Dieter Heidtmann of the Evangelic Church of Württemberg, in Germany, is the new executive secretary of the “Church and Society” Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). He comes to the CEC from the Community of the Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), an association of 103 Lutheran, Reformed and Methodist churches that now live in full communion after the signing of the Leuenberg accord in 1973. The new secretary is 41 years old. He studied theology at Tübingen, Bonn and Oxford and worked for the Evangelic Mission in Stuttgart. In Brussels, where the Commission is based, he will also deal with social and ethical questions, both on behalf of the CEC and the CPCE. In this regard the CPCE general secretary declared that “this new form of collaboration can reinforce dialogue between the Churches and the European institutions”. The entry of the new executive secretary took place in Brussels on 21 September, in the course of the Consultation of the secretaries of the “Church and Society” Commissions of the various European Episcopal Conferences, during which the role of the Churches in post-secular society was discussed. The CEC represents 125 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic churches. The Catholic Church, without being a member, actively cooperates with it The CEC also joined with the World Council of Churches (WCC), which on 21 September promoted in liaison with the United Nations – an “International Day for Peace” to which many Christian leaders lent their support, from Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. Keith Clements, general secretary of CEC, also backed the initiative, and released a video message via Internet. Clements recalls that when the USA decided to declare war on Iraq, a delegation of the North American Christian Churches visited Europe to ask European leaders not to support the US-backed war against Iraq and to find a non-violent solution to the conflict. “Today someone could say to me: ‘you’ve failed, haven’t you? The Churches failed because they failed to stop the war’. But I don’t think that’s so”. Working for the prophecy of peace to be fulfilled in the world said Clements “is not like pressing the button of a mechanism that produces instant effects. It’s more like casting a seed in a field or pouring a drop of water into the soil and, in time, producing life”.
