Senior members
Prof. dr. Stefan Paas
Prof. Paas (1969) is the director of the CCMW. He is Professor of Missiology at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht, J.H. Bavinck Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Associate Researcher at the Faculty of Religion at the University of Pretoria (SA). Paas is married, with three children, and lives in Baambrugge, the Netherlands.
E: spaas@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/s-paas
Prof. dr. Hans Schaeffer
Prof. Schaeffer (1972) is the vice-director of the CCMW and coordinator of the Centre’s international contacts. He is Professor of Practical Theology at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht. Schaeffer is married, with a daughter, and lives in Kampen, the Netherlands.
E: jhfschaeffer@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/hans-schaeffer
Prof. dr. Leon van den Broeke
Prof. Van den Broeke is Professor Theology of Law in the Context of Religion and Society, Director of the Deddens Kerkrecht Centre at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht, a senior member of the CCMW and coordinator of the Centre’s fundraising activities. Also, he is the chair of the Centre of Religion and Law, a joint venture of the Theological University Utrecht, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Religion and Theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
E: cvandenbroeke@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/c-van-den-broeke
Dr. Karen Zwijze-Koning
Karen Zwijze is a senior researcher at Theological University Utrecht. Her research focusses on the church renewal program Kerk2030. Kerk2030 aims to help local churches develop towards vitality and sustainability by creating a reflective culture on church practices. Karen holds a PhD in organizational communication and is therefore especially interested in the implementation of collaborative governance within churches and their strategic goal deployment. Karen is married to Robert and together they have two children.
E: khzwijze@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/kh-zwijze-koning
Dr. Gert-Jan Roest
Dr. Roest (1966) teaches in the missiology programme of Theological University Utrecht. He also works as a theologian and missiologist at the Protestantse Kerk Nederland. Formerly he was pastor of Via Nova in Amsterdam, a pioneering church. He is especially interested in the interaction between the gospel and the western context. Roest is married, with two children, and lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
E: gjroest@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/gj-roest
Visiting fellows
Dr. Sake Stoppels
Dr. Sake Stoppels is Professor Emeritus in Theology at the Christian University of Applied Sciences Ede (CHE). His research programme (2018-2023) focused on the communication of the gospel by both new and existing Christian communities: how do they seek comprehensibility and relevance in a secular society? The research project was concluded in 2023 with a book titled Zoeken naar de dingen die boven zijn. Heil in een seculiere tijd (Set your Minds on Things Above: Salvation in a Secular Time). He is a visiting fellow in the research programme of the CCMW. He lives with his family in Zeist.
E: stoppels.gemeenteopbouw@gmail.com
W: researchgate.net/profile/Sake-Stoppels
Dr. Jan Martijn Abrahamse
Dr. Jan Martijn Abrahamse (1985) is Research Lector in Theology at the Christian University of Applied Sciences Ede (CHE). In the past, his contributions to the CCMW focused on questions of soteriology in a secular context, which has resulted, among other things, in the publications Zoeken naar de dingen die boven zijn (KokBoekencentrum, 2023) and Visions of the Good Life (fc). In a new research project entitled ‘Longing for the Sacred’ he focuses on questions regarding holiness/sacralisation: the places where salvation takes place and/or the rituals and practices it is experienced in. Jan Martijn is married to Grace, and together they have three teenagers.
E: jmabrahamse@che.nl
W: christelijkehogeschoolede.academia.edu/JanMartijnAbrahamse
Prof. dr. Philipp Bartholomä
Prof. dr. Philipp Bartholomä (1980) has been a passionate free church pastor in southwestern Germany for 13 years. Since 2019 he is Professor of Practical Theology (with special focus on ‘Gemeindeaufbau’/church development) at the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen. Bartholomä is married, with two children, and lives in Gießen, Germany.
E: bartholomae@fthgiessen.de
W: fthgiessen.de/bartholomae-philipp
Prof. Jack Barentsen (Ph.D.)
Jack Barentsen (Ph.D.) studied philosophy and theology in the US, and served as church planter in the Netherlands. In 2001, Barentsen started teaching at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven (Belgium). He currently serves as professor of Practical Theology at the ETF, researching contemporary religious leadership with the Institute of Leadership and Social Ethics, and consulting with churches on leadership development. He is married, has two daughters and an expanding family with two grandchildren.
E: jack.barentsen@etf.edu
W: etfleuven.academia.edu/JackBarentsen
Dr. Jan van 't Spijker
Dr. Jan van ’t Spijker is assistant Professor of Missiology and Practical Theology at the Theological University of Apeldoorn. Next to that, he participates in the CCMW-research group of Theological University Utrecht. In his research, he focuses on the missionary identity and practices of the church in its context, both in Western and non-Western contexts. He is married, with two children, and lives in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands.
E: jvantspijker@tua.nl
W: tua.nl/nl/over-tua/medewerkers/spijker
Dr. Annemiek de Jonge
Dr. Annemiek de Jonge is a lecturer at VIAA Hogeschool Zwolle. She has a special interest in lived soteriology and ecclesiology in missionary practices in the Netherlands. Annemiek lives in Nijkerk and is married with children.
PhD students
Pieter van der Wilt, MSc
Pieter van der Wilt, MSc (1978) is a PhD student at TU Kampen. As part of the CCMW programme, he focusses on a research about understanding and experiences of salvation in the churches of the Papuan highlands (Indonesia). Pieter and his family have served as missional workers in Papua, Indonesia from 2011-2019. He currently works as a consultant with Karunia foundation, a Christian NGO that lends services and support to education and faith communities in Papua, Indonesia.
Matthias Voigt
Matthias Voigt is a pastor in a free church in Hamburg, Germany. His former ministry experience consists of ministering in a church plant in Hamburg and serving as a training coordinator for a European church-planting network. Next to his pastoral work, he is an associate researcher at Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen, Germany. His PhD Research (supervised by Stefan Paas and Philipp Bartholomä) focuses on missional spirituality in the context of urban church plants in Germany. Matthias is married to Linda and has four children.
Auke Dijkstra LLM MA
Auke Dijkstra LLM MA is a PhD student in Church Law at Theological University Utrecht (supervisor: Leon van den Broeke). His research is focusing on comparative disciplinary law. The research is performed from the dual perspective of both church law and state law. Auke also works as a lawyer at Watermill Tax & Legal (Utrecht).
E: adijkstra@tukampen.nl
W: research.tukampen.nl/en/persons/a-dijkstra
Ds. Peter Strating
Peter Strating is teaching Diakonia at Theologische Universiteit Utrecht. His PhD research is on the impact of hope on the agency of (former) sex workers in The Netherlands. Peter has a long experience in pastoring people involved in the sex industry in The Hague. At this moment he is a voluntary pastor at De Haven, an organization helping people in prostitution. He lives in The Hague, is married with 4 daughters and 3 grandsons.
Rianne ten Voorde, MA
Rianne ten Voorde (1977) works as a church leader within a pioneering missionary church community. She also contributes as an expert to the ‘church taking shape’ training programme of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN). Missiology, interreligious dialogue and soteriology are of great interest to her. Her PhD-research (supervisors Stefan Paas and Bernhard Reitsma) focuses on the soteriological views and practices within Christian communities engaging with Muslims in the Netherlands. Rianne lives in Hilversum and is married to Kaj.
Oluwabukunmi Popoola, MA, MTh.
Oluwabukunmi Popoola (1972) is a reformed evangelical African theologian who has a passion for Christian missions. His PhD research (supervisors Stefan Paas and Corey Williams) focuses on the interpretation of the effects of the poverty alleviation programs of the Nigerian Baptist Convention on the lived theology of its beneficiaries. While in Nigeria, he was involved in the diaconal and mission activities within the Lagos Baptist Conferences, for a period of sixteen years. Presently, he is serving as the lead pastor at Kampen International Fellowship; an inter-denominational, international church based in Kampen.
Michael-Christan Diehl
Michael-Christian Diehl (1968) is a pastor in the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Germany. He investigates the regional leadership structures in Congregationalism and examines the extent to which these structures need to be renewed. His PhD-research (supervisors are Paas und Bartholomä) aims to contribute to giving regional leadership structures theologically justifiable powers, for enabling them to set new missionary impulses in a congregationalist Free Church. Michael-Christian Diehl is a pastor in Haiger, where he lives with his wife and family.
Joel Vande Werken
Joel Vande Werken is a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and currently serves in parish ministry in Massachusetts (USA). He has served in various leadership roles in his classis and developed an interest in church order. His PhD-research (supervisors Van den Broeke and Schaeffer) focuses on the formal nature of church membership as a framework to help church leaders call people to faithfully follow Jesus. Joel is married and has five children.