The Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe
The United Methodist Church in Central and Southern Europe consists of about 33'500 members and friends living in 16 countries: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Tunisia. The worship services are held in more than 20 languages, but there are many more languages and ways in which members of this Church share the love of God with their neighbors.
| History | |
| 1925 | Constitution of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe (member-countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Baltics, Russia, Germany, Switzerland) |
| 1936 | Constitution of the Central Conference in Germany. The other Annual Conferences of the Central Conference of Central Europe (Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Switzerland and Yugoslavia) fell back into their old Connection to the General Confernce and constituted the episcopal "Sprengel" of the General Conference. Bishop Nuelsen located his office in Geneva. It was the birth of the Geneva "Sprengel". |
| 1938 | Austria became annected to Hitler-Germany. Consequently, the Mission Conference in Austria was integrated into the German Central Conference. |
| 1939 | Integration of «Methodist Episcopal Church North», «Methodist Episcopal Church South» and «Protestant Methodist Church» in the USA. As a consequence, conferences in Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia were integrated in Geneva Sprengel. |
| 1945 | Geneva Sprengel now consisted of: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Madeira Mission, North Africa, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. |
| 1954 | On October 14, the constitutive meeting of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe took place in Brussels/Belgium. Ferdinand Sigg was elected as first Bishop of this Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. |
| 1966 | After the decease of Bishop Ferdinand Sigg (1965), District Superintendent Franz W. Schäfer was elected as the new Bishop of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. |
| 1969 | The Methodist Church in Belgium left the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe and assembled with other Churches to the United Protestant Church in Belgium in the course of of the following years. |
| 1989 | Heinrich Bolleter was elected new Bishop of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe as successor of Franz W. Schäfer. |
| 1998 | The Methodist Church in Albania was established and added to the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. |
| 2005 | Patrick Streiff was elected new Bishop of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. |
| 2006 | Bishop Patrick Streiff took office; Bishop Heinrich Bolleter retired. |
| 2010 | A United Methodist congregation in Brussels/Belgium was added to the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. In the same year, the congregational work in Croatia was discontinued. |
| 2011 | The Methodist Church in Romania was established and added to the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe. |
At a crossroads: Executive Committee of the Central Conference meets in Macedonia
From March 6-10, 2019, about 40 members and guests of the Executive Committee of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe of the UMC gathered in Monospitovo (Macedonia) for their annual meeting. The preparation of the election of a new bishop and the further work after the decisions of the called session of General Conference in late February 2019 were among the main themes of the gathering.
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Respect and trust in spite of differences
From January 11-13, 2019, the European and Eurasian delegates to the called session of General Conference of The United Methodist Church in St. Louis (USA) met in Braunfels (Germany).
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When a land of departure becomes a land of arrival
The very great uncertainty in Libya causes many migrants from countries to the south of the Sahara to go to Tunisia. Europe would be happy if these persons would stay in Tunisia and not even attempt to cross the Mediterranean in boats. However, implementing a European agenda is not necessarily one of Tunisia’s main priorities.
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Choosing Hope
From May 31 to June 5, 2018, the General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) took place in Novi Sad (Serbia). The thoughts and discussions on the theme «You shall be my witness» (Acts 1:8) culminated in an Assembly Message, which was recently sent to all CEC member churches – and which is worth being carefully studied and implemented.
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