Protestant church in Boechout refuses its hall to a group linked to Go Church and warns other congregations
An organisation using a different name wanted to rent the church on Sunday afternoons; only after some research did the link with the controversial youth church emerge.
The United Protestant Church (VPK) in Boechout is warning other Protestant churches that the controversial Go Church is looking for venues under a different name, VRT NWS reports. On 29 October the church received a request from an organisation called PSCI, which wanted to rent the building on Sunday afternoons for services. Board chairman Gunther Ginckels says he only discovered after an online search that PSCI is linked to Go Church. HLN also reports that the church became suspicious and that the rental will not go ahead.
Ginckels says Go Church is not welcome. The church replied that Christian believers are welcome at its own services, but that it does not rent out its premises. The VPK informed the Protestant synod and the Boechout municipal council. According to HLN, Ginckels is urging other church communities to be vigilant.
The warning follows an investigation by VRT NWS Pano, broadcast on 21 October, into abuses against members of Go Church. According to the public broadcaster, several organisations and local authorities have since ended their cooperation with the church.