The Netherlands

The Induction of the Reverend Lance Stone – in photos and music

Posted on 30/09/2014 by jens@jawsmedia.net

On Saturday September 27th we officially welcomed our new minister Rev. Dr. Lance Stone. The service was conducted by Rev. Rhona Dunphy, former moderator of the Presbytery of Europe and was attended by members and friends of our congregation, as well as Lance Stone’s family and representatives of the Presbytery of Europe.

Here you can see the special service in a slideshow created by Jens Anders Wejsmark Sorensen. The music in worship is Quintet op 57 nr.6 by L. Boccherini and is performed by Giles Francis (violin), Birgit Cangonja (violin), Ingerid Waleson (viola), Jamie McLaren (cello) and Olja Bučo (piano).

An English church in Amsterdam with a Scottish minister

Posted on 18/09/201418/09/2014 by jens@jawsmedia.net

When Alex Salmond (you know who) was a young MP at Westminister in the 1980s, he had on his office wall a Radical Scotland front page quoting the veteran nationalist Tom Nairn that Scotland would not be free until the last Church of Scotland minister had been strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post. That’s according to today’s Guardian newspaper and I can see that you’re wondering what this has to do with Amsterdam on Scotland’s day of destiny. Quite a lot in fact – but please let me explain.

READ THE POST ON ADAMBLOG.NL

For God, King and Country

Posted on 02/09/201402/09/2014 by jens@jawsmedia.net

The Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in Western Europe. It may be that one third of the 17 million people are officially religiously affiliated, but only around five percent are attending church regularly – that’s people describing themselves as churchgoers.

READ THE POST ON OP-ED.NL

Now that’s a gamble

Posted on 22/08/201422/08/2014 by jens@jawsmedia.net

For many years the real winner in the Netherlands when it came to gambling was the state. In a good year the casinos under the National Foundation for the Exploitation of Casino Games (Holland Casino) generate around € 270 million to the Dutch treasury. However, for some time now Holland Casino and its fourteen state casinos have been running with a loss, which last year ended on € 22 million – a new all time low. The official reason for this is a decline in customers, but I suppose it could also be that the customers do not lose enough (or win too much), or that having a monopoly there’s no real motivation to generate a sellable product. I wonder if a lucrative business gone sour has anything to do with the Dutch governments decision to liberalize gambling in 2015 and to sell Holland Casino in 2017?

READ THE POST ON OP-ED.NL