The Union of Free Evangelical Congregations in the Netherlands (Bond van Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten) has announced an online training session for the confidential advisors who serve as a first point of contact in local churches. The webinar will be held via Microsoft Teams on Monday evening, 5 October 2026, from 19:30 to 20:30.
Across the union's congregations, internal “contact persons” (vertrouwenspersonen) increasingly act as a first port of call when members sense that something is “not right” in their dealings with others, feel unsafe, or witness troubling behaviour. The union is building support around these roles so that the people who hold them do not carry the work in isolation, reflecting a broader move across European free churches toward formal safe-church structures.
The webinar will give both new and experienced advisors a confidential space to raise the questions their work produces — for example about visibility within the congregation or how they relate to the church council — with any discussion of individuals kept fully anonymous. Participation is reserved for the advisors themselves: church council members and pastors are not included, and the session is not a channel for members to share experiences or lodge complaints. Advisors can register through the union office to receive the Teams link.
(Originally published in Dutch. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Bond van Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten (Netherlands) — https://www.bondveg.nl/2026/09/02/webinar-voor-vertrouwenspersonen-op-5-oktober/
