International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (IFFEC) gathered church planting leaders from across Europe at the K+K Hotel Opera in Budapest, Hungary, 23–25 March 2026 for a working meeting titled Joining Hands — Next Steps.
The gathering was designed as a closed working session — not a large conference but an intentional convening of two or three key church planting leaders from each participating nation. Attendees were described as "influential leaders with a heart for church planting" invited through their country representatives. The focus was prayer, strategic discernment, and cross-border coordination.
Budapest itself carries resonance for the free evangelical world: Hungary has a long history of free-church witness, including bodies that survived and maintained their congregational identity through the Communist period — a testimony to the resilience of voluntary, believer-constituted churches under pressure.
Church planting has become an increasingly central concern across IFFEC's European member federations, many of which operate in contexts of advancing secularisation. Gatherings like this one signal that the federation sees cross-national cooperation — sharing methods, encouraging planters, and praying together — as a meaningful response to the shared challenge.
Source: IFFEC Events
