Youth, Church and Culture

In Amsterdam the ‘Research Centre for Youth, Church and Culture’ (OJKC) focuses on research as well as knowledge transfer. For that reason there is a close collaboration with four Universities of Applied Sciences (Driestar in Gouda, Chriselijke Hogeschool in Ede, Windesheim in Zwolle, Gereformeerde Hogeschool in Zwolle) that educate church youth workers and teachers of religion.

This collaboration gets shape through four dual and co-financed PhD programmes, in which a research question from the outset is developed together with stakeholders and in which the working fields of the stakeholders participate in the research (Markus about the religious identity of teachers at mono-religious primary schools; Van Wijnen about small groups of youth; Renkema about religious education at so-called co-operation schools [namely schools with a public as well as a Christian identity], Meerveld about learning results of catechesis).

OJKC participates in the ‘Community of Practice for Youth Ministry’ (with the Evangelical Alliance, the Youth Organisation of the Protestant Church, Reformed Youth League etc.). Yearly three-day-trainings for senior ecclesial youth workers and ministers (‘lifelong learning’), organized and programmed by the OJKC in consultation with named organisations are fully subscribed and successful (Sonnenberg). De Kock holds many lectures at ecclesial symposia, seminars. Van der Meulen reported on his research on ‘Twenties and thirties in church’ (Over berg en dal. Twintigers en dertigers in de Protestantse Kerk).  This report generated some media attention.