Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization

1. School of Ecumenism 

The School of Ecumenism organises lectures and workshops for 20 attendees on subjects that are essential for improved understanding of the position of churches and religious communities, and for the  development of dialogue and tolerance among members of various ethnic groups in the region. These activities are organized in the new EHO Center (Ćirila i Metodija street no.21 in Novi Sad) twice a month.
The target group are:

• Priests and church workers/ activists in churches and religious communities
• Representatives of media and civil sector
• Students of Faculty of Philosophy (from departments for History, History of Religion and Sociology) and theological colleges in Vojvodina.

Selection and reception of attendees shall be performed by the School Council.
Lectures shall start on November and shall be held every second Saturday until the end of May next year, with a break from the second half of December until the end of the first half of January.
There are 40 lectures planned (45 minutes each). Overall 10 working days are required for lectures, with 4 lectures on each Saturday (10 days x 4 lectures = 40 lectures). Subject areas are differentiated and shall be studied interactively with the aim of attaining new skills and knowledge and better mutual acquaintance. Wherever possible, churches and religious movements shall be represented by their own representatives.
Subjects are the following:

• History of religion and Christianity/ terms of reference and definitions of religion;
• Non-Christian religions: Judaism and Islam;
• Christian denominations and new religious movements;
• History of Ecumenism in world and current Ecumenical tendencies worldwide and locally, Charters and Muniments;
• What do We Have in Common and Vojvodinian Religious Actuality;
• Biblical Anthropology /sects and new spiritual movements/ public opinion, media and religion;
• Nonviolent Action and Peace-building;
• Optional subjects.

Lectures and workshops shall be organized with the following schedule:
9:00 -10:30  First session with two 45-minute lectures
10:30-11:00 Break for Coffee, snack and refreshments
11:00-12:30 Second session with two 45-minute lectures
In the end of 2nd Semester, in June (one Saturday), attendees shall present their Final Papers. These papers should be produced under detailed standard (up to 5 pages long) and in cooperation with mentor. These papers shall be submitted to Project Coordinator and publicly presented (in summary) to all participants of SE. The best papers and all lectures shall be published in Ecumenical Digest. Final excursion  is planned for June.
Preparation and publishing of Ecumenical Digest in circulation of 500 copies is planned for July/ August.

2. Leuenberg Home in Feketić

The home itself - known locally by its Hungarian name "otthon" (home) - is the property of the Reformed Church in Serbia and Montenegro. From June 1994 to June 1995, the home was thoroughly renovated and adapted to suit its present purpose, and its capacity today is 90 people. Besides a big and a small conference room, the home has a large dining room, kitchen, an open terrace, 2 rotundas in the yard, a small football pitch, a volleyball and a basketball court, 2 table tennis sets, a library, as well as all equipment necessary for training, conferences, children's camps and youth meetings with a lot of people.

Since 2003, Gustav-Adolf-Werk, the oldest Christian charity in Germany, has listed the Leuenberg Home as one of the venues that this organization recommends to its partners.

In 2004 the home hosted 1,579 people during 65 various events, with a total occupancy of 6,891 person days.

3. World Day of Prayer

Since 1994, EHO has been coordinating the World Day of Prayer in Vojvodina which is held every first Friday in March.

The World Day of Prayer used to be a women's initiative that later grew into an ecumenical one inviting people all over the world to pray together for world peace and love on that day.

Materials on Panama, the focus country for 2004, were translated into five local languages, photocopied at the EHO office and sent to 15 congregations in Vojvodina. Over 1,000 people prayed together in Vojvodina on that day.

4. Mission for the Blind

This project has been running for several years. Its overall goal is to offer the blind, visually impaired and elderly people audio tapes with spiritual content (sermons, meditations, Bible readings, etc.) .

Based in Subotica and with the help of EHO, the mission organizes recording and copying of tapes and their distribution to beneficiaries personally or by mail.

In 2004 the mission had 161 beneficiaries. From 490 master tapes belonging to the mission the volunteers copied another 1,800 that they later distributed to beneficiaries in 20 settlements in Vojvodina.

5. Summer Religion Camps for Children

Over the summer months when the school is out the Leuenberg Home in Feketić is the venue of summer religion camps organised by EHO founder churches.

Every summer 12 groups of about 90 children spend 5 days each in the home. Most of these children would otherwise have no summer vacation whatsoever due to the poor overal social and financial situation in the country. Each EHO founder church organizes 2 groups, usu. 1 children's and 1 youth, and the remaining 2 groups are of ecumenical composition with children coming from other churches as well.

1,000 children and young people and around 80 adults (pastors, religion teachers, school teachers and other adults active in their respective churches) participate in these camps every year.