Board
Church and Peace’s Board (formerly Administrative Committee) oversees the network’s business and manages its finances. It reflects Church and Peace’s denominational, geographic and membership diversity. Its members are elected for three-year term, the next elections will be in the year 2024.
The next in person Board meetings:
5-7 June 2024
20-22 November 2024
Antje Heider-Rottwilm – Chair
Antje Heider-Rottwilm worked as a pastor until 2014. From 2008 she was responsible for the development of the Ecumenical Forum HafenCity in Hamburg, a project of 20 churches which houses a chapel, an organic fair-trade cafe, meeting rooms, and an ecumenical intentional community.
Antje, together with her husband, has been a member of the Laurentiuskonvent since 1979. She has been involved in peace work for decades, served as Europe director of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) for 11 years and was a member of the central committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). She has been chair of Church and Peace since 2009.
Kees Nieuwerth – Vice Chair
Kees Nieuwerth is a Quaker and an individual member from the Netherlands. He is active in a number of peace movements: Church and Peace, Kerk en Vrede, IFOR, Women Peacemakers Program and Pugwash. He is also involved in the ecumenical movement and contributed actively to the Just Peace dialogue in the World Council of Churches. He has served on the Board since 2015, since 2021 as Vice Chair.
El
isabeth Freise – Treasurer
Elisabeth Freise is a Catholic and an individual member of Church and Peace. Until 2019, she was Southeastern Europe program director at the international Christian peace service agency EIRENE and organizes orientation and re-entry seminars for volunteers and and professional peace workers. Elisabeth has served on the Boards since 2009 and as treasurer since 2012.
Maria Biedrawa
Maria Biedrawa is a social pedagogue and trainer in non-violent conflict resolution. She belongs to the Catholic Church. She is a member of the French branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation and a graduate of the peace diaconate training programme of gewaltfrei handeln. In this capacity she has been involved in peace work in African contexts for several years. She has been a speaker at several Church and Peace conferences and is therefore known and appreciated by many in our network. She was elected as Board member in 2018.
Ruben Sečen
Ruben Sečen represents Church and Peace member organisation Youth for Christ Croatia. He is a member of the Baptist congregation in Rijeka, Croatia, and is also involved in ecumenical activities. Ruben is the European representative in the international organisation of Youth for Christ. He was elected to serve on the Board in 2021.
Salomé Haldemann
Salomé Haldemann is a Mennonite pastor in Alsace and individual member of Church and Peace. She says that she has “a heart for peace” and sees her vocation as working from within the Church for peace both inside and outside of the church walls. She works to promote gender equality within the churches. She has been interpreting (English/French) at Church and Peace conferences since 2015. She was elected to serve on the Board in 2021.
Étienne Chomé
Étienne Chomé is a Catholic theologian from Belgium and individual member of Church and Peace. His doctoral thesis in theology was on the subject of The nonviolence of the Gospel and the challenge of finding ways out of violence. Practical theology and conflict management. He gives lectures on conflict management worldwide. He was elected to serve on the Board in 2021.
Tony Weekes
Tony Weekes is a Quaker living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He joined the Board in 2022.