{"id":113832,"date":"2026-06-22T14:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/113832\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:30:13","slug":"summer-school-in-amsterdam-addresses-blind-spots-evangelicals-have-in-understanding-europe-evangelical-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/113832\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer School in Amsterdam addresses \u2018blind spots\u2019 evangelicals have in understanding Europe, Evangelical Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Europe is changing rapidly, from the life of its cities to major ideological, economic and technological trends. But do evangelicals have a clear understanding of how the Christian faith has shaped the past and can positively influence its future?<\/p>\n

\u201cEvangelicals have had a blind spot concerning Europe for theological and historical reasons. We tend not to think of \u2018Europe\u2019 \u2013 but focus on the local church\u201d, believes Jeff Fountain<\/a>, who leads the Schuman Centre for European Studies.<\/p>\n

He explained to Evangelical Focus that it is essential to reflect on this knowledge gap together with influential Christian leaders from various countries.<\/p>\n

All Evangelical Focus news and opinion,\u00a0on your WhatsApp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be challenged about how to be salt and light in Europe at local, national and European levels\u201d, the cultural analyst based in The Netherlands says, because when evangelical Christians \u201cwithdraw from engagement in the public square we leave the future to be shaped by those with other values\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/p>\n

\u00a0Teaching sessions by historians and other experts are in an interactive context. \/ Photo: Schuman Centre European Studies.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Summer School will be held in English and is open to anyone from outside the Netherlands who is interested in taking part.<\/p>\n

The three modules on offer are \u2018Engaging the City\u2019 (13\u201317 July), \u2018Engaging the Public Square\u2019 and \u2018Engaging Europe\u2019 (27\u201331 July)<\/a>. The first two will take place entirely in Amsterdam, whilst the third begins in the Dutch capital but moves to Brussels partway through the week.<\/p>\n

It is possible to attend individual modules or to take all three consecutively.<\/p>\n

\u201cMornings will start with bible study and prayer, followed by (interactive) talks, and afternoons will allow for field activities in Amsterdam, or in Brussels, visiting various EU institutions and their exhibitions\u201d, says the organisation.<\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Summer School in the European Union district of Brussels.\u00a0\/ Photo: Schuman Centre European Studies.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cFilms, discussions and informal conversation over coffee or drinks will round the day off. Each module will be a full week of living and learning together, with accommodation available in YWAM facilities in Amsterdam and Brussels. Weekends are free\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contributors will share from their experience as practitioners \u201cin urban missions, politics at different levels, justice workers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among those speaking are Piet Brinksma and Jurjen ten Brinke, leaders in church networking in Amsterdam; Gea Gort (author of God in the city) and Mirjam Verweij (chair of the Christen Unie political party in Amsterdam); Ed Heger (by zoom, former Prime Minister of Slovakia), Antonie Fountain (international lobbyist for fair trade in chocolate, coffee and cotton), Tim Svoboda (YWAM international urban missions leader, San Francisco – via video), Nicola Censini (EU civil servant) and Tatiana Kopaleishvili (Euroepean Evangelicaal Alliance Brussels Representative).<\/p>\n

Staff members Daniel de Bruin, Tron Ansaldo and Jeff Fountain will also give inputs.<\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/p>\n

\u00a0The 2026 Summer School.\u00a0\/ Image: YWAM\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Youth With A Mission initiative to reflect on public life has been taking place most years since 2010, when the Schuman Centre was established. \u201cWe have held these mainly in Amsterdam, but also in Einigen on Lake Thun (Switzerland), Heerde (Netherlands), Geneva and Brussels\u201d, explains Fountain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThemes have included the biblical origins of human rights, how the Bible shaped western civilisation, Christian values and European integration, and moments of grace in modern European history\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Published in: Evangelical Focus<\/a> – europe<\/a>
\n – Summer School in Amsterdam addresses \u2018blind spots\u2019 evangelicals have in understanding Europe\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Europe is changing rapidly, from the life of its cities to major ideological, economic and technological trends. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[101],"tags":[199,56992,210,50158,1299,50156,71,73,50157,56989,200,1158,56988,50159,56990,15989,13382,56991],"class_list":["post-113832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdam","tag-amsterdam","tag-amsterdamchristian-news","tag-brussels","tag-church-news","tag-cities","tag-digital-evangelical-news","tag-europe","tag-european-union","tag-evangelical-news","tag-jeff-fountain","tag-netherlands","tag-politics","tag-public-arena","tag-religion-news","tag-schuman-centre-for-european-studies","tag-summer","tag-training","tag-ywam"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116794243946014926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}