Dutch church probe decides 'atheist' pastor won't face discipline

Pastor Klaas Hendrikse, Zierikzee is allowed to continue working as a pastor

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	Klaas Hendrikse: Geloven in een God die niet bestaat

Utrecht, Netherlands (ENI). A self-proclaimed atheist can continue to serve as a local pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and no longer faces disciplinary action because of 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, has said its work is, "completed". The 3 February decision to allow Hendrikse to continue working as a pastor followed the advice of a regional supervisory panel that the statements by Hendrikse, "are not of sufficient weight to damage the foundations of the church". [585 words, ENI-10-0102]

More Information

Dutch:
http://www.pkn.nl/news.aspx?page=5766

WIKIPEDIA:
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaas_Hendrikse >>>

German:
Pfarrer ohne Gott - Was müssen Geistliche glauben? auf www.evangelisch.de >>>

Reformierte Kirche: Der gottlose Pfarrer - Artikel in der Frankfurter Rundschau >>>

NL: Confessional speaking about God Plaisier: ''the declaration that the conceptions of Rev. Hendrikse do not impair the principles of the church is something quite different than legalizing them'' Recently a lot has been written about Rev. Hendrikse. The classical assembly of Zierikzee of the Protestant Church has decided not to start a disciplinary procedure against Rev. Hendrikse because of this conceptions. Meanwhile a lot of comment has been given on this decision. Therefore I want to clarify a number of things.