Introduction
After the breakdown of the iron curtain, the former socialist countries have been confronted with radical social and economic changes which also had and have their effects on the witness and the work of the Churches. In 1994, CEC responded to the need for reorientation by convening - in co-operation with the former Unit IV of the World Council of Churches, The European Federation for Diaconia and Eurodiaconia -a consultation on the challenges for diaconia in Europe in Bratislava/Slovakia.
It was a landmark event bringing many churches, ecumenical movements and other diaconal bodies together across the region. The conference report "Towards a vision of diaconia in Europe" was a benchmark document, having become widely known as the "Bratislava Declaration". It was translated into many languages and found a considerable echo in churches and diaconal organisations as it could give constructive impulses to develop diaconal work on the European level.
The Bratislava Declaration had put before the churches the challenge to develop a "strategy for diaconia in Europe" to meet the rapidly growing and changing needs of our time:
"A strategy for diaconia in Europe will emphasise ecumenical co-operation between the different participants, from the local level to the international level. ... This includes, among others: strategic efforts to build a European platform or ‘round table’ which could promote reflection, spiritual dialogue, the sharing of experience, deepen analysis, co-ordinate resources and action and concentrate efforts on points of urgent need."
The governing bodies of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) have taken up this impulse. In its meeting in Barcelona, 20-24 March 1999, the Presidium of CEC accepted the proposal of the CEC Interim Commission "Churches in Solidarity" to develop the work in the area of diaconia "along the lines of a European Platform on Diaconia". In its meeting in September 1999 in Nyborg, the Central Committee of CEC confirmed these plans.
Since the first all European Diaconal Consultation held in Bratislava in 1994, there have been many rapid changes in the region and diaconia faces new challenges which have emerged in the past six years. There is a need for a wide dialogue about the nature of the challenges and the ways in which diaconia can meet them. The Conference of European Churches (CEC) has therefore launched the concept of a Diaconal Forum, which would enable a dialogue about new challenges, new tasks and new strategies
The Forum is not envisaged as a new structure but as a space for dialogue and for the development of analysis and reflection that would lead to new agreed priorities. It will not meet regularly but from time to time as needs emerge. It is essentially a collaborative venture, co-organised by CEC, Eurodiakonia and The European Contact Group on Urban Industrial Mission. Another cooperating partner is the Churches Commission on Migrants in Europe. The first meeting of the forum has taken place from Sept. 26 – 29, 2001 in Järvenpää/Finland.