Missionaire ecclesiologie in een tijd van individualisering

Samenvatting

Secularization in the Netherlands has been a two-stage process. The differentiation of
society (starting around 1800) diminished the influence of the large national church.
However, in this first stage numerous new denominations emerged that could adapt
perfectly to this new situation. This resulted in a pluralistic, predominantly vital ecclesial
landscape. In the 1960s a second stage of secularization started: individualization or
subjectivization. This affected all the churches, and caused a massive decline of institutional
religiosity. Within this context the development of a missional ecclesiology is of crucial importance. All churches have to reflect on their position within a largely individualized
society. This reflection should take place on the basis of ecclesiological discussions
in the previous decades and might best be structured along three axes: private vs. public, consumption vs. sacrament, and community vs. institute.