Dear members of Church and Peace, dear friends,
We share with you the sad message that our dear friend and vice-chair until last year Kees Nieuwerth passed away last Friday, on June 20, 2025.
Kees was a restlessly committed man of peace, striving for non-violence and for a compassionate coexistence in this world. He was a deeply spiritual Quaker, a competent expert and activist for justice and the integrity of creation.
Kees represented Church and Peace at the Conference of European Churches, where for years, he moderated the Thematic Reference Group on „Ecological and economic justice and a sustainable future “and co-published the CEC document entitled “Every Part of Creation Matters”. He always raised the voice of the Historic Peace Churches in the meetings of the World Council of Churches, the last time 2022 at the WCC Assembly at Karlsruhe as vice-president of the Council of Churches in the Netherlands, where he was involved in many events in and outside the programme of the Assembly.
In recent years, Kees has as well been particularly committed to transferring the concept of “Rethinking Security” to the political situation in the Netherlands, which was presented in Amersfoort in September 2024.
His deeply human presence, his humour and his joy in nature as a divine creation were inspiring. Board meetings via Zoom were naturally interrupted so that Kees could feed his animals before sunset.
Kees will be buried surrounded by his family on Friday morning. Our thoughts turn to them and the loved ones who mourn him.
Let us remember him in love and gratitude and hold him in the Light.
Antje Heider-Rottwilm, Chair
