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Newsletter Advent 2021
 

                                             

The new church year heralds the launch of this newsletter to keep everyone up to date with what’s going on in the CPCE – in German and English.

This first issue focuses on the most recent session of Council, which took place in Athens, and reports on the CPCE’s work processes. If you like what you see, please spread the word to anyone else whom you think might be interested.

Sincerely yours,

Mario Fischer
Notes from the Council
General Assembly 2024 in Sibiu, Romania
 

The Council has resolved that the 9th General Assembly of the CPCE is to be held in Sibiu, Romania, between late August and mid-September 2024. “Sibiu meets all the requirements for conducting such a major event, and it’s easily accessible,” says General Secretary Dr Mario Fischer. “Initial discussions have been very promising – the five member churches of the CPCE in Romania (Lutheran, Reformed and Methodist) are looking forward to meeting the delegates and experts and are ready to provide practical support!” The precise date for the General Assembly will be set in liaison with the host churches in 2022.
 
New members of Council: Rita Famos..... 

Rita Famos, a minister of the Regional Church in the Canton of Zurich and the President of the Council of the Protestant Church in Switzerland, was co-opted to the Council of the CPCE during its session in Athens for the remaining period of office until the General Assembly in 2024.

Revd Famos studied theology in Berne in Switzerland, Halle in Germany and Richmond in the United States. After being ordained in 1993, she worked as a parish pastor and as anchorwoman of the radio programme “Word for Sunday” of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRF). In 2013, she became the Head of Department for Special Pastoral Care at the Evangelical Reformed Regional Church in the Canton of Zurich.
... and Annette Gruschwitz

United Methodist Church minister Dr Annette Gruschwitz was also co-opted for the remaining period of office.

Revd Gruschwitz studied theology in Heidelberg, Leipzig and Reutlingen in Germany and Oslo in Norway. She has been a minister for the Methodist parishes of Kirchhain/Marburg and Lohra in Hesse, Germany, since 2019. She is in charge of inter-regional youth work and has been actively involved in various ecumenical contexts since 2014.
Member churches

On the occasion of its session, the Council took the chance to visit the member churches in Athens.

To see the self-presentation video of the German-speaking Evangelical Church in Greece, click here:
Video
 

One of the social projects run by the Greek Evangelical Church is called FAROS, an initiative to help unaccompanied boy refugees. For further information, click here:
Website Faros
Welcome Faros
News from CPCE's work processes
Meetings with migration churches in London
 

The CPCE’s Advisory Board on “Migration and Church Communion” recently visited the European section of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana (PCG) and the European Chapter of the Cherubim & Seraphim Churches in London, which also included signing a “Letter of Intent”. You can find further information, background material and images on our website.
 
Networking “Euro-orphans” projects
 

Numerous children are growing up without parents in eastern (and to some extent also southern) Europe, dubbed “Euro-orphans” by the international press. What happens to these children when their parents go to work abroad indefinitely? The CPCE is working with the Gustav Adolf Foundation to support various projects run by churches for these children and their families in eight different European countries. The managers of these projects have now met for the first time. Read more about it.

 
Covid-19 pandemic

Following the publication in February 2021 of the CPCE’s guide to the theological and ethical challenges presented by the pandemic and church responses, the member churches’ officers in charge of dealing with the pandemic met for discussions at two consultations. You can access the presentations and other material here.
Dates for your diaries
Digital Academy

Meetings of an online academy examining “Protestantism between Nationalism and Cosmopolitism”, conducted in English, are taking place approximately every two weeks until 10 February 2022.

Next session: Thursday, 2 December 2021 at 6 p.m. The series will culminate in a conference to be held in Vienna during May 2022. You can find the full programme for this “Protestant Forum for Young Theology in Europe” here:

Website Young Theology
Ecumenical monthly meeting

What are the new laws on religion in France or Denmark? What do we know about the refugee situation in eastern Poland? How are preparations for the general assemblies of the ecumenical organisations coming along? The officers for ecumenical and international relations in the CPCE’s member churches are meeting to touch base once a month via videoconference. If you’d be interested in taking part, please email Oliver Engelhardt at o.engelhardt@leuenberg.eu to sign up.
Next session:
Wednesday, 1 December 2021

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