Atheist pastor won’t be challenged – in case he is shown to be right?

Two regional church authorities in the Netherlands are reported to have decided to take no disciplinary action against the pastor of a Protestant church who is a self-proclaimed atheist.

The decision of the authorities in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland was published in a letter to their congregations, the Protestant daily newspaper the Nederlands Dagblad reported on 24 March. The church authorities said disciplinary proceedings against Klaas Hendrikse, who is a pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, would be likely to lead to, “a protracted discussion about the meanings of words that in the end will produce little clarity”.

The letter also noted that people have debated the issue of “God’s existence” throughout time.

3 April 2009