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. |
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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European Methodist Festival 2018 - When Dreams Become Reality
It was in 2012. The European Methodist Council had planned to organize a European Methodist Festival in Krakow (Poland). However, due to the fact that not enough people had registered for this event by a certain time, this Festival regretfully had to be cancelled. And the question was: In times of an increasing individualism and political segregation – would there ever again be such a European Methodist Festival?
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They acted their faith in love
The former Superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Macedonia and Secretary of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe, Wilhelm Nausner, passed away on Monday, 30 April 2018, at the age of 87. His wife Helene had gone before him just one day earlier.
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Listening - Learning - Growing Together
From March 8-11, 2018, the Executive Committee of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe met in Budapest (Hungary). The work on the theme «Communication and teambuilding» was an important part of the program – but there were also discussions on several topics.
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