Press release

Celebrating and Assessing Twenty Years of Freedom

People everywhere long for and celebrate freedom. Marking the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of Marxist-based totalitarian systems, which ruled for decades over the eastern part of Europe, Evandeoski Teoloski Fakultet in Osijek, Croatia is organising an international consultation on “Challenges for Church and Society in Post-communist Contexts. Celebrating and Assessing Twenty Years of Freedom”.

The dramatic tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the most powerful symbol of the division of Europe, signified the end of atheistic one-party regimes that kept under their grips hundreds of millions, caused indescribable suffering and countless victims. In addition to abuse of political power, economic devastation and ecological disaster, this oppressive ideology violated human rights, destroyed creativity, personal initiative and social responsibility, and created hopelessness and spiritual emptiness.

Report

Budget Report

Draft Programme of the Consultation

See the documents attached below:

Conference Programme version 1-1

Conference Programme

When the Iron Curtain Unraveled

(Source: Washington Post) 

By Gerard DeGroot
Sunday, September 6, 2009

THE YEAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

The Untold Story Behind The Fall of the Berlin Wall
By Michael Meyer
Scribner. 239 pp. $26

Friedrich Nietzsche once described an argument about history. “I have done that,” claims memory. “I cannot have done that,” pride retorts. Or, to put it differently: The past is what happened, history what we decide to remember. We mine the past for myths to buttress our present.

Oradea Declaration – October 1994

The Oradea Declaration

1. In October 1994 ninety-one evangelical Christian leaders and educators from across the world met for four days in Oradea, Romania, as a “Consultation on Theological Education and Leadership Development in Post-Communist Europe.” Under the theme, “Equipping for the Future,” we came together to demonstrate and strengthen our common faith in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; to foster collegial relationships between ourselves; to survey the critical issues which relate to enabling Christian leaders; to produce a declaration of vision, philosophy, and goals for theological education and leadership development in post-Communist Europe; and to establish a basis for common effort in response to our declaration.

Osijek Declaration – April 1991

INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF EVANGELICAL MISSION THEOLOGIANS FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, OSIJEK, YUGOSLAVIA, APRIL 1991

THE DECLARATION OF OSIJEK

“FREEDOM AND JUSTICE IN CHURCH STATE RELATIONSHIPS”

1. Preamble

We 85 participants representing the continental bodies in Africa, Asia and Latin America which form the International Fellowship of Evangelical Mission Theologians – with associates from North America and Europe – met at Osijek, Yugoslavia form 10 – 16 April in the 4^th Conference of this Fellowship (following Bangkok, Thailand, 1982; Tlayacapan, Mexico, 1984; and Kabare, Kenya, 1987).

Invitation to Feedback

As we have expressed in our press release, the Osijek consultation “Celebrating and Assessing 20 Years of Freedom,” 29-31 October 2009 is intended as a collective effort of “reflection and planning, leading to this interdisciplinary, ethically motivated international gathering.”

Therefore, we invite you to join us in this effort by suggesting:

- topics for discussion
- names of experts that could contribute to the conversation
- church and community leaders who could benefit from the exposure and interaction in this consultation
- potential sources of funding
- any other ideas that might enrich our conversation

Please add your suggestions as comments to this post. We appreciate your contribution.
We are in this together. This consultation will be as good as we will make it to be.