Dutch atheist pastor won’t face discipline

UTRECHT, Netherlands (RNS/ENI) A self-proclaimed atheist can continue to serve as a local pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and will not be disciplined for his controversial position on how to describe God. A special assembly of Zierikzee, a regional church body tasked with investigating the theological statements of Pastor Klaas Hendrikse, said […]

UTRECHT, Netherlands (RNS/ENI) A self-proclaimed atheist can continue to serve as a local pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and will not be disciplined for his controversial position on how to describe God.

A special assembly of Zierikzee, a regional church body tasked with investigating the theological statements of Pastor Klaas Hendrikse, said on Feb. 3 that its work is completed.

The decision to allow Hendrikse to continue working as a pastor followed the advice of a panel that said the pastor’s views “are not of sufficient weight to damage the foundations of the church.”


“The ideas of Hendrikse are theologically not new, and are in keeping with the liberal tradition that is an integral part of our church,” the special panel concluded.

Canon law prevents the national leadership of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands from initiating disciplinary measures against serving clergy. According to the church’s constitution, that task falls to bodies such as the church’s regional authorities.

Hendrikse said he was “very satisfied with the result,” the Dutch news service Ikon Kerknieuws reported. He added that he was particularly pleased with a parallel announcement that the general synod, the national church’s governing body, is to discuss the issue he raised about how to declare one’s belief in God. “I have always pushed for this,” said Hendrikse. “Now I have reached my goal.”

In 2007, Hendrikse hit the headlines with the publication of his book, “Believing in a God That Does Not Exist: The Manifesto of an Atheist Pastor.”

In the book, Hendrikse distinguishes between believing in God, which he affirms, and believing in the existence of God, which he rejects. Instead, he refers to God as “happening.”

Hendrikse, who is due to retire in September 2012, has for more than 20 years been a minister to one Protestant congregation in the southwestern Dutch town of Middelburg and another in the nearby village of Zierikzee.


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