“In the Light of Christ - Called to Hope” was the motto of the 9th General Assembly of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe, and it called 96 Protestant churches from Europe to Sibiu/Hermannstadt in Romania: from Iceland to Greece, from Finland to Portugal, Norway to Italy, and from Ireland to the Ukraine and Russia. 

At the invitation of the Protestant churches in Romania, delegates, experts, observers, ecumenical, local and special guests as well as representatives of partner organisations met between 27 August and 2 September 2024. They joined the members of the organising team, the press and the stewards. All in all, over 250 participants formed a large community. A packed schedule awaited the delegates during these days. Theological texts were adopted, future fields of work defined and a new Council elected for the next six years until the 10th Assembly in 2030. 

The following topics were discussed in plenary sessions and small groups: 

    • The practice and theology of the Lord’s Supper in the CPCE member churches

    • Christian Speaking of God from the perspective of Reformation churches

    • Church and Democracy

    • Gender, Sexuality, Marriage and Family

    • Interreligious dialogue in Europe in the context of the conflict in the Holy Land

    • The life of Member Churches as small minorities in diaspora situations

    • Migration and relationships with churches in Europe with migration background

Proposals for the future work of the CPCE were developed in future workshops and they include study processes on the topics of the Christian image of humans and on a ‘theology of change’ as well as initiating a doctrinal dialogue on the topic of ‘confessionality in the church communion’. Furthermore, the Council has been asked to find new ways of communicating and networking, and to also focus on the younger generation in the missional proclamation of faith. The ecumenical dialogues - in addition to the dialogues with Baptists, Roman Catholics and Anglicans, and also with the new migration churches in Europe - are to be deepened. The  work on the topic of church and democracy as well as migration is to be continued.

They were 6 days of heavy workloads, and some committees worked well into the night. Nevertheless, there was also time to get to know the region and the local people, and Sibiu and its host churches were a wonderful location for this encounter.

Pr. i.E. Martin Sauter and Anna O’Connor had the privilege to represent the Lutheran Church in Ireland as delegate and steward respectively. 

You can find the final report of the General Assembly here: https://cpce-assembly.eu

For further information on the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe you can find on their website: https://www.leuenberg.eu/