For Immediate Release
Two new national alliances and two new associates were warmly welcomed into the European Evangelical Alliance on Thursday – the first full day of the EEA’s 2005 assembly in Tavira, Portugal.
EEA members voted unanimously to accept the membership applications of the United Christian Council in Israel and the Protestant Evangelical Alliance in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EABH), raising the number of EEA-member alliances to 35.
Although Israel is geographically disjointed from Europe, attendees backed the membership for practical reasons.
“We have a passion for the Middle East and Africa, but Israel would not be able to connect very easily with the countries in that region for obvious practical reasons,” said Gordon Showell-Rogers, General Secretary of the EEA, who also explained that there currently is no regional alliance for national Evangelical groups in the Middle East for Israel to join anyway. “The place for Israeli Evangelicals to interface with other Evangelicals is clearly through Europe.”
Meanwhile, EEA voters also unanimously accepted the membership requests from the European Evangelical Accrediting Alliance – an agency that accredits schools of Christian higher education, and JANZ team international – a missions group that serves in several European countries. Both the EEAA and JANZ already have work across Europe associated closely with national Evangelical alliances.
In other business, the EEA members:
– adopted a “Towards a Healthy Alliance” document that provides guidelines and ideas for those forming a new alliance or examining the state of an existing alliance;
– were challenged to face the leadership, training, and communication roadblocks that may be hindering the growth of their organizations;
– adopted the proposed financial budget for 2006;
– and introduced the EEA Public Policy team that works to influence the European Union in Brussels.
The 2005 EEA Assembly follows the theme, “Gospel Relevance in Europe Today” and is being held in Tavira, Portugal. The annual assembly, which began on Wednesday, ends on Sunday, Oct. 23.
Contact Information:
http://www.worldevangelicalalliance.com/members/europe.htm
Full Report & Photos:
www.worldevangelicalalliance.com
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