Topic Overview:

• Editorial
  
• General Assembly 2024
  
• News From the Member Churches
  
• News From the Head Office
• Events
• Book Introduction

In a series of videos, the Protestant Church in Switzerland (EKS) presents important topics at the CPCE General Assembly, as well as the delegation of the EKS at the General Assembly.

More documents for the General Assembly are now available! Delegates should have received an email with login details to access the study texts and documents to be presented at the General Assembly in Sibiu. If you are a participant and have not received such an email, or are having problems logging in to the website, please reach out directly to the Head Office at sekretariat@leuenberg.eu. Check the “Documents” tab regularly as we will continue to upload more documents as they become available.

In order to be able to work well, moderators, secretaries and experts are active within the 19 working groups of the General Assembly in Sibiu. As the work in the text and focus groups as well as in the future workshops should not only be a personally fruitful exchange, but also require concrete results at the end, both experts (July 18) and the moderators and secretaries (August 6) were invited to briefings. At these digital meetings, which were chaired by Secretary General Mario Fischer, those present discussed both the objectives of the work and the formal procedures. We are now looking forward to the actual work.

Thank you for taking on these tasks!

The Hungarian-speaking Reformed CPCE member churches are withdrawing their delegates for the 9th CPCE General Assembly in protest at the fact that the agenda of the General Assembly includes a report on the study process "Gender - Sexuality - Marriage - Family" initiated by the last General Assembly in 2018. In the run-up to the decision, the CPCE looked for alternative solutions and CPCE General Secretary Mario Fischer travelled to Cluj-Napoca and spoke with the church leaders. This will regrettably result in the absence of important voices from the Reformed world and from this region at the General Assembly.

Pastor Emmanuelle Seyboldt, President of the United Protestant Church of France (EPUdF), and Christian Albecker, President of the Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine (UEPAL) and member of the CPCE Council, visited Jerusalem from 17-19 July 2024 to express the solidarity of the Lutheran and Reformed churches with Christians in Palestine and Israel and with all people in these war-torn areas.

The Settlements of the Unity of Brethren (Moravian Church) were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decided this on Friday 26th July at its 46th meeting in New Delhi, India. The Moravian Church nominated a serious of its traditional settlements, including Herrnhut in Germany (one of the European Cities of the Reformation), Gracehill in Northern Ireland, Bethlehem in Pennsylvania (USA) and Christiansfeld in Denmark.

At the beginning of the summer, two Council members retired from important positions in their home churches.

Christian Albecker was President of the Union of Protestant Churches in Alsace and Lorraine (UEPAL) for 10 years. In this role, he was also President of the Conference of Churches on the Rhine, a regional group of the CPCE. Albecker was elected to the CPCE Council at the 2018 General Assembly. In all his functions, he has strengthened the fellowship between the Protestant churches and tirelessly established and cultivated relationships across borders.

Michael Martin was a member of the church council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (ELKB) and headed the "Ecumenism and Church Life" department in the church office of the ELKB for 20 years. In this role, Martin also headed the CPCE Regional Group South East Europe, which over the years has created many good connections and trusting relationships between the churches in the South East Europe region.

Both gentlemen will remain members of the CPCE Council until it is re-elected at the upcoming General Assembly in Sibiu/Hermannstadt. 

More Information on Albecker: https://www.uepal.fr/culte-depart-christian-albecker/

More Information on Martin: https://www.bayern-evangelisch.de/verabschiedung-michael-martin.php

In June 2024, the CPCE office had to say goodbye to two student employees.

Maria Heidecker, M.A. has supported the office with administrative tasks since January 2023 and was also actively involved in presenting the CPCE at the German Protestant Church Congress in Nuremberg (2023). As a church musician, she most recently coordinated the liturgical work for the CPCE General Assembly and designed the relevant service book. Ms. Heidecker will now begin a practicum of church music in the Reformation city of Augsburg.

Future teacher Laurits Stoffers has been working in the CPCE office since January 2024, dealing with mailings, invoicing and other office work, and has been an important help during the strenuous preparations for the General Assembly. He plans to go to the USA to study.

We wish them both God's blessing on their future journey and fond memories of their time at the CPCE office.

Today, especially in Latin America, it is urgent to revitalize and sustain a process of confessional discernment in faith communities and their institutions. Therefore, the Ecumenical Network for Theological Education Foundation (REET), responsible for training pastors of some CPCE member churches in Latin America, holds the International Colloquium “Discerning and Confessing TODAY. In the light of the Theological Declaration of Barmen and the Accra Confession”, which will take place from August 23 to 25 of this year in Buenos Aires.

The program can be found here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EQyI7KBLF5dXYTzDSCCZ_RJWXOKQufc9/view