IRCA-Europe finds its voice

across both Eastern and Western Europe, bringing a long history of rural living to the international stage. We bridge the barriers of history, culture and language to come to together to share our experiences and challenges.

Click here for the website of IRCA-Europe

Conference 2021

Postponed from June 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, IRCA-Europe invites rural church people to

Sibiu/Hermannstadt in Romania

from 31 May to 3 June 2021

Theme: “Sourdough for the Land”

From their website:

The conferences of IRCA-EUROPE take place every four years between the worldwide IRCA conferences, based on the same time rhythm. Furthermore, IRCA-Europe offers as a support a platform of dialogue. Through the website (http://irca-europe.com) we share informations, important resources, ideas and contact details of the board members. All these informations have been transmitted within the religious and rural networks of the countries we represent.

The biblical image of the sourdough bears in this days a stronger importance than ever. In times when we talk about reconstruction and resilience it is important to see what the role of churches in general and the importance of rural communities in particular can be. This will be the themes and main motivations of our conference in Sibiu. As Christians we carry the responsibility not just for our own families, our direct environment and our communities in which we are active, but also far beyond these.

According to that, we want to value the days in Sibiu by informing about the activities of the european rural churches, listen to a presentation about the contribution of churches for a sustainable Europe and also place on our agenda the engagement of the Orthodox Church in Romania upon the preservation of the environment.  At an appointment in Rășinari we will get an inside view in the illegal logging of the forests and the local mayor will speak about the sustainable alpine pasture in this area.

Our programme is embedded in morning and evening prayers, in listening to the word of God and in the praise and gratitude for Him keeping us alive until now. This unifying force of the christian faith and christian hope gives us strength not just for our work in the different regions of Europe, but also across all borders.

Go to IRCA-Europe for details of programme and costs.

Information from Conference 2016 is found here

Conference 2016 Addresses and Reports are here