An independent Christian monthly magazine that does not mince its words: that is Reveil. Reveil describes itself as the most idiosyncratic faith magazine in the Netherlands. One reason for this is the fact that the editors of the interdenominational monthly magazine do not avoid confrontational and sometimes difficult topics. What about an atheist pastor? Or walk and sympathize with Palestinians and Jews in Israeli-occupied territory? In addition, the magazine is not easy to pigeonhole or compare with other Christian magazines.
- Meaning of Reveil
- Magazines for Christians
- Meetings for entrepreneurs
- Stimulating statements
- High-profile topics
- Reveil in corona time
- Connect critically
Meaning of Reveil
The title of the magazine already gives a glimpse of the content. ,Se réveiller, is the French verb for ,to wake up,, or ,to wake up,. The Christian nineteenth-century movement Réveil, unsurprisingly, marked the revival of the Reformed way of life. Inner change and a return to Christian norms and values played a major role in this.
Magazines for Christians
There are quite a few magazines that are specifically intended for the Christian reader. Like many magazines, they often choose one specific angle, and therefore a targeted target group. Eva, for example, is a magazine aimed at Christian women and pays a lot of attention to relationships. Daniël is a Christian youth magazine. BEAM is also a Christian magazine, published especially for young people by the EO. Another example is De Opwekking, which, like Reveil, is an interdenominational magazine, but specifically intended for the Pentecostal movement.
Meetings for entrepreneurs
Reveil has existed since 1960 and is published by communications agency Topic, on behalf of the Reveil Foundation. The magazine has 1,500 subscribers (2018) and is edited by Willemke Wieringa (the Netherlands’ first Christian family columnist) and Johan ten Brinke (director Topic). The magazine is not for profit and, according to the publisher, is ,made out of love,, but because it cannot exist solely on subscription fees, Reveil offers space to advertisers and there is also a business club. Especially for Christian entrepreneurs and business people. Meetings give visitors the opportunity to jointly delve into catchy themes and diabolical dilemmas. Such as Follow the money, follow the Lord: Does money fit into a Christian lifestyle at all?
Stimulating statements
Articles with headlines such as Then to hell or Forbidden for Christians at least arouse curiosity about Reveil’s approach. Why does the magazine like to provoke so much with such striking statements? The objective is to support Christians in ‘taking their position in family, society and church’. Friction and conflicting feelings are commonplace in these essential places. This means that less obvious matters of faith are also critically examined and described. You won’t easily find an open door in Reveil…
Source: Carlosalvarenga, Pixabay
High-profile topics
The editors of columns and articles in the magazine, some of which can also be read on the website, are happy to denounce things. Sometimes these are everyday things that you cannot easily link to religion. But sometimes also topics where belief and feeling can be contradictory.
Elsbeth Gruteke, for example. She is a preacher and presenter at EO radio and describes in her column (24-9-’18) how a philosopher claims that art is a replacement for religion. She believes his analysis is correct. People need comfort and direction, among other things, and she believes that this art of living is what everyone is looking for. With or without God. In a museum, but also in the church.
Henk Fonteyn describes for Reveil the experiences he gained when, on behalf of the World Council of Churches, he spent three months among Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank (25-3-’18). In his articles he says he is not pro or anti, but in favor of human rights. Yet he admits that he has more understanding and sympathy for the Israeli soldiers than his colleagues. Because of his past as a veteran, compared to some other volunteers who have the peace movement as a background.
Program maker and writer Bram Rebergen notes (11-6-’18) that the church is hot again, now that society has had to rely heavily on volunteers since the decentralization of youth care, among other things. The church, full of Christians and their charity, turns out to be very useful for this.
Katrien Ruitenburg wrote a free translation (7-11-’17) of an article by Michael Cheshire. The story focuses on a discussion surrounding Ted Haggart. This influential man was the founder and pastor of a church and was pilloried worldwide when it came to light that he had used drugs and committed homosexual acts. Michael Cheshire discusses the incident with a friend, who tells him he never wants to become a Christian. You Christians devour each other. Always has. And still.
What is it that makes us Christians such busybodies? That we are more concerned with critically following brothers and sisters than with proclaiming the gospel?’ Johan ten Brinke asks himself this question in an article (10-6-’17) about ordinary and ‘special’ churches.
Reveil in corona time
When the world is suffering from the consequences of the elusive corona virus in 2020, Reveil brings articles such as ,Corona, a punishment from God?, and ,Corona is not war,.
Connect critically
It is such statements and questions that are discussed in Reveil. Statements, opinions, events or facts that make people think. This invites you to look critically at yourself and your vision. And with compassion for others. No story has only one side and Reveil exposes that in crystal clear detail. Not the path of least resistance, but possibly the most effective route to connection.