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 2027.
The next meetings will take place (exact dates are still being finalised):
June 2025 – online
End of August/beginning of September 2025 – online
November 2025 – in Kehl, Germany
Antje Heider-Rottwilm – Chair
Antje Heider-Rottwilm has been on the board of Church and Peace since 2009, since then as chairwoman. Her husband and she helped to set up a house community of the Laurentiuskonvent in 1978, and since then the convent’s affiliation to Church and Peace – and thus Antje’s involvement – has been an important element in her life. Women’s rights, peace, reconciliation and human rights work are very close to Antje’s heart. She has been committed to this throughout her life – whether as a student pastor, head of the European Department of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) or as Chair of Church and Peace. For Antje, there is no alternative but to constantly campaign against violence, militarisation and (environmental) destruction and to work for non-violent conflict resolution in order to follow in the footsteps of Jesus today.
Maria Biedrawa – Vice Chair
Maria Biedrawa is a retired social pedagogue, logotherapist and peace specialist. She is Austrian, has lived in France for over 30 years and is a Catholic. Maria’s main commitment to peace and non-violence has taken her for many years to areas in sub-Saharan Africa that have been shaken by armed conflict. She supports groups and people on the ground in reconciliation work, interfaith dialogue and training in non-violent conflict resolution. Maria’s work in Europe has been closely linked to Church and Peace for many years. The six years she has been on the board are not only a source of strength for her personally, but also a mission to keep bringing the message of Jesus and the Christian practice of peace into our churches.
El
isabeth Freise – Treasurer
Elisabeth Freise is a Catholic and an individual member of Church and Peace. She was responsible for the South East Europe programme and the preparatory and follow-up seminars for volunteers and peace workers at the International Christian Peace Service EIRENE until 2019. Elisabeth has been a board member since 2009 and treasurer since 2012.
Salomé Richir-Haldemann 
Salomé Richir-Haldemann coordinates the Stop Poverty campaign, the Swiss branch of the Micah Network. In her spare time, she co-moderates the blog of Servir Ensemble, a Franco-Swiss association that promotes comprehensive co-operation between men and women in the church. She also works as an English-French interpreter for the Mennonite World Conference. At home, she enjoys life with her partner, two very nice teenagers and a rather demanding cat.
Étienne Chomé
Étienne Chomé is a Catholic theologian from Belgium and an individual member of Church and Peace. He wrote his doctoral thesis in theology on ‘The non-violence of the Gospel and the challenge of ways out of violence. Practical theology and conflict management.’ As someone who is involved in conflict management and active nonviolence, he has been an enthusiastic board member of Church and Peace since 2021.Étienne Chomé describes himself as a Belgian disciple of Jesus, born in Rwanda, doctor of theology, trainer, coach and therapist.
Martin Tiller
Martin has recently taken early retirement from the railway industry, partly so that he can devote more time and energy to the peace movement. He has been involved in the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CCND) since 2015 and has been on the leadership team for most of that time, currently he is one of the co-chairs and representative for CCND as a member of Church and Peace. He would like to see more Christians and their churches working for peacebuilding and disarmament. He attends a Baptist church in Rugby, UK.
Anja Vollendorf
Anja is 58 years old and a member of the Laurentiuskonvent. She lives in Laufdorf near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She works as a deputy dean and town church pastor in Herborn in the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN). Anja is a founding member of the Ecumenical Institute for Peace Theology and moderates the online discussions ‘Under the Fig Tree’. Intersectional and development policy issues have been an important topic for her since her time as a peace expert in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In eastern Congo (Bukavu), Anja worked in educational work with young adults in a peace centre, among other things. Networking and facilitation are Anja’s strengths.
Mike Zipser
Mike is 66 years old, married and lives near Freiburg im Breisgau. Before recently retiring, he worked as a special school teacher in a private special school for pupils with complex disabilities. Mike has been an individual member of Church and Peace for 21 years. As a young man, he refused military service for reasons of conscience and did his civilian service with the Evangelical Church in Germany. Among other things, he worked as a volunteer for the Mennonite Central Committee in Honduras, studied theology, speaks over four languages and, as a Quaker, has found his spiritual source in this community.