Join with other churches across Europe for prayer and reflection on Climate Justice ahead of COP 26.
Started by American Church Paris, joined by American International Church in London and others, we are organising to offer a moment of prayer in places of worship between now and COP 26. We’ve provided a short prayer you can include in your worship.
To join efforts, sign up here.
Featuring Shane Claiborne – founder of Red Letter Christians
Tuesday 26 October 19h30-21h via Zoom.
Parkland. Las Vegas. Dallas. Orlando. San Bernardino. Paris. Charleston. Sutherland Springs. Newtown. These cities are now known for the people who were shot and killed in them.
More Americans have died from guns in the US in the last fifty years than in all the wars in American history. With less than 5% of the world’s population, the people of the US own nearly half the world’s guns. America also has the most annual gun deaths–homicide, suicide, and accidental gun deaths–at 105 per day, or more than 38,000 per year.
Some people say it’s a heart problem. Others say it’s a gun problem. Shane Claiborne believes it’s both!
Join us for a very special conversation with Shane as he examines one of most significant moral issues of our times…Violence. Come and discern what we can do as Christians to beat weapons of all varieties into gardening tools. Come and capture a vision of hope for a world that is weary of violence.
Shane Claiborne is a bestselling author, renowned activist, sought-after speaker, and self-proclaimed “recovering sinner.” He writes and speaks around the world about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus, and is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President, Executing Grace and Beating Guns. You can follow him on Twitter (@shaneclaiborne), on Facebook (ShaneClaiborne), and at www.redletterchristians.org.
Thurber Conversations are an adult community gathering and growth time that is open to all.
THE HAGUE (AICEME) – Representatives of AICEME member churches elected new officers for 2021-2022 at the Association’s annual general meeting held on 29 April 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual general meeting was held online.
The new Association officers for 2021-2022 are:
The new officers have assumed their responsibilities on 15 May 2021.
The Association membership also elected Clarissa Andrew (International Community Church of Surrey) and Jodi Fondell (American Church in Paris) as auditors.
The Association of International Churches in Europe and the Middle East (AICEME) is an association of Christian congregations that bear witness to the Gospel and serve Jesus Christ among English-speaking people throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Christmas Greetings from the Executive Committee
The AICEME Executive Committee wishes all AICEME pastors and their church communities a peaceful Christmas and a healthy transition into 2021.
We look forward to the day that we can connect with one another in person again. In the meantime, we hope that you feel encouraged by the below devotional, written by Chris Peterson (Stockholm), about creating space for our sadness and continuing to put our hope in the Lord.
In Christ,
Mark Vermaire (President), Paul McMinimy (Vice-President), Hanna Peterson (Secretary), Eric Ohlund (Treasurer) and Jennifer Mills-Knutsen (At Large-Member)
I wait for the Lord – an Advent devotional
Dear brothers and sisters,
This season will surely be different for all of us in some way. Each of us is living with some sense of loss and looking to God to lead us through. As we feel what we feel together it is good for us to name our sadness and to bring it out into the open before God. Sometimes in the church we have a hard time giving space for grief and sadness to be named in the community. It can feel like somehow we are doubting God, and not exercising our faith. We feel we should keep our chin up and hold it together.
But our Scriptures are full of people just like you and me, who found themselves waiting on God in difficult times. They spoke about it out loud and in the worshipping community. The Psalmist prays and sings to God, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord hear my voice!” He brings it all out before the Lord; nothing is held back. Israel as a people, collectively brought their deepest sorrows, hopes and dreams before the Lord trusting that God is attentive and listening. It is no mistake that our Bible is filled with voices that cry out to the Lord and clearly name what hurts and what is broken in us and our world. It is a first step in embracing what is real in us, and around us. We invite God into our reality, to do what God longs to do and that is to be with us, to join in our life as it is and infuse it with his love, his healing and his power for living.
Perhaps a good Advent practice this year would be to write in a journal what you are feeling, inviting God to meet you in that place. Or perhaps to speak with your children about what feels sad for you, and allow them to share what feels sad for them. Or to share with a friend or spouse. There is something powerful that can happen in us and our community when we are vulnerable with each other. We discover that we are not alone. God is with us, we are connected in our shared weakness and dependence on God. God’s power, as the Apostle Paul discovered so powerfully in his life, is made perfect in weakness.
Psalm 130, continues, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope…..O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.”
Dear brothers and sisters, let us hope in the Lord together this season. God is with us, and God will never let us go. May the love of Christ dwell deep in our hearts through faith as we wait for His coming.
Blessings,
Chris Peterson
THE HAGUE (AICEME) – Representatives of AICEME member churches elected new officers for 2020-2021 at the Association’s annual general meeting held on 30 April 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual general meeting was held online.
The new Association officers for 2020-2021 are:
Additionally, outgoing president Jennifer Mills-Knutsen (American International Church of London) will serve as an at-large member of the executive committee for 2020-2021.
The new officers assume their responsibilities on 15 May 2020.
The Association membership also elected Tim Stewart (International Church of Copenhagen) and Clarissa Andrew (International Community Church of Surrey) as auditors.
The Association of International Churches in Europe and the Middle East (AICEME) is an association of Christian congregations who bears witness to the Gospel and serves Jesus Christ among English-speaking people throughout Europe and the Middle East.
The Association of International Churches in Europe and the Middle East will hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, 30 April 2020.
The book of reports is now available for your review. Please take time to read the reports before the meeting. All reports and resolutions have been rendered into one file for easy downloading and printing.
The agenda includes approval of the 2021 budget, election of 2020-2021 Association officers, reports from the various Association activities, and other matters necessary for the operation of the Association. We will also take time to welcome new pastors and spouses and to bless those who leave the Association.
Date: Thursday, 30 April 2020
Location: Online via Zoom
Time: 10:00 – 11:30 CET
Presiding Officer: Association President Jennifer Mills-Knutsen
According to §9 of the Articles of Association, “each member congregation shall be entitled to two voting representatives.” Other pastors and spouses are welcome to join the meeting as guests.
To review the book of reports and receive details for the Zoom meeting, please contact the AICEME secretary.
The Association of International Churches in Europe and the Middle East is a registered corporation with the Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) in the Netherlands. Our corporation number is KVK 70624615.