Churches to Identify Europe's Most Urgent Social Challenges

The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) is asking its 105 member churches to take part in a new internet survey to identify some of Europe's most pressing social challenges.

The survey, initiated by the CPCE General Assembly in 2006, is part of an ongoing project to discern new social challenges for Protestant churches in Europe today.

The project involves more than 30 young people from 11 European countries in identifying the challenges as well as the practical responses that the churches should be having.

The findings of the online survey will add to the outcomes of conversations that have taken place with Christians involved in parish work, diakonia and social work across Europe to sound out the mood among Europe's Protestant churches.

The President of the CPCE, Pastor Thomas Wipf, said the involvement of member churches in the study work is an "abiding strength" of the CPCE.

"As a community of Protestant Churches we are a church from below," said Wipf, who added that it was very important to involve the grassroots in order to present "credible and tangible results."

Initial impressions from the survey will be presented at a conference, which is being organized by the CPCE in Bad Godesberg on March 13-15, 2008, in collaboration with the Evangelical Academy of Bonn–Bad Godesberg.

The final results of the survey will be published at the end of June on the CPCE's website, www.leuenberg.eu.