Geroepen door God, gedragen door het ambt

Samenvatting

This article responds to several points raised by Batenburg and Van Dam. In the context
of a brief sketch of the confusion and uncertainty which many officebearers experience in our time, this essay argues that the offices of ministers, elders and deacons in the reformed tradition can be derived from those charismata in the New Testament which have coordinating and supervising functions. These ministries represent Christ as the only Head of the congregation; as servants they supervise the congregation in order to keep her faithful and sound in doctrine and life. These offices also promote and stimulate the missional character of the church. A fruitful balance between a Christology and a Pneumatological approach characterizes the reformed view of the structure of the church. Officebearers may be confident in the guidance and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, promised to them in the laying on of hands at the moment of their confirmation. From this point of view there is room for an open-minded search for new structures – including the contribution of the so-called church workers (kerkelijk werkers), theologians who have studied at an academy for applied sciences – in order to equip the church in an optimal way for her actual tasks.