Baarn, 11 February 2023 

Dearly beloved sister, brother, young person, 

In our 200-day letter of 3 November, we already announced that we would inform you again today about a number of issues. Because the Society belongs to all of us. We want to inform you about how we intend to pay attention to the three aspects of spiritual care: nearness, inspiration and delving; about changes in the group of district pastors; about the interpretation of the national Sunday Service and about a number of other points. 

The essentials: nearness, inspiration, delving 
The core of our work is to provide delving, nearness and inspiration. That is why we are very keen to invest in the familiar forms in which we can experience these essential elements. They are the foundation of our Society. And because of the challenging times we live in, they require a lot of attention, focus, investment and especially all of our collective efforts. At the same time, we showed in the video ‘Simplicity, direction and variation’ that more and more alternative forms of meetings are also emerging. We fully support this movement from within the organisation. There are opportunities for being more inviting with new forms of meetings for members and newly interested parties. So that we can make our ideas more visible in society. Allowing both the existing and the new to flourish requires a lot. That is why we are setting up the organisation in such a way that we can serve this movement as well as possible. 

New district pastors 
In recent months, there have been a number of changes in the group of district pastors. On 30 October, Brother Kier van der Wal stopped as district pastor of the North district (formerly the Hoogeveen district). In the months leading up to it, the pastors of that district had been thinking intensively about ‘what’ was to be succeeded, ‘what’ this might look like and ‘who’ might do it. A fascinating process. What needed to be followed up, turned out to be about connecting and inspiring, about being near to pastors and about coordinating all kinds of things. When asked how this could be realised, the desire was expressed to spread the responsibilities over several people. Sister Judith Masselman was therefore appointed as liaison between the district and the organisation. She takes part in the weekly meeting of the group of district pastors. In addition, Brother Robert Jalving has been appointed as pastor of the pastors, to be near to them. A coordinator is still being considered, as the spider in the web of the various communities. Brother Kier van der Wal, together with others, is going to focus even more on our apostolic music culture and how to keep it future-proof. On 11 November, Brother Eric-Jan Willekers was exempted in the district of Amstelveen. Brother Carlo Barendregt was already helping him and has now taken over all tasks. Brother Willekers will continue to work at the service centre and deal with legal matters, among other things. He will also continue to hold regular district meetings or Sunday Services. Brother Jan Zwart became district pastor of the Heemskerk district and is also pastor of the Alkmaar community. In the Harderwijk district, Brother Edwin de Wit has been helping Sister Annemarieke Meelker since 1 October and in the Eindhoven district, Brother Robert van der Woude is helping Sister Ineke Gerritse. In the Almelo district, Brother Bertus IJdens was released on 22 January; he is retiring. Brother Robert Schokker will help Sister Marieke van Driel as district pastor this year. At the same time, a process has been started to look for a long-term solution together. That not all districts are organised in the same way suits the variation in needs. We are very grateful for the way the ‘retired’ brothers have completed their work and how they have handed it over to people who want to carry it forward again with their love and passion. 

Monthly three forms of online inspiration 
Since the middle of last year, the general Sunday Service team has been trying out other Service forms. We are sure you have noticed. The reactions to this have been varied: from highly desirable to highly undesirable and everything in between. So again, a wide variety of needs. That is why this year, on the second Sunday of every month, we are offering three different forms: a general Sunday Service with the familiar rituals, from one of our buildings; a general reflection with less liturgy and from other locations; an interactive meeting in which you can participate. All three forms of meeting focus on the same theme: the theme of the Weekly Letter. We hope this variation will be enriching and provide more opportunities to be inspired. Note: the general Sunday Service and reflection are from 10.00-11.00, the interactive meeting is from 11.00-12.00. You can rewatch the three meetings until the subsequent monthly meetings. See also apgen.nl/onlineontmoetingen. 

Our buildings 
Discussions are taking place in an increasing number of Communities to find a future-proof way to form a community together. For many, the building and the Community are strongly linked. At the same time, there are Communities where more and more activities take place outside the building, and Communities where the building has become too big or no longer suits current needs. The starting point in the discussions is always the question: what does the community look like that we want to form together, now and in the future? Then we can think about suitable housing. If Communities want to discuss this, the Service Centre can provide support. Staff are happy to think along about possible scenarios where they can identify the associated costs and opportunities. Such discussions are ongoing in about 10 Communities, with the initiative always being taken by the Communities. 

What we promised before 
We wrote to you in the 200-day letter that we would look for a way to inform you about which Communities we are visiting. By now, you have hopefully noticed that this can be found in the weekly general announcements on apgen.nl under the heading Who's where? We also wanted to try to answer the frequently asked questions we received during the district meetings. You can find the questions and answers on our website. 
Finally, we promised to give you examples of new forms of meeting. As to inspire each other with these. During the New Year's Service, the children's Christmas Dedication and the ‘evening of lights’ were shown and we shared some more examples. We would very much like to show more new forms of meeting at Easter. Do you have a good example that can inspire others? Let us know at communicatie@apgen.nl. Communications staff will then contact you. 

Another letter 
Our intention is to send you one more letter before Easter, which will include how we experienced the past year. After Easter, we and the new Executive Board will look for ways to keep you involved in developments. 

How to reach us 
You can email us at nziere@apgen.nl and/or mvanderwal@apgen.nl. Mail can be sent to: Apostolic Society, for the attention of: N. Ziere and/or M. van der Wal, Postbus 116, 3740 AC Baarn. If you write to both of us, in principle one of us will respond. If you would like to speak to one of us, please make an appointment through Inge Poot: ipoot@apgen.nl. 

Kind regards, your 

sister Nanda Ziere 
brother Marten van der Wal