The General Assembly of the Deans of the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East Begins Its Work with the Participation of the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs
Who Delivered a Speech Entitled “Together from the Sources”
Cairo, July 12, 2024
Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), participated in the General Assembly meeting of the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East A.T.I.M.E., held at St. Mark’s House – El Shourouk, Cairo.
The General Assembly meeting was presided over by the Rt. Reverend Archimandrite Jack Khalil, the Dean of the Saint John of Damascus Institute at the University of Balamand, Lebanon, and President of A.T.I.M.E., in the presence of Father Dr. Michael Kanbar, the Executive Secretary of A.T.I.M.E., and the presence of the MECC Honorary Secretary General Dr. Gergis Saleh, and the MECC Associate Secretaries General Reverend Dr. Refaat Fikry and Father Dr. Nicolas Bustros, as well as the Deans of the Colleges and Theological Institutes in the Middle East and their representatives.
Firstly, the President of A.T.I.M.E., the Rt. Reverend Archimandrite Dean Jack Khalil, welcomed the attendees, and spoke about the importance of the meeting and what it will include.
Then, Dr. Michel Abs, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), delivered a speech entitled “Together from the Sources,” in which he said:
“The Association consists of colleges and theological institutes affiliated with the member churches of the Middle East Council of Churches, means that it is truly ecumenical in depth, in goals, approaches and methods.
In the same context, the objectives of the ATIME are defined in promoting ecumenical formation, consolidating fraternal relations, and encouraging the spirit of cooperation, understanding, dialogue, consultation, and exchange of experiences at the level of teaching staff and students, in member colleges and institutes.
As for the educational system in theological education, the ATIME is the catalyst for encouraging studies and publishing, exchanging publications and periodicals, encouraging Christian culture in the region, and enhancing familiarity with the region, its churches, religions and societies, without neglecting the necessity of openness to the outside by establishing cooperative relations with other academic institutions.
To maintain a high and legal standard for the certificates granted according to the systems of the countries in which the Association is located, the preparation of future pastors, church ministers, and professors of theological education in the Middle East will be through granting them certificates equivalent to higher university education in accordance with what is followed in the higher education system in each country.
This ATIME is a phenomenon in itself, parallel to the phenomenon of establishing the MECC, and it includes those concerned with teaching theology and building servants of tomorrow’s parishes. For the deans and directors of theological schools to study the teaching of theology in a common direction, and to exchange opinions in a clear direction towards ecumenism, this indicates a conscious will on the part of these educational leaders to take joint education between the churches to its sources, and to root ecumenism from its basic sources, Christian education and service.
What is required in joint Christian work is not for institutions to dissolve into one institution, neither the churches nor their theological institutes, but rather for diversity to be preserved, within the unity of spirit, vision, and goals.
You are dealing with great challenges, which is building the shepherds of tomorrow, the servants of the parishes, in a society that strongly tends towards materialism, tyrannical individual selfishness, hypocrisy, injustice, and everything that is the opposite of our Christian faith. They will deal with all these social ills, in addition to hatred and its widespread discourse in the world, racial discrimination, poor distribution of wealth and income, and harm to the environment, among other things. As if all of this is not enough, they will collide with the emerging pathological identities and dysfunctional personal choices of some of the younger generation. How difficult are their tasks, and how difficult are your tasks in fortifying them against all of this, and in providing them with methodologies and methods to address these social problems, which nothing indicates will recede in the near term, and in fact there is expectation and fear that they will spread.
Ecumenism constitutes the guaranteeing framework for training the servants of tomorrow's parishes, because, by changing their mental pattern, it will make them adopt the logic of a bundle of sticks, which is solid when it is a single bundle, and which breaks stick by stick, when it is untied. The link here is the ecumenical mental structure, or Ecumenical Paradigm.”
Dr. Michel Abs ended his speech by saying: “the projects to develop and expand the work of the Association require special funding which concerns special Ecumenical institutions. Imagine if there was no framework that brings us together today, how much we would have lost on the moral and practical levels. The suspension of the ATIME’s work has cost the joint Christian work an entire generation of ecumenical leadership, and this matter must be compensated for by sustained training for this generation.
Since we are talking about the applied field, we must mention the pilote role played by the Association at the level of ecumenical relations.
The agency is the organizational model that all activities of the member churches should emulate. It is a cross activity in the churches’ work, a cross activity, meaning that it includes the same type of activity that exists in all churches, and this is considered in the field of management as networking and leads to the creation of a self-contained community or knowledge range, in which member institutions exchange knowledge and experiences. Networking is considered the best method for coordination and development between institutions in the modern era.”
Afterwards, Father Dr. Michael Kanbar, the Executive Secretary of A.T.I.M.E., presented the A.T.I.M.E.’s activities for the years 2023 and 2024, which have become expanded and fruitful activities.
Then, each of the attendees presented their own vision regarding the launch of activities and projects for the year 2025.
The Colleges and Theological Institutes in the Middle East participating in the General Assembly meeting are:
The Faculty of Religious and Theological Sciences – La Sagesse University - The Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) – The Faculty of Religious Sciences at the Saint Joseph University – The Alexandria Theological Seminary - The Pontifical School of Theology at the Holy Spirit University, Kaslik – The Near East School of Theology – The Saint Paul Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Paulist Fathers – The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology - Balamand - The Armenian Theological Seminary - Armenian Catholicosate of the House of Cilicia, Antelias – The Mor Aphrem Theological Seminary, Ma'arat Saydnaya - The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Egypt – The Babylon Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Cairo – The Cairo Theological Seminary and Institute – The Institute of Coptic Studies - The Institute of Care and Education – The Faculty of Humanities and Theological Sciences, Maadi – The Faculty of Religious Sciences, Sakakini.
In the second part of the General Assembly meeting, the financial report was presented with the participation of Ms. Laudy El Khoury, the MECC Financial Director, who joined the meeting via Zoom.
