Het publieke karakter van de kerk

摘要

>The public character of the church
The subject of this article is the public character of the church. In the Netherlands one can make a distinction between three actual models. Each of them has had influence on the relationship between church and society in a particular time of history. The first model of A Kuyper, has its roots in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Gereformeerde Kerken) and was important in the first half of the 20th Century. The second model is rooted in the Reformed Church (Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk) of the Netherlands in the period after World War 2. The third model is the ecumenical model of the "church for others", related to the secularized society. In each of these models we can find building blocks for the fourth model, called "open church", which has to be developed in this time of rapid social changes. In this article, the author tries to develop a design for the fourth model. This article is written out of the context of Western Europe. I hope it also can be helpful in the context of South Africa.