. Stefan Paas as the J. H. Bavinck Chair for research and academic training in missionary community formation in a secular European context. (See full press release below)

In other words, for the next five years Dr. Stefan Paas will serve as chair of church planting in one of the most secular universities and cities in the world.

Surprisingly, Redeemer City to City broke this news in September with nary a blip on the blogosphere (or any substantive media I’m aware of). But I am simply floored (and thrilled!) that it’s happening.

Living here in Minneapolis, I’m hard pressed to imagine the University of Minnesota approving of such a chair (and yet can vividly imagine the subsequent outcry and fallout if it ever occurred!).

But what if more Christians dreamed of similar ventures, partnering together for the sake of the Kingdom? How can we not only penetrate such public spaces, but also best serve them with the gospel? Redeemer City to City and our brothers and sisters in Amsterdam serve as a wonderful model I hope will only gain wider exposure and momentum.
Michael Johnson is a Resource Consultant at Desiring God. This article first appeared on the Desiring God website and is used with their permission. http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/vrije-universiteit-in-amsterdam-appoints-chair-of-church-planting

News Release:

Dr Stefan Paas has been appointed as extraordinary professor of church planting and church renewal on the new J.H. Bavinck Chair at the Vrije Universiteit (Free University) in Amsterdam.

For the next 5 years he will coordinate research and academic training in missionary community formation in a European context.

The J.H. Bavinck Chair will be connected with a network of church plants and emerging communities in the Netherlands. This network will serve as a location for training new church leaders, and as a laboratory for research into contextualized Christian communities in the very secular context of the Netherlands.

Paas will combine his new position with his other job as lecturer in missiology at the Theological University in Kampen, where he conducts a Missionary Master program.

Paas is an experienced evangelist. He has also worked for 7 years as a missionary consultant, helping traditional churches to innovate their mission. He has also been involved in two church plants in the Netherlands, and written several books on evangelism, church renewal and church planting.

He, his wife and their three children live in Amsterdam, where they are involved in Via Nova, a new church plant of the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands.

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]