Denominational associations Regional associations African-American Baptist Oriental Orthodox Eastern Protestant Finished Work Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostal The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions.
The 4th CEC assembly (1964) had to be held on a ship on the Baltic Sea owing to the difficulties of obtaining visas for delegates from eastern European countries.
Christian Krieger, from the Reformed Church in Alsace and Lorraine was elected President, in Novi Sad, Serbia.
The longstanding membership status of the Associated Organisations from all strands of the ecumenical movement was cancelled after a controversial debate by the 14th CEC Assembly in a second vote during a closed session requested by the Protestant Church in Germany, one of the main contributors to the CEC budget.
Frank-Dieter Fischbach was appointed by the Governing Board of CEC on 14 March 2024 as the new General Secretary, starting his role on 1 July 2024.
Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen was General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches until December 2023.
[2] General Secretary Very Revd Protopresbyter Heikki Theodoros Huttunen from the Orthodox Church of Finland succeeded Rev.
The former General Secretary (2005-2010) was the Venerable Colin Williams, formerly Archdeacon of Lancaster in the Church of England; he succeeded the Rev.
Recent annual plenary meetings of the Church and Society Commission have been held in El Escorial, Spain (2003), Wavre, Belgium (2004), Dunblane, Scotland (2005), Sigtuna, Sweden (2006), Etchmiadzin, Armenia (2007), Prague, Czech Republic (2008) and Nyborg, Denmark (2009).