Representatives of the Church in Baden, the Moravian Church, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church met in November this year in Prague to discuss the options for marking together the 600th anniversary of the Council of Constance and the burning of Jan Hus on 6th July 1415. Constance itself is preparing very diligently for this event, which allowed the representatives of the preparation committee to bring a list of 21 events that are already planned by that city. Amongst others, conferences, Church services, concerts, theater performances and a pilgrimage are on the program. Czech Protestants are invited, not only as visitors, but also as active participants, to a number of programs. With this the organizers want to make clear that we should mark this anniversary together and in an ecumenical manner. Moderator Joel Ruml emphasized that it is necessary to concentrate on the ecclesiological aspect of the anniversary which should be about the contributions of Jan Hus in the national, social and linguistic context. The participants of the meeting also considered the translation into German of some of Hus' hymns or even the translation and publication of some of Hus' works. Another beautiful option is also the performance of the 'Jan Hus' oratorio by Richard Pachmann that the Czechoslovak Hussite Church has already rehearsed and performed once. The discussions took place in a friendly atmosphere and the excitement for the planned events was obvious. In this context the Bishop of the Moravian Church, Theo Clemens from Bad Boll, expressed his conviction that this anniversary is a call for all of us to find a nonviolent way towards Christian unity amongst the Churches. It is necessary to be careful not to lose the deeper meaning of Jan Hus' message during the festivities and to emphasize the importance his work still has today.
Daniela Hamrová