From 22 to 24 November, the CEC Governing Board met in Brussels for their first regular meeting since being elected at the 2018 Novi Sad General Assembly. The meetings opened with prayers led by CEC Vice-President Rt Rev. Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani at the Chapel for Europe, a multicultural and ecumenical space in the heart of Brussels.
The board worked on and approved the strategic plan for the coming five-year period, which focusses on promoting peace, justice and reconciliation in Europe, deepening church communion and ecumenical fellowship, and raising the voice of churches in Europe and toward the European Institutions.
As usual, the board took the opportunity to respond to important events and crises in the world and issued three public issues statements as a result:
- Written in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice (Poland), Act now for a future of hope calls for ambitious and urgent action from governments, the European Union, individuals, and churches to respond to the climate crises.
- The board also released a statement on United Nations efforts to adopt global compacts on migration and refugees. The process of developing and adopting these compacts are good examples of further establishing a process and regime of global governance in the areas of displacement and migration.
- Finally, with the Executive Committee of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, the board commemorated the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, with a statement affirming commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in Europe and around the world.
Throughout the meeting, the board took time for prayer in the various traditions of the Conference of European Churches.
Via CEC Newsletter