Building spiritual bridges and new links between the Balkans and the rest of Europe

The seventh day of the session of the General Assembly of the Conference of the European Churches, on 3 June 2018, passed in the sign of worship that was held in the morning in churches of Novi Sad and its suburbs, as well as in the procession held on the Quay.

The meeting with the host Churches (The Churches which are members of the CEC in Serbia – including the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Churches in Vojvodina; The Reformed Christian Church in Serbia and Montenegro, Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Serbia) was enhanced with the attendance of delegates of the General Assembly to  divine services of these Churches and communities in Novi Sad and suburbs. The Orthodox faithful from Constantinople, Russia, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Albania, Estonia, Finland attended the Divine Liturgy in Nicholas Church in Novi Sad, while the participants of the General Assembly of the CEC who are Roman Catholic participated in the service celebrated the high Mass in the Cathedral of Novi Sad; Anglicans in the chapel in the Master Center; Methodists in the Headquarters of that Church at Str. Lukijana Musicki 7, and for the faithful of the Reformed Church the service was held in the church in Maradik, while believers of the Slovak Evangelical Church gathered at the church at Str. Jovana Subotica.

In the afternoon, at the Congress hall of the Master-Centre, guests and participants of the General Assembly held a debate on Christian presence and witness in European future. Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, Bishop Peter Bose-Huber from the Evangelical Church in Germany and Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs , Zoran Djordjevic, began with the discussion aiming at the vision of the future and launching dialogue between main collocutors and leadership of the CEC.

Procession through the city

The participants of the General Assembly of the Conference of the European Churches participated in the procession that started at the monument Family, where Petar Djudjev, Director of the History Archives of Novi Sad and priest Heiki Hutunen, Secretary General of the CEC, addressed the huge gathering.

The procession went below the Varadin Bridge and finished nearby the new Zezelj Bridge, beside which four trees symbolizing hope, life and love were planted. Both bridges were destroyed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. The Varadin Bridge was restored in 2000 and the New Zezelj Bridge was opened at the beginning of this year.