The Middle East Council of Churches, from Survival to Development
Dr. Michel E. Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
Ever since its founding in the sixties under the name of the Near East Council of Churches, when it included Evangelical churches exclusively, to its transformation into the Middle East Council of Churches, in the seventies, as the Orthodox churches joined it, to the joining of the Catholic churches in the nineties, this Council continues to surprise partner institutions and the community at large with its dynamism and its ability to renew and adapt to its environment and to provide the best services to all categories in society.
In the past decade, the Council had gone through a crisis that would have been fatal had it not been for the steadfastness of its leaders, components and allies, who refused to surrender to the fait accompli, each of them offering as much material, scientific and expertise support as they could until the plight was overcome, and the Council’s situation stabilized and was safeguarded from disintegration and dissolution.
We call this stage in the science of organizations the stage of survival, and there are many institutions that cannot pass it, and thereby ended and was thrown into oblivion.
The Council did not fail in the stage of the struggle for survival thanks to the combination of several factors, namely:
1- The historical consciousness of the Council, which goes back not only to the date of its founding, but to the memory of the churches that constitute it, that is to hundreds, even thousands of years. This memory has always provided the necessary psychological and moral impetus to those concerned with the Council as well as with its fate in the presence of difficulties.
2- The spirit of sacrifice that was manifested in extending to the Council cash contributions as well as professional expertise by many who were concerned with the fate of such a high caliber as well as important institution. Those who lived through the rescue phase tell us how sacrifices were permitted in front of the goal they had set in mind, namely, to save this institution at all costs.
3- The wisdom of those who took upon themselves to carry out this mission, their awareness, and their sense of the jeopardy of what they were dealing with, and the disaster that may result were they to fail in this mission.
4- The feeling of those concerned with the danger of failing to meet people's expectations in an institution that innovated new methods of work in dealing with the needs of churches as well as with their inter-relationships and with their interfaith concerns to people of other religions.
5- The support and solidarity that the international and local institutions surrounded the Council with formed a moral framework that helped to withstand the crisis stage.
In conclusion, the Council prevailed the difficult era and returned to the stage of growth and positioning again thus resuming the rank that it deserves in the local and international community, a process that was accompanied by an increase in its professional credibility.
Today, the Council begins a new stage of ascent in order to resume its position as well as its credibility as a reference in the various fields of its work. In addition to the programs that have been going on for decades, it has begun to return to areas it had abandoned. Moreover, it has become involved in new areas in which it is deemed necessary for it to intervene in the present stage our region is going through.
Its new programs include relief, development, vocational rehabilitation, school support, institutional support, and reconstruction, in addition to work with youth, women's empowerment, rural development and environmental protection. In the theological field the Council is also actively involved in ecumenical relations as well as in Christian-Muslim relations, and this for the sake of reaching a better society.
Moreover, an area considered by the Council as a top priority is the rehabilitation of the social capital as well as of the value system, leading to achieving a positive impact on the general culture of restoring human dignity. Programs have been drawn out in this field and are in the final stages of crystallization. Christianity is a wellspring of values that everyone draws on.
This is where we are today, and with these convictions we move towards the future with determination, love, and faith.
A clear goal for tomorrow is a dream with a deadline