Review Presentation ‘Count Your Blessings 2.0

On Thursday December 10th the research ‘Tel Je Zegeningen 2.0’ was presented by the City of Rotterdam by means of an online talk show in which SKIN-Rotterdam was also a guest as a collaborating partner.

Body, Soul & Spirit
What would Rotterdam look like without the social work of churches or other religious organizations? Would it be missed or would society be fine without it? The value of religious organizations cannot be expressed in euros. Nevertheless, the report “Tel Je Begeningen” presented on Thursday makes an attempt. The Verwey-Jonker Institute has mapped out the help religious and philosophical organizations give in the areas of poverty, loneliness and care and put a price tag on it. If these churches and other religious organizations would not do this, it would cost the government 195 – 365 million euros to provide this help.

The church plays an important role in society, because where the government cannot reach the people, the churches can. It is therefore wonderful to see that churches still play a significant role in modern society to this day.

Director: Karin de Schipper: ‘Migrant churches often mean a lot to the neighborhood, because the people who sit in such a church often speak the same literal or cultural language as the people who live there. International churches help people from the heart without protocols, regardless of their own status and socio-economic position. The city of Rotterdam sees that too and I think it’s very good that they want to do more with this. Because these churches are really in the capillaries of the neighbourhood, they can also play a role if there are problems, by working together with the neighbourhood agent or a neighbourhood team’.

 

Looking back and download

Did you miss the presentation on Thursday? Watch it here:

Curious about the full report? You can download it here.