Annual report 2008-2009

CEUC 2008-2009

Report to the general assembly by the chair of the board

It is my duty and my honor to present you the report about the CEUC activities in the last year.

The board came together for board meetings twice this year: Our fist meeting took place here in Sogne, in November 2008. The second meeting we held also here Monday morning this week.

In order to improve our cooperation the board agreed to have regular phone conferences as new tool of communication: So in addition to the board meetings we had two phone conferences, one in September 2008 and one in March 2009.

At the first meeting the board elected Lise Lotz as new treasurer of CEUC. You will hear more from Lise and about Lise’s work at the presentation of the financial report and the budget.

In march Evy Toolenaar, CEUC secretary, informed the board that she’d like to resign. Evy supported CEUC with her dedication and her great personality for many years. At the conference we will have the opportunity to express our gratitude for the work she has done for our organisation.

It is the goal of the board to elect a new CEUC secretary at the next board meeting in autumn this year.

One of points on the board agenda last year was our cooperation with the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education IACHE which was founded at the global conference in Tampere/Finland last summer.

CEUC board member Esther Diederen, who is also CEUC representative at board of IACHE will present you more information about the Global organisation later at this general assembly.

Another project was the communication with the CEUC members. We realized that it is not enough to inform our members once a year at the annual general assembly. That is why we started to send newsletters in order to keep you informed on current CEUC issues. We received very positive feedbacks, and we plan to continue sending you newsletters – enough that you are updated on CEUC issues, not as many as to fill the spam box of your email programme.

Talking about communication, our website www.ceuc.org has been refreshed. We added regularly the latest news on the conferences and helpfull documents. We are working on a solution to make the website a more interactive tool for the CEUC members, first steps in this direction have been done.

It is one of our goals for the next years to improve permanently our website: For instance by implementing a directory of European chaplaincies, with addresses and links to the university chaplaincies all over Europe. And we would like to add an event calendar, where regional and national chaplaincy organisations can publish their events, reunions and further information. Both, the event calendar and the directory will support the networking and the cooperation across national and confessional boundaries.

According to our constitution the main aim of CEUC is the organisation of an annual conference for European University Chaplains.

The board had its first meeting at the conference site, together with the local host committee. We discussed the programme and supported the host committee with our advice and our activities. It was a very productive cooperation. Thanks a lot, Norwegian colleagues!

In march the board of CEUC received a bid from British chaplains to host next year’s conference in Coventry. The board supported and welcomed gladly this excellent bid. A local host team of nine chaplains was established, consisting of representation from the Church of England, Methodist, Muslim, Roman Catholic and United Reformed Church. More information about the conference 2010 will be presented to you at the general assembly and in the following months through our website www.ceuc.org.

And we are looking forward to planning the conference 2011. We have not yet received an official bid. One of the ideas we shared in the board, was the organisation of “off-shore” conference. That means a conference with an international host committee and as a re-union of chaplains
somewhere in Europe, for instance as a pilgrimage on the St. Jacobs way in Southern France or Spain. Let us know your opinion and share your ideas on this issue with us.

Looking back on the past year, looking forward to the up-coming years I must say: a few things have been done, more things still have to be done… As the chair of the board I am grateful for the support and the cooperation within the board.

The board thanks its secretary, Evy Toolenaar for her work, a special thank you goes to Lise Lotz, who as treasurer, webmaster and acting secretary is doing an important and excellent job.

Last but not least, on behalf of the board of CEUC I would like to thank you, the members, for your continuous support. We appreciate your feedbacks and your active support. We need it – for our organization is as much board driven as it is driven by its members.

Kristiansand, June 5, 2009,
Markus Anker, chair of the board