I was privileged this summer to be able to attend the 13th Assembly of the Conference of European Churches. The Assembly was held at the International Congress Centre in Lyon, France with the theme Called to One Hope in Christ. Around 300 delegates from over 100 churches of Europe gathered for five days of worship, Bible study, discussion and debate over key themes challenging the Church at this present time.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the Assembly was the opportunity to hear the personal stories.
For instance, it is only two years since I attended the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Romania, when as part of the gathering we were asked to pay a carbon omission levy because of our air travel. At the Lyon Assembly a member of the Sibiu churches told how the levy was put toward a project between local churches and an environmental group and through this a small forest has been planted just outside the city and a renewal energy scheme has begun.
Whilst we were gathered in Lyon there was also the opportunity to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Conference of European Churches, to see how much work had been achieved in the years past, and how much more still lies to be done.
Of course, the Europe of 1959 was a very different place, with a divided and broken continent still struggling to find its feet even 14 years after the end of the Second World War. But the bridges built then between the churches and the peoples of East and West Europe had similar echoes to the challenges facing the church now, with the expansion of the European Union and with migration from the African and Asian continents dominating our thoughts.
And if the European issues surrounding the settled and the migrating, the rich and the poor, the employed and the unemployed, those whose rights are respected and those whose rights are put aside weren’t enough, we also focussed on the global debate about climate change and the financial crisis. Thankfully, the Assembly remained hopeful. As the final message stated: