Introduction of the Civic Association the Ecumenical Forum of Christian Women in the Czech Republic (EFCW CR)
The EFCWCR was established in 2003, with most of its members being members of the former Women´s Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, which came to being in 1992. Originally the Women´s Committee was designed to become a community of several women only, representing member churches of the ECC.
Since the very beginning, the members of the Committee, who had been delegated by their churches, tried to experience ecumenism in practice, precious relationships were established among the Committee members. In addition, individual members of the Committee brought other women with interest in ecumenism, good relations, and in exploring new things. With new women coming, the original committee was enlarged. The Constitution of the ECC allowed for such enlargement, and with more members the Committee was more active and capable of carrying out important tasks.
In 1995 the EUNIKA (biblical name Eunice) project was started in order to help promote broadening and establishing good contacts among women in various countries of Central Europe. We felt that after a long period of totalitarian regime, when the relations among countries and churches had not been supported and developed, it was necessary for action to strengthen mutual relations among individuals, so that they could feel close to one another. At that time we held several meetings, domestic, or with the participation of women from abroad. We organized humanitarian aid for Rumania with the financial support of the women from the Presbyterian Church of the USA, which enabled us to transport the collected things to the destination. After collecting clothing, we sorted and packed it, then loaded it into a van and sent it to Transylvania (Cluj and its neighborhood). On the Rumanian side we were helped by Rumanian women from the Reformed and Roman Catholic churches, who coordinated the distribution of the clothing among people in need, for whom our aid had been designed.
So far we have organized twenty events within the EUNIKA project, the latest was EUNIKA XX – a meeting on the occasion of the twentieth event, which also took place to commemorate ten years of the project´s existence. The festive meeting was held in the evangelical congregation in Prague – Vinohrady, where the first EUNIKA meeting had taken place. The project continues.
The latest big event that we organized, at the time when we were still the Women´s Committee of the ECC, was the General Assembly of the Ecumenical Forum of European Christian Women (EFECW). The representatives of this European body, which was established in 1982, showed interest in holding their General Assembly in the Czech Republic in 2002. And the Assembly did take place in Čelákovice (a town about 30 km from Prague). It was just two weeks after huge floods in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. In spite of the floods the GA was a successful event. The cooperation with foreign participation was perfect.
In 2003 the women´s community left the ECC, and registered as a separate civic association. The reason for the separation was a newly adopted Constitution of the ECC, which defined a concept of its Committees in a different way. In the case of the Women´s Committee it meant that each of the member or cooperating churches could delegate one woman only to the Committee. We would have been very sorry if we had had to dissolve our community, which had been formed for more than 10 years, and in 2003, it was already a well established ecumenical congregation having been set up by women of varying ages and professional orientations from various churches and various places in the Czech Republic. We feel that we are connected through something stronger that can overcome the above differences. Besides, we needed a large portion of independence in decision-making, and a free hand for the events that we saw ahead of us as necessary and useful.
At present this civic association has forty-four members and a number of unregistered women, who are called “Friends“of the Forum. We meet regularly about five times per year. In addition, we take part in other, mostly ecumenical events. Among these additional meetings was a meeting of Czech and Austrian women in South Bohemia early in the spring of 2005. It was filled with discussions on given topics and a sharing e of experiences. We enjoyed making a trip along Czech-Austrian border.
In June 2005 the members of this group took an active part in an international ecumenical event that was held in Prague and was entitled Meeting of Christians 2005. Our contribution to the official program was a kind of Bible study in St. Havel´s Church in the Prague´s Old Town with a lively dialogue of two female theologians in reference to the main topic of the meeting, namely “The Inviting to Hope“. In addition, at the vicarage of the Church of St. Mary before the Týn at the Old Town Square, we set up a small refreshments centre. This was an ”Oasis“ for visitors of the meeting. On the occasion of that meeting we issued a German version of the brochure entitled Women in the Czech History. The English version was published in 2002.
The Forum has got involved in the Project of the Catholic Charity in Ostrava (Moravia), which is focused on “distance adoption of children“. This organization arranged the adoption of an eight year old Ukrainian girl Maria from Ruthenia for us (from Carpatho-Ukraine).
Our contacts with Slovak women have existed for a long time. We know about one another and are in permanent touch.
The EFCWCR, as was already said, is integrated in the EFECW, whose head office is in Brussels. The EFECW intends to extend eastwards; in this respect the Czech Forum may be a good and reliable partner in light of its geographical position as well as language. We would like to continue our meetings with Austrian and German women. We have been offered cooperation with women from the Presbyterian Church in the USA. Because of so great a distance between the two countries, most probably the contacts will not be as personal as those with European women.
In any case it is good to be in contact with women in other countries in order to share experiences and to learn more about and from one another. The women of the Presbytarian Church of the USA issue The Horizon, a periodical containing articles and theological reflections and studies. The American women suggest that both they and we might concentrate on certain articles, and exchange opinions and comments on them. Currently we are waiting to receive this year´s first issue of The Horizon.
In May this year several women are going for a study trip to Strasburg. They want to know that city with rich history and of great historical value. Strasburg has become an important European political center. They are looking forward to meeting a local group of women with ecumenical orientation.
Another study trip is planned for the year 2007 to Scandinavia. Planning is already underway.
This is our past, present and future. We believe that our staying together is meaningful, and we feel that our establishing and developing the Forum was and is not only a task for us, but also a promise.
The text was prepared by Naděje Mandysová, President of EFCWCR, March 2006
email efkz.cr@seznam.cz or mandysova@tiscali.cz
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Czech Republic