Who are we ?

The Antwerp International Protestant Church is an interdenominational, English speaking congregation, established in 1962.

We are Christians from many different Christian churches. We come from Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Romania, Scandanavia, Singapore, South Africa, South America, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zimbabwe. In short, we are a congregation that reflects the world-wide nature of the Church of Jesus Christ.

What draws us together is our common confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, our service in his name to the world around us, and the need for Christian worship in English for the many English speakers and others who make the Antwerp area their home, whether for a short time or permanently.

We have no building to call our own, yet we worship in one of the finest facilities in Antwerp and have enough classrooms for our Sunday school classes. We have no denominational ties, yet we are connected to nearly all the major denominations of the world.

We are mature Christians.
We are novices.
We are Protestant and Catholic worshipping together.
We are conservative -- We are liberal.
We are traditional and old fashioned.
We are contemporary and progressive.
We are top level corporate executives.
We are refugees.
We are a few individuals.
We are the world.
We are a congregation with the energy and desire to do more for God's kingdom.

Email Pastor Steven at aipchurch@pandora.be

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Church History

A Brief History of the International (American) Protestant Church of Antwerp
The American Protestant Church of Antwerp held its first worship service in the Belgian Methodist Church on Sunday, March 25, 1962. Five families formed the original charter membership and during the first year of the congregation’s life, pastoral guidance and leadership were provided by the Rev. David Williams who was then the minister of the American Protestant Church of Brussels.

In 1963 the Rev. William Cruikshank became the first ordained pastor, serving the fledgling congregation until 1965. 12 other pastors have served the church since then. These were: the Rev. H. Kimbal Jones, 1965-67, the Rev. Gilbert T. Bremicker, 1967-1970, the Rev. Dr. Wesley Hager, 1970-1975, the Rev. Dr. Lawrence Schwarz, 1976-1979, the Rev. John Refsell, 1979-1982, the Rev. Dr. Daniel Durway, 1982-1984, the Rev. Walter Kortrey, 1984-1988, the Rev. Dr. George Vanderclip, 1988-1990, the Rev. Harold Chapman, 1990-1996, the Rev. Walter Taylor, 1997-2000, the Rev. Troy Bowers, 2001-2003, the Rev. Steven Swanson, 2004-present.

Church services and Sunday School sessions were held in a home on Gounodstraat during the first two years of the congregation’s life, when the membership stood at about fifteen families. In March 1964, on the congregation’s second anniversary, a move to larger quarters in the then British Sailors’ Society building on the Italialei, resulted in significant growth in membership and activity. After a period of nine years on the Italialei, the worship center moved to the Servio Club on Jacob Jordaenstraat where it remained until the late seventies when the Swedish Seamen’s Chapel and Center on the Noorderlaan become its home. In the summer of 1987, the congregation began worshipping in the cafeteria of the Antwerp International School in Ekeren. In the autumn of 1992 the congregation moved into the newly constructed Fine Arts Center at the Antwerp International School where it is currently worshipping.

Today, as at the church’s founding, a strong spirit of ecumenism prevails. The present membership includes people from many Protestant denominations, along with Roman Catholics, Armenian Orthodox and others. As one former pastor said,

"...we are something like the New Testament Church in Jerusalem after the day of Pentecost. We are small in number, we come from many different parts of the world – our worship customs may differ, but here in our community we are one in Christ and all our differences fall away as we worship Him together."