Becoming God's Ecclesia in Amsterdam: Mobilizing Leaders of Churches and Ministries to Work Together as a Collaborative Ecosystem for Kingdom Impact in the City

The purpose of this study is to explore calling and the ministry of the whole body of Christ in the city as an agent of the Kingdom of God in the context of Amsterdam: a western European post-Christian and postmodern city. Another purpose is to research the current engagement of the body of Christ in Amsterdam and to find ways to mobilize the faith leaders to collaborate for more fruit of the Kingdom in the city. The study uses an ecosystem model, proposed by Tim Keller, to describe the necessary conditions for the development of a citywide Kingdom movement. The model has a contextualized Kingdom theology at its core, followed by movements of church-planting and disciple-making and finally a wide range of relevant ministries for the city.
The study describes a few important contextual realities, including the development of the culture of Amsterdam, its influence in history and its current post-Christian and postmodern worldview. It also addresses poverty, cultural diversity, and the influence of Islam in the city. The literature and theology chapters of the study provide insights and a framework for understanding the transformational nature of God’s mission and connects this with the concept and the language of shalom. It also addresses the importance of the place and presence in the ministry of the Kingdom and applies this to the city, proposing a model of five purpose areas for cities. An analysis of the concept of ecclesia provides the foundation for understanding the calling of the whole Church as an Kingdom agent in the community. From these insights, six essential elements of the calling of the Church as an ecclesia for the city are developed. The theological chapter ends with a sketch for contextualizing the gospel to a postmodern context.