The Governing Board of the Conference of European Churches held an ordinary meeting from 23 to 25 November in Brussels. At the meeting, preparations for the CEC 2018 General Assembly continued, which will be held in Novi Sad, Serbia.

One significant part of the preparations for the General Assembly is the consultation on the Open Letter on the Future of Europe. One consultation focusing on Southern Europe was held previously in Volos, Greece in October, while the next one will take place on 30 November in Prague, gathering members of churches from Central and Eastern Europe.

One other key decision of the board was to admit the Scottish Episcopal Church as a member of CEC. CEC’s membership now stands at 116 churches.

Members of the board reviewed and gave their endorsement of the final communique from the delegates of a conference on the protection of places of worship and holy sites held in Nicosia in early November this year.

In an effort to strengthen CEC’s peace work, the Governing Board approved the creation of a Peace Task Force that will support churches in Europe in their conflict prevention and mediation related activities. In connection to the Peace Task Force, a major conference is planned to take place in Paris in 2019, commemorating the anniversary of the 1919 Versailles treaty.

The board conducted regular business including the presentation of CEC’s president’s and general secretary’s reports, and the approval of the treasurer’s report and a budget for 2018. The Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe gave an overview of their recent work and an agreement for enhanced cooperation for the period 2017-2024 was adopted. The CEC executive staff team also presented their work plan for the coming year.

The next ordinary meeting of the Governing Board will take place in March 2018.

Henrik Hansson
CEC Communication Coordinator
Tel: +32 2 234 68 42
e-mail: hhansson@cec-kek.be
Website: www.ceceurope.org
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Twitter: @ceceurope