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All 220 delegates of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) spent 5 days in considerations and hard working sessions in Budapest (July 3 to 8) aimed at the compilation of the new Constitution. The title of the Assembly was “And now, what are you waiting for?” In fact, the delegates didn’t hesitate to carry out a structural reorganization of the ecumenical network of European Churches, established in 1959. The need for renewal. “More than a mere structural reform, it is a question of reshaping our common identity within the project of a new constitution”, said Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, president of the Conference of European Churches in the opening remarks, referring to the process that began during the assembly in Lyon in 2009, which lead to the “Uppsala Report”, the draft constitution drawn up by the Revision Working Group. CEC is now called to address the present circumstances marked by ongoing transformations: “It is not our role to solve the problems of Europe”, the Metropolitan said. A root cause of the ongoing transformations is the economic downturn, which “affects all of us. We have had to face major challenges and more lie ahead in the coming days, but we must not demobilize”. The present framework. The Anglican Bishop of Panama, Rev. Julio E. Murray, who served as president of CLAI – the CEC corresponding body in Latin America – until a few months ago, expressed severe criticism to the neoliberal economic system, whose promises failed to come true, as “it was set up without rules nor limits”. “Global trade and investment can serve development goals. The problem is with unfair rules designed by affluent governments to advance their own commercial interests, often at the expense of farmers, business owners, laborers and people struggling to overcome poverty in developing countries”. He denounced: “a growing number of impoverished, marginalized and persecuted people along with other types of victims that the churches are giving some type of response”, also since the resources for charity services by the Churches are becoming less while at the same time “Christians are recognizing the need to become more active in the processes to denounce these facts and also seek for alternative answers”. Rev E. Murray shared some concrete answers and concluded: “The complexity of the problems and the magnitude of the challenges need to move us to recreate our Hope. It is therefore even more important for us to mutually encourage one another in our local congregations, churches and as members of the worldwide Ecumenical Community of churches and to take practical steps, take risks, with the help of the Holy Spirit and be a sign of hope for the world”. From Geneva to Brussels. The new constitution was adopted by a vote of 160 to seven, with seven abstentions (160/7/7), after three hearings, several interventions and countless amendment proposals. In the preamble to the newly adopted constitution, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) commits itself anew “to help the European Churches to share their spiritual life, to strengthen their common witness and service, and to promote the unity of the Church and peace in the world”. The most evident change is that CEC original offices that have been in Geneva, Switzerland since CEC’s founding in 1959 will be merged into the Conference’s location in Brussels, Belgium, which is also the seat of the Church and Society Commission. The decision was taken also – but not only – for problems related to budget. Other changes involve the CEC 40-member Central Committee, due to be replaced by a Governing Board of 20 members while the existing commissions that make up CEC will be restructured into a “more unified system”. The new constitution’s approach to “Organisations in Partnership” caused the “dismay” of some participants from associated organisations representing youth, women and other streams of the ecumenical movement. They voiced the “suspicion that this categorization, as defined in the document, would serve to disenfranchise these groups in comparison to the role of CEC member churches”. New presidency. The future began immediately upon the conclusion of the assembly, when the new Governing Board of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) gathered to elect the Anglican Bishop of Guildford, the Rev. Christopher Hill (Church of England) as the President of CEC (who concluded his term as vice-president), Rev. Karin Burstrand, from the Church of Sweden is one of the two vice-presidents along with Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, who stepped down as president.