The municipality of Tilburg will investigate whether church services can be held in the Praise church and at other locations in the city. The municipality announced this in a letter to the council after the arrest of faith healer Tom de Wal last weekend.
According to the municipality, the Praise church on the Apennijnenweg has been on the radar for some time, but due to the arrest of faith healer Tom de Wal, they are now delving deeper into it. “These developments have made us think that you need to arrange things properly as a municipality,” explains a spokesperson.
The building where Praise holds church services is designated as ‘social’ according to the environmental plan. “At other religious institutions within the municipality, the specific function designation ‘religion’ is present,” the municipality writes in the letter to the municipal council.
Social destiny
The lack of this function designation is a reason for the municipality to investigate whether church services may be held at Praise. The municipality will not only conduct research at this church, but also at other religious locations in the city that have a social purpose.
The municipality does not want to share which locations are involved, to prevent unrest there. A spokesperson emphasizes that they will conduct a thorough study into what exactly is included in the environmental plans for these locations.
“We will consult with the locations. A religious location may be appropriate with minor adjustments in an environmental plan. If it really does not fit in the plan, they may have to leave, but we must first investigate it thoroughly,” says a spokesperson.
‘Remarkable’
Endowed Professor of Law and Religion Paul van Sasse van IJsselt finds it remarkable that the municipality is announcing an investigation into those locations. According to him, it happens more often that locations have a social purpose and worship services are held there without any problems. “For example, there are migrant churches that do not have a location themselves and rent buildings or spaces for that purpose,” he says.
Would you like to hear what the healing and deliverance services are like? Then listen to the podcast Op Hoop van Zegen here. In the new episode we update you on the events of last weekend and help you better understand Frontrunners’ beliefs about sexual impurity.
‘No religious gathering’
In the letter to the council, the municipality also explains how they ended the healing service of Frontrunners Ministries on Friday evening. According to the municipality, this was an event and not a religious gathering to which the protection of freedom of religion applies.
For example, visitors could reserve free tickets for the healing services for Friday and Saturday. According to the municipality, this meant that it was not an open church service, but a private meeting for which an admission ticket was required.
In addition, according to the municipality, the service could also be labeled as an event, because it would first take place in a Van der Valk hotel in Eindhoven. There, events fall under normal business operations, which, according to the municipality, indicates that De Wal’s service was not a church service, but an event.
‘No intervention on content’
On the day itself, Frontrunners Ministries moved the meeting to Tilburg. The municipality did not hear this from the organization, but through media reports. “We didn’t know what kind of meeting it was, how many people would come and what that would mean for safety,” the spokesperson said.
The municipality emphasizes that the intervention was not about the content of the meeting. “As long as activities are within the law, we do not assess the content. But if rules are not followed and we cannot make a safety assessment, we must intervene,” says the spokesperson.
On our dossier page you can read all the stories about the controversial faith healer Tom de Wal.
Response Praise
Pastor John Dibbets of Praise Tilburg is stunned by the investigation announced by the municipality. “We asked the landlord at the time whether what we are doing conflicts with the environmental plan and that turned out not to be the case. We have a social and social purpose and that is how we are committed to it,” he says.
According to Dibbets, Friday was a church service, not an event. “We ask via Eventbrite how many people are coming, so that it remains safe. No tickets are sold for profit, it is purely organizational.”
He calls the media attention and the municipality’s investigation heavy. “It feels like a personal attack on Tom and on our church. It is unbelievable that freedom of religion and expression is being set aside in this way. This has major consequences for our church and other religious communities in the Netherlands.”