#ECCB  “Diversity, Otherness, Prejudice, and Fears” was the title of a special conference held on the 28^th of April 2022 at the Wallenstein Palace in Prague. It was organised by the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in cooperation with the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The conference was held under the auspices of Senate President Miloš Vystrčil.

#ECCB  Pavel Pokorný (1960) was the pastor of the church in Prague-Střešovice from 2000 to 2021. His previous place of work was Trutnov (1987–1999), where he started after his studies and basic military service. During his one-year stay in the United States, he focused on pastoral care. He also worked as a hospital chaplain for the mobile home hospice Cesta domů. He is married and has four children.

#ECCB  Perhaps we would be hard pressed to find a place in the Czech Republic where aid to refugees from Ukraine is as intense, and yet as unlikely, as in Horní Dubenky...

#ECCB  When we in the Chrást congregation tried years ago to articulate the identity and mission of our community (the strategic planners of the church will be pleased to hear this), the image of the congregation as a haven kept coming back to us.

The topic of homosexuality resonates. At this year's Synod, it was the subject of lively discussion, although the agenda included only an interim approval of the work to date of the Commission for the Preparation of a Conversation with Lesbians and Gays in the Church and a mandate for the Commission to work in the spirit of the present. The report was approved by a majority vote, not unanimously. I welcome the fact that magazine Český bratr offered space for the dissenting voice of Brother Pastor Knorek.

#Faculty  “In 2014, separatists turned it into a military base. They deployed tanks and artillery on the sports grounds. They destroyed the library and classroom equipment. I would never have believed that Russia would unleash such a brutal war against Ukraine,” says Vyacheslav Lytvynenko, a graduate of Donetsk Christian University.

#Faculty  After eight years, senior lecturer Jiří Mrázek is leaving his position as head of the Protestant Tehological Faculty of the Charles University and is being replaced by his colleague from the New Testament Department, Jan Roskovec. He took up the dean's post today after his appointment by the rector Milena Králíčková. One of the plans he would like to develop at the faculty is the introduction of a tutor-specialised research master programme.

#Diaconia  Daniel Heller (1976) is a Protestant Theology graduate. Before arriving in Valašské Meziříčí, he worked as a clergyman in Pržno and also in Ukraine in the villages of Bohemka and Veselynivka, inhabited by Czech compatriots. For many years, he has been involved in running summer camps at Běleč nad Orlicí for children with disabilities, their families, and volunteers. He has been a chaplain at Diaconia Valašské Meziříčí for 12 years.

Members of the 4th session of the 35th Synod of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren approved Statement on the situation in Ukraine.

Members of the 4th session of the 35th Synod of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren accepted the following text, which is the result of the previous work of the Commission for the Preparation of a Conversation with Lesbians and Gays in the Church

The Synod's statement on relations with Muslims appeals to the members of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren to meet Muslims in their congregations and in their surroundings and to contribute to understanding and peaceful coexistence.