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The CPCE Council highlights the lasting significance of Nicaea’s Trinitarian confession, reflects self-critically on the relationship between church and political power, and calls for renewed efforts toward a common Easter date. The text is available in English, German, French, Italian, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian.

Around 30 representatives from 13 countries came together, accompanied by joint worship services in various languages. The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia and the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia, as host churches, helped to prepare the Council meeting, for which we are very grateful!

The meeting was dominated by serious topics: the effects of the war in Ukraine, the CPCE's financial challenges and questions about the future of the church (‘theology of change’, the pastoral profession, the role of women in ministry). The Council also discussed progress in ecumenical dialogues and issues of migration and interculturality in European churches.

Reports were given on extensive aid projects by the Gustav Adolf Werk, especially for so-called ‘Euro orphans’. In addition, a statement was prepared on the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The next General Assembly will take place in 2031. It was the last Council meeting for General Secretary Mario Fischer; his successor will be Susanne Schenk.

The Advisory Board on Ethics met in Vienna. On behalf of the Council, it will develop a guide with the working title ‘Being Church Together in Times of Uncertainty.’ It will address current situations of uncertainty, such as the climate crisis, the threat of war and defence readiness, as well as the question of which images and media we can trust. It will ask what consequences this has for the psyche and distributional justice in society and what role the churches can play in this context. The guidance document is expected to be published in the first half of 2027.

On 8 November 2025, Dr Cornelia Richter was installed as Bishop of the Protetstant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria. The professor of theology at the University of Bonn is the first woman to hold this office. Her predecessor, Michael Chalupka, was given a ceremonial farewell during the same service. The public broadcast company ORF brought the service on television. Foto: B. Fromman

On 24 November 2025, CEPPLE, one of the regional groups of the CPCE celebrated its 75^th anniversary. Next to a solemn worship service certain aspects of the topic „Church and Democracy” were discussed.

We are delighted to announce that our newly designed website will be available shortly. The aim of the redesign was to create a more appealing and clearly structured online experience that immediately conveys who we are and what motivates us.

With more comprehensible texts and lots of photos, we want to communicate even better in future the added value we offer both to our member churches and to interested visitors. An important element is the bookshop and download area, whose filter functions are designed to make it easier to search for CPCE documents.

The design also incorporates elements of church art, specifically stained glass windows. A few final details are still being completed, but we are now in the finalisation phase.