Danish Bible Camps and Conferences in 2009

Throughout the summer months from June to the first week or so of September there will be many Bible camps and denominational annual conferences of virtually every evangelical group in Denmark. They may be of only a single day’s duration but many are in week-long session. Some of the denominations have critical issues to debate and act upon.

In previous years, I have attempted to list as many camps and conferences as I was able to provide information about as to dates and locations. I won’t do that this year, but since these are significant gatherings of churches, denominations, and parachurch and Lutheran revival organizations it is important that throughout the summer months readers of this webpage take it upon themselves to pray earnestly for them.

Danes love the out-of-doors so that while these are recreational events they are more so opportunities for the Spirit of God to work in believers’ lives in settings removed from their home areas and home churches. With evangelicals a minority in the country, the fellowship aspect of these summer activities is vitally important and spiritually invigorating. However, for those churches and organizations primed to stress evangelism and faith commitment it is very likely there will be young people and adults who will come to trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord this very summer.

PRAY that the Holy Spirit will empower each one of these camps and/or conferences where the name of Jesus Christ is lifted up and His Word is honored, taught and preached.

PRAY that the leaders and the speakers will be guided by the Spirit to give teaching from the Word of God that speaks to campers’ personal and corporate issues and needs.

PRAY that every camper and attendee of the camps and conferences will have an open heart and mind to not only hear the Word of God but also to act upon what they hear.

PRAY that evangelism and spiritual nurture will impact the lives of those who may have come only for the recreational and social aspects of the camps and conferences.

PRAY that nagging issues brought forward in the annual meetings scheduled during the Danish denominational camps will be marked by unity of the Spirit and an attitude of sweet reasonableness in all of the discussions and business sessions.

Leadership Change at Roskilde Vineyard

The pastoral couple, Hasse and Gitte Falk Jakobsen, will be taking over Roskilde Vineyard’s overall pastoral leadership this week , i.e. May 1). When I heard that David and Solvej had come to believe it was God’s will that they turn over leadership to another pastoral couple, for some reason the first thought I had as successors was of Hasse and Gitte. I had met Hasse at the Copenhagen Vineyard where he had been involved with music ministries and leadership in the twelve years since its planting. With whatever gift of discernment the Lord has given me, I was impressed God was going to use him mightily in ministry. It is amazing how wonderfully well a transition can be made when God is in it and certainly He is in this one..

Hasse is no stranger to Roskilde Vineyard as he has on occasion led music and preached there. Now, the Lord has called Hasse and Gitte to move to Roskilde and to minister to this congregation. There are many challenges ahead, but God will use Hasse and Gitte’s ministry gifts to build on the foundation that David and Solvej have labored to lay these past several years. The pastoral couple will be formally installed to their new charge at the Sunday, May 3 service.

Church planting anywhere is a difficult and draining experience and no less in Denmark. As planters of the new Vineyard in Roskilde, David and Solvej have given of themselves joyfully and sacrificially and have expended their energies selflessly to pastor the new work. Both have had to maintain secular employment in order to plant and pastor the church. In a sense they have burned the candle at both ends and have experienced fatigue and some burnout maintaining such a schedule. It was frustrating for them to not be able to have the time for more extensive evangelism and outreach. Now, in the goodness of the Lord they have stepped back without stepping out as they together with another couple, Carsten and Monika Lund, continue to be a part of the church’s leadership team.

David and Solvej have lost none of their commitment to serve the Lord. They need rest and a diminished schedule for some months in order to retool for wherever He leads for future ministry. I believe they can effectively use their experience of church planting in another city in Denmark.

PRAISE God for David and Solvej Allen’s willingness to give of themselves so unstintingly to plant Roskilde Vineyard church.

PRAY for God’s anointing, empowerment, and wisdom on the lives and ministry of Hasse and Gitte as they relieve David and Solvej of overall responsibility and take up their work with Roskilde Vineyard.

PRAY that Hasse and Gitte’s three daughters will be able to make an easy transition to a new home and schools.

PRAY that the members and attenders at Roskilde Vineyard will enthusiastically support the new pastoral couple and together discover, join and utilize their spiritual gifts for ministry.

PRAY that God will provide needed rest for David and Solvej and in His timing make His will known clearly for their future ministry.

God's Spirit is at Work in Denmark

While in my view the overall spiritual condition of Denmark is rather grim and the need for genuine revival very great, such an assessment isn’t the whole picture. We must not forget that the Spirit of God often works in ways that are not always immediately discernible. He is working quietly but decisively in various ways in Denmark, of that I am certain. It is my firm conviction that revival in Denmark would have to have a major influence on Denmark’s Lutherans. Though the Folkekirke is culturally embedded in Danish society, it seems to have little impact on the spiritual lives of the increasingly secularized nation.

And yet, God never leaves Himself without a witness. It would be tragically irresponsible to ignore the fact that there are Danish Lutherans who love the Lord and who long for and pray constantly for revival. I have met some of them and have been impressed by their earnestness and genuine faith. A trusted Danish friend of this webpage recently wrote that “there IS something encouraging going on in Denmark––a network of God-fearing Lutherans who have good theology but want more of the movement of the Spirit and who recognize people’s need to be born again.” These God-fearing Lutherans are connected in a network of new local churches and fellowships through Dansk Oase Netværk (www.danskoase.dk). Dansk Oase is a Lutheran charismatic renewal movement. The new congregations are variously called “Valmenigheder” [or fælleskab or frimenighed]. All are in some way different or “edgy” in contrast to the more formalistic Folkekirke congregations and are more open to contemporary forms of praise and worship. They are growing and demonstrate that there are Danes who do indeed hunger and thirst after righteousness and a seek a vital, personal faith in Christ.

There is a large, healthy Valmenighed church in Århus (www.valmenighed.dk), and one that just opened in Copenhagen last November and understand it already has over 100 members. It is most encouraging to see what God is doing through these groups. It all started at Karlslunde Strandkirke (www.strandkirken.dk) that had a God-fearing, level-headed charismatic pastor back in the seventies by the name of Helge Pahus. He was responsible for the Alpha course coming to Denmark. Pastor Pahus is now retired, though still active in ministry. During his years of ministry, Pastor Pahus has built a lot of bridges to revival and renewal movements around the world and his influence is felt strongly in Danish charismatic Lutheran circles.

The Valmenighed congregations in various places in Denmark constitute a new and genuine church planting experience of which we have been too little aware. All are connected in some way with the Oase revival movement. To mention a few, there are now congregations and fellowships in Odder, Kolding, Silkeborg, Vejle, Aalborg, and elsewhere, and the list is growing. The terms Valmenighed and Frimenighed are not exclusive to the Oase Network as there are other Lutheran revival groups that also use them. The more I look into it I am finding there are many dimensions to Danish Lutheranism and writing about Oase I am not unmindful of the testimony through the decades of other Lutheran revival organizations, including Indre Mission, Nyt Liv, Luthersk Missionsforening, and Evangelisk Lutherske Missionsforening, some of which also have planted free Lutheran congregations.

If God was able to raise the Lord Jesus from the dead, He can also bring revival to spiritually dead Denmark. If I didn’t believe that I would shut down the Pray for Denmark website. No major revival in history has ever occurred without a barrage of prayer behind it. In some small way it is my hope that we are a part of that barrage of prayer and why we should be praying for the outreach of Oase throughout Denmark. That’s why Brad and I pray doggedly for the land of my ancestors and urge you to join us as well.

PRAISE God for the encouraging evidences of the Holy Spirit’s work in Denmark through the Oase revival movement.

PRAY for the Oase movement to continue to exert its influence for revival and renewal throughout Denmark without itself becoming overly institutionalized.

PRAY for the planting of new Oase-related Lutheran congregations throughout Denmark that will provide a resurgence of evangelism calling Danes to repentance and personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Baptistkirken i Danmark

Baptist work has existed in Denmark for 170 years. In fact, the Baptists constituted the first free church in Denmark outside the Folkekirke, Denmark’s Lutheran state church. Today there are fifty Baptist congregations throughout the country with a total of 5260 members, making it still Denmark’s largest free church denomination. The Baptists have been and continue to be an important part of Denmark’s community of free churches.

As might be expected, the Baptist churches have throughout their history had their highs and lows in spiritual power and effectiveness. Understandably, it is difficult for any denomination to maintain a consistently high level of spiritual power and evangelistic thrust over 170 years. Succeeding generations more often than not lose some of the fire and joyful spiritual energy their fathers experienced in coming to Christ. Periodic revivals are needed.

The earliest years of Baptist work were marked by extensive evangelism and the planting of new churches. Converts came to faith through sound preaching of the Word of God. Their fervor of witness to the liberating gospel of Christ brought persecution but also a spread of their witness throughout the country. The aging of the denomination and a settling in of its organization and traditions seemed to sap the spiritual power the first generations had known. In the 20th century, the coming of the charismatic (Pentecostal) movement to Denmark caused a fair number of Baptist leaders and lay folk to switch allegiances. Some leaders in the Pentecostal and new charismatic denominations were formerly a part of the Baptist churches. Some of the Baptist churches have adopted charismatic theology and worship practices while others have not. The denomination has gone through some tough times theologically and organizationally and even at present is experiencing some leadership problems. It is not my place to delve into the details of controversy, but Baptists are at a crossroads. I am concerned that now is the time for a sweeping revival and renewal throughout the Baptist churches in Denmark that would renew and reinvigorate their ministries.

I have a great appreciation for Danish Baptists. Myself an American of Danish descent, I was ordained to the gospel ministry by a Conservative Baptist church. My first contact with Danish Baptists was in 1952 at Copenhagen’s Kristuskirken. Pastor Thomsen greeted me and discovered that I was a Conservative Baptist missionary on my way to the Belgian Congo. He knew something of Conservative Baptist origins and said warmly, “I don’t have to ask you what you believe. I know.” He then invited me to speak in the church. That was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. I found Pastor Thomsen to be a man of God with a real heart for the gospel of Christ. My last trip to Denmark three years ago introduced me to several more Baptist churches and I met a number of Baptist friends in Viborg and Aalborg who were so warmly welcoming and hospitable.

I don’t know the reasons behind Danish Baptists’ current discussions and difficulties, but, I do know there is need for a sweeping movement of the Spirit of God to bring genuine cleansing and renewal. Pray earnestly with us for the Baptists in Denmark! Revival and renewal will not come merely through improved organization, but it will come to churches and believers that surrender to the restorative work of the Holy Spirit through confession of sin and repentance that are always prime ingredients in spiritual revival.

PRAY that a series of regional meetings of Danish Baptists to be held in the following locations in March and April will evidence the cleansing, restorative presence and power of the Holy Spirit, repair of broken relationships, unity amongst leaders and churches, and renewed commitment to evangelism and church planting:

Monday, March 30, 7:00-9:30 p.m., at Roskilde Baptist Church
Tuesday, March 31, 7:00-9:30 p.m., at Odense Baptist Church
Wednesday, April 1, 7:00-9:30 p.m., at Vårst Baptist Church,

West-Himmerlands congregation
Thursday, April 2, 7:00-9:30 p.m., at Silkeborg Baptist Church
Friday, April 3, 7:00-9:30 p.m., at Sindal Baptist Church.

PRAY that God will provide effective, Spirit-filled leadership for several of the Baptist churches that are currently without pastoral leadership.

Good News from Tønder

The southern Jutland town of Tønder, located not far from the border with Germany, has been mentioned several times in Pray for Denmark.com, especially in relation to the famed Tønder music festival (see the August 17, 2008 prayer posting).

In March of 2006 when I made a trip to Denmark the first persons I met were Pastor René Nielsen and his lovely wife Mette. Pastor Nielsen is pastor of the Tønder Frikirke, in dual association with the Apostolsk Kirke and the Pinse Kirke denominations. I was not with the Nielsens for long, but long enough to sense their burden for the city and the need for the church to move forward in some new directions. Pastor Nielsen and I had a wonderful time around the breakfast table praying for a breakthrough in the work. Before I moved on to Sønderborg, he showed me around the church building located in the center of town. It appeared to me at the time that it was not a building that would lend itself well to substantial growth. It was rather small and very lacking in space that would foster growth.

I have continued to pray for Tønder as I am sure Pastor Nielsen and Mette and the church itself have done faithfully. It was such a delight recently to have an email message from Pastor Nielsen that communicated some of the great excitement and gratitude he and the church are experiencing at what God is doing for the Tønder work. First off, the old church building has been sold and a new location has been found for Tønder Frikirke that hopefully will have all of the features needed for a significant outreach in the community and surrounding area.

Getting the leaders and members of the church to come to agreement about sale of the building was not an easy one. As often happens in significant change for a church, some were not fully convinced that now was the right time to sell and move. The resulting tension can have a negative effect on a church’s future and ministry. However, the Lord intervened in a wonderful way. He used an elderly woman member who stood up in a congregational meeting and said prophetically, “God has spoken to break up and move on, and I think we should do so.” One by one the members of the congregation stood up and agreed with this dear lady to sell the old building and look for a new site. As Pastor Nielsen puts it, “Within two months everything had been done. God had a prepared the way and now the old building has been sold and we have bought a new one. Praise God! Now we have several months in which to renovate the new building before moving into it on April 1.” The Lord has not forgotten Tønder! Frikirke and He is on the move.

A significant evidence of God’s blessing is the church’s revived children’s ministry. There were hardly any children in the church, but now acting on what Pastor Nielsen and the church felt was God’s direction there is contact and ministry with about 40 kids and their families. Every Wednesday there are after-school meetings where workers help the kids with their homework, followed by a Royal Rangers meeting and ending in a time of eating together with the kids and their parents. The net result is a marked increase in the number of people now attending the worship services.

At the beginning of 2008, René was asked to help with the reorganization of a Danish humanitarian organization. Ultimately he was left with the major responsibility and has had a lot of work of rebuilding and reorganizing. He is now the head of the organization that needs to reestablish its Christian foundations. This plus the new developments with the Tønder church are keeping him very busy and using up a lot of his energies. It is important for church members to him and to involve themselves heavily in the renovation of the new property.

Pastor Nielsen writes, “Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us.” Let's agree to do so.

PRAISE God for answers to prayer in the sale of Tønder Frikirke’s less than adequate facilities and the congregation’s unity in responding to the Lord’s provision of a new and more adequate location for ministry.

PRAY that Pastor Nielsen’s health and strength will not be eroded because of the heavy schedule he carries these days with local church responsibilities as well as time-consuming leadership involvement with a Danish humanitarian organization.

PRAY that the members and attenders of Tønder Frikirke will go through this time of change with renewed vision, commitment and unity and that the move to a new building will open up as yet unrealized possibilities for evangelistic outreach in the community.

PRAY that the Lord will use the renewed children’s ministry as a fruitful means of evangelistic outreach with many coming to faith in Jesus Christ and those already believers standing firm and maturing in the faith, using their spiritual gifts in ministry.

PRAY that Pastor Nielsen’s influence and leadership in the humanitarian organization will help return it to its previous Christian foundations.

Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår

Bill and Brad wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year as we work together with you, our viewers, to pray for spiritual revival in Denmark. We are American Christians with ancestral roots in Denmark. We are both very much aware of how much our own country is in need of a mighty, sweeping spiritual revival. But, we are attempting to be obedient in following through with what we believe the Lord laid on our hearts almost four years ago, that is, to pray for God’s Spirit to move with power in the ancestral homeland in revival, renewal, evangelism and church planting.

We are grateful for the response we have had and for the many believers in Denmark with whom we have had contact through Bill’s visit and through ongoing correspondence. Please covenant with us in 2009 to continue sharing the prayer vision on behalf the nearly six million Danes, most of whom do not know what it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The focus of this website is prayer for Denmark. Our ministry is a personal effort and is not related to any mission organization, denomination or church, though both of us are members of strong evangelical churches in California. It appears from the many email messages we have been receiving from Africa and Asia that there is some misunderstanding about the nature of our ministry.

We are certainly not unaware of the Lord’s work in other areas of the world, but God has laid Denmark on our hearts specifically and we are determined to keep our prayer focus there. We have missionary friends around the world. Bill has himself spent some years as a missionary in the Congo and Madagascar in years gone by and appreciates the work being done by faithful pastors and workers in Africa and Asia who have seen this website. We do not solicit funds or disperse funds to any ministries, thus far even those in Denmark, because our mandate from the Lord is specifically to focus on prayer for our ancestral homeland. We support through prayer the efforts of all Bible-believing evangelicals in Denmark.

Please join with us throughout 2009 in concerted prayer and intercession for Denmark and for the evangelical pastors and people working tirelessly to bring the Gospel to bear on Danish life and culture. May the Lord Jesus Christ be honored and glorified as we work together with you in this prayer ministry.

Theological Education in Denmark

There is currently a dearth of pastors in the Danish free churches. Older pastors are retiring and a number of churches have been without pastors for some time. The overall, long-term outlook for an adequate number of pastoral replacements is apparently not too promising. It is cause for concern that young people are not committing to biblical/theological study and full-time ministry in numbers that would insure the needed and continuing flow of pastoral leadership to fill pulpit vacancies or to keep pace with the retirement of older pastors. This appears to be true of the older Danish denominations but may be less so of the more charismatic (Pentecostal) denominations.

Other than the two charismatic Bible colleges at Mariager and Kolding that have been previously mentioned in these postings, the free churches’ main framework for theological education is the Skandinavisk Akademi for Lederskab og Teologi, (SALT - Scandinavian Academy of Leadership and Theology), that offers church-based, seminary-level theological training for Denmark’s free churches. SALT, founded in 2000, comprises a network of several entities in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, including, Hyllie Park Folkhögskola (Malmø), Baptistkirkens Teologiske Seminarium (Tølløse), Ørebro Missionsskola (Ørebro), Baptisternes Teologiske Seminarium in Norway, Pinsekirken København, Dansk Oase, the Apostolsk Kirke, and the Lutheran charismatic revival movement OASE. We understand the Danish program currently has about 30 students with two full-time and three half-time professors. Accreditation of aspects of the SALT Danmark program is through association with Sweden’s Örebro Missionskola. Every SALT student is required to have a church relationship and a pastoral mentor throughout his/her studies. The school has administrative and classroom facilities in Copenhagen, though courses are also held in other areas of the country. The website for SALT may be accessed at www.salt-akademi.dk/1_0/1_0.asp.

Those desiring to enter the ministry of the Folkekirke (the Lutheran State Church) generally prepare for ordination at the Universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus that are not particularly noteworthy as centers of evangelicalism in Denmark. However, there are two independent Lutheran seminaries also training ministers for the Folkekirke that by contrast offer a curriculum based on a high view of the inspiration of the Scriptures. These are the Dansk Bibel-Institut in Copenhagen (also known as the Copenhagen Lutheran School of Theology), founded in 1972 and the Menighedsfakultetet in Aarhus, founded in 1967. The Dansk Bibel Institut website declares openly that the school holds to (1) the whole Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God; that (2) Scripture's prophetic and apostolic testimony to Christ and the view of Scripture is that of Jesus and the apostles, and that (3) this testimony is expressed in the biblical writings themselves. Both schools are committed to classic Lutheran theology. That such Bible-affirming schools exist in Denmark is further reason to believe that God can and will yet bring revival to the Danish Folkekirke. A genuine and sustained revival of biblical faith in Denmark’s Lutheran churches would have profound implications in arresting the spiritually deadening secularization of Danish culture. For further information, relevant websites are www.dbi.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=168 and www.teologi.dk/.

PRAY that Danish young people will respond to the call of God in increasing numbers for local church ministry with the full knowledge that such a commitment will undoubtedly involve a life of sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel.

PRAY that SALT and the other independent theological schools in Denmark will not be swayed by post-modern theology and pseudo-evangelicalism that have begun to seep into theological faculties in other countries.

PRAY that Danish evangelicals and their churches will see the importance of a trained ministry and unite to insure that the theological schools will serve as centers of unity rather than dissension.

PRAY that the Danish churches will see the need for providing adequate support for SALT and other independent theological schools.

PRAY that the theological schools will be able with greater financial support to establish stronger academic standards, achieve relevant academic accreditations, and recruit academically and spiritually competent faculty.

PRAY for those churches that are having difficulty finding and calling pastoral candidates.