About Me

Hi, I'm Ronald Westerbeek, married to Nienke (CEO of Compassion Netherlands), and proud father of two daughters. We used to live in the city of Amersfoort, moved to Arnhem in 2021. We're part of the Anglican Church there (after being part of All Saints Anglican Church in Amersfoort). I love to travel and wander, hiking in the mountains or across the Veluwe, or riding a motorbike along unmapped roads in India or Africa and winding up in small villages.

In daily life, I've worked as a theologian for New Wine Netherlands - a movement of charismatic renewal in the churches for the last seven years. Part of my assignment was to further develop theological grounding and clarify our theological DNA. This includes developing course materials, and to be an advisor and sparring partner to local pastors and their teams in a process of Kingdom-renewal, and to develop theological training for pastors and pioneers (for instance, a two-year study program The Kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit (mbo/hbo) at the Evangelisch College).

End of 2022 I've left New Wine, to devote my time to academic research and writing a systematic-theological book on the Trinity, the mission of the Spirit, and salvation as wholeness (a pneumatheological take on salvation in a post-secular culture, one could say, or: some outlines for a charismatic theology that's earthly and real, finding the Spirit not so much in triumph as in brokeness).

I'm also a lecturer (systematic theology). At the Theological University Utrecht, I teach Charismatic theology in a post-academic course on Charismatic Renewal (together with dr. Hans Burger and Klaas Bom, PThU). At the Evangelical College (Zwijndrecht) I teach pneumatology.


Previously


In 2006, Nienke and I were asked to plant an international church on behalf of the Reformed Churches (GKv and CGK) in our city. ICF Amersfoort now consists of two congregations, Grace Church (English-speaking) and Oase (Arabic-speaking). In December 2013 we ended our term as church planters, and handed over to Samer Younan (Oase) and Nestor and Florence Tsala (Grace Church).

In 2015-2016, I was part of the interim-leadership team of New Wine in Europe (a branch of New Wine consisting of English-speaking international churches on the continent), in its transition to become LifeStream Europe - independent from New Wine International, more contextualized for international churches in Europe. My role as a theologian and former international church planter was mainly to recalibrate the vision, mission & strategy, and redefine its theological values (inaugurated Kingdom theology).

In June 2016, I joined New Wine Netherlands as their staff worker for Theology & Training. I left the staff in 2021, but continue to work for New Wine as a theologian, til December 2022.

Earlier on I worked as a journalist - initially as a freelance journalist (focusing on both foreign news, mainly Africa, and literature & arts) (1990-1999), then as senior editor and chief editor of a Christian monthly magazine, koers (1999-2011).

O, wrote a few novels, too. #Notetoself: Must do that again, some day.





2 comments:

  1. I've just landed at your site doing research on Moltmann. Allow me to share two brief excerpts from my own writings:

    Over the years I've come to believe we are now living in the "overture" of God's next great act, Act Three of salvation history. The Spirit once again "hovers" above the inchoate world, and the great outpouring of Joel 2:28 that began at Pentecost dramatically accelerates.

    And Act Three culminates in nothing less than the New Creation, where the triune God dwells in all his glory, and the cosmos itself becomes the Holy of Holies!


    But while it's true that only God foresees the specific hour and day of end times events, it's equally true that His timing is responsive, in the same way that the Spirit's coming at Pentecost was responsive to the upper room's "one accord" (Greek: homothumadon, a word better translated as "one passionate accord"). --- John Lawrence Gillis, Washington DC

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