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The 7th Edition of the Congress of Christian Executives held in Nuremberg ended on February 26. The Economy of Communion was among the 300 exhibitors of the said event.

Nuremberg: Fostering company growth through advocacy of Christian values 

The theme of this year’s congress was “Fostering company growth through advocacy of Christian values" This congress-exhibit, unique in its kind in Germany, was attended by 3800 participants and was well covered by the media. With the scope of the “Evangelical Alliance” (German and Swiss Evangelical Free Churches) the event gathered humanitarian and missionary initiatives of Christian nature. The final output was a guideline on “business operations” in accordance with God’s teachings and with the Ten Commandments.

During the presentation of the Economy of Communion on February 25, the concept of the “culture of giving” was explained.  Marlene Fechter, an accountant, described the concept as applied to dealing with clients. Georg Endler and Christof Hohl of Tergon elaborated what a relationship between executives based on fraternity meant. Thomas Hüttl of Contecta (building administration), spoke on the spirituality of “knowing how to lose” when a company loses valuable employees. One of the participants present that evening commented, “What I heard tonight is something which I’ve been looking for all my life.” Another participant said, “You have made me question my own principles on profits, which I considered essential.” There was much interest generated by the new “EoC”-style companies, and many wanted to learn how to join the project.

One of the seminars focused on addressing the problem on “succession in the family business.” Franjo Rademacher, one of the first EoC promoters in Germany was well applauded for his “Ten rules of succession” developed from his 30-year experience (he is a CEO for a company with 40 rehabilitation clinics).The rules were about nurturing a prudent and peaceful culture within the work environment, of learning how to leave what one has passionately built and lovingly pass it on to his successors and employees.

Hermann-Josef Benning concluded, “I was impressed by the Christian testimonies of the executives of big companies and of the members of national politics.” Together with other friends of the EoC, he attended the plenary session, and during the seminars he promoted the EoC principles and compared them with other methods derived from corporate philosophies inspired by the Gospel.

The next EoC appointment in Germany will be the  EoC’s 20th Anniversary Congress, which will be held in Ottmaring from the 24th to the 26th of June 2011. We will keep you posted.

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