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

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 taking.

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".

The survey results will be presented at a conference being organised by the CPCE in Bad Godesberg from 13 to 15 March 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 at www.leuenberg.eu.