What is the Ecojustice Adhoc Committee at the Middle East Council of Churches?
“The Season of Creation”: An Eastern Newborn
As previously announced, the Middle East Council of Churches launched the “Season of Creation 2021” project for the first time in the region to allow people in the East to Pray and work for the protection of the creation, between September 1 and October 4 of each year. As such, the Council created a special committee entitled “The Ecojustice Adhoc Committee” to manage all the preparations of this season and its celebrations and activities in the Middle East.
The committee works under the supervision of MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs and is formed of specialists in the field of environment and environmental theology from different Church families. The members are Father Tanios Khalil from the Maronite Church, Father Timon Al-Suriani from the Coptic Orthodox Church, Father Elias Marswanian from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, Dr. Dany El-Obeid from the Orthodox Church, Reverend Dr. Rima Nasrallah from the Evangelical Church, Director of the MECC Communication and Public Relations Department Huguette Salameh and Jean-Pierre Eid from the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department.
The Communication and Public Relations department’s team will be joining the committee during the preparations. Tasks involve preparing and implementing the media plan for the “Season of Creation” project in the East, and covering all the MECC and Eastern Churches activities within the framework of this season. In addition to spreading awareness and environmental culture, and shedding the light on the Churches’ work to protect the environment...
The role of the Ecojustice Adhoc Committee was at first the translation of the international “Season of Creation” booklet 2021 into Arabic for the very first time in history, in coordination with the Communication and Public Relations department. Then the committee invited all Church families in the Middle East to participate in this environmental and Christian season through a series of visits to the heads of Churches.
The mission of the committee is also preparing for the opening and closing Prayers of the season, as well as monitoring the implementation of the celebrations in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. The committee also aims to enhance environmental awareness and highlight the environmental issues and danger, providing suggestions and ideas that contribute in protecting the environment...
Outside of the “Season of Creation” preparations, “The Middle East Council of Churches is also concerned with rural development and agricultural growth” says MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs in a video message on the occasion of the World Environment Day on June 5, 2020. He revealed that the Council's preparations “to launch a number of agricultural projects in various regions of the Middle East according to the availability of human capabilities …”.