(Iasi, Romania, Sunday, 22 October, 2000) - The Conference of European Churches (CEC) has accepted the warm invitation of the Church of Norway to hold its 12^th Assembly in Nidaros/Trondheim, 2003.

The Assembly, which was last held in Graz in 1997, in conjunction with the Second European Ecumenical Assembly, will be held in the same year as the 850^th anniversary of the Archbishop's See of Nidaros.

The Central Committee also agreed that the theme for the Assembly would be "Jesus Christ heals and reconciles - Our witness in Europe". The meeting felt that this theme would enable the assembly to take up some of the thematic from the Graz Assembly, which majored on the theme of reconciliation, while being open enough to allow debate across the whole gamut of issues which fall in the CEC agenda.

In order that churches can already plan the dates in the diary, the Central Committee has determined that the Assembly will be held from Wednesday, 3 September until Tuesday, 9 September. It is expected that on Sunday, 7 September participants will visit churches and parishes throughout the area of the Diocese. In issuing the invitation on behalf of the Church of Norway, the Rev Berit Lanke, herself from Trondheim, assured the Assembly of a very warm welcome and the best of facilities for the holding of this important gathering.

While agreeing both the year and the date, the Central Committee was very aware that the financial implications of holding the Assembly in 2003 would depend on the response of member churches to the financing of the venture, which constitutionally must be held every six years. Indeed the decision to go ahead in 2003 is conditional on funding being secured. The meeting urged member churches to pay at least the minimum membership fee in order that the Assembly might be fully representative. Otherwise it may be necessary to restrict travel subsidies for some delegates. Churches will also be urged to consider sponsoring a delegate from a church which is unable to pay the minimum fee, which currently varies between Sfr 500.- and Sfr 1,000.