International Conferences

Our life finds its central source and inspiration in the international conferences, which we arrange each year around a particular theme in one of the countries of Europe, mostly in places of ecclesiastical, ecumenical, cultural and historical significance.

These meetings are organized by our regions in turn, and on behalf of the Fellowship as a whole. In these events, three to four hundred people meet together to experience something that we could not do in our local situations.

At the heart and core of each international conference of the Fellowship is daily worship and prayer. We normally begin each day with a morning office, and a healing service is also part of our week.

We celebrate the Eucharist in the conference centre and in local churches, and since our members come from many different churches, we translate all our services into different regional languages, so that everyone of us is enabled to understand.

Within this framework of worship we seek to understand the ecumenical situation together by hearing lectures from leading theologians and speakers, and sharing our reflections together in discussion groups.

We meet together in workshops and visit places of special interest, and we make an effort to meet local traditions and cultures. We seek to be inclusive and open to people of all ages, and young people make a special contribution to our life together.

From time to time, in the place of a larger international conference, some mini-conferences are arranged in different regions. As well as exploring a specific theme, these smaller gatherings offer more intimate opportunities to get to know one another better.

Our conferences have left their mark on the places where they have been held, and memorable lectures and liturgies have contributed to the pilgrimage of individual participants towards Christian unity and to the life of the Church in general.