MECC: Environmental Challenges and the Source of Values

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) works in a very turbulent, volatile and confused environment, and sometimes finds itself in positions that require a lot of audaciousness and daring to deal with its components.

The MECC, which includes all the churches of the area and has been operating for nearly half a century, has accumulated experience and know-how in areas in which it has shown appreciative success. Through its activities, the MECC drew up ways of action and interaction between the various religious and ethnic groups in the region, which constitute a model to be followed in view of the great diversity and the complex social and cultural structures of our societies.

The MECC has been a pioneer and has shown success in the fields of social services, from relief to development. It was also innovative in empowering women, working with youth and vulnerable social groups, eradicating illiteracy, inter-religious relations, and defending national causes in international forums. The MECC did not leave any domain that affects the fate of this nation without dealing with it, which makes its influence clear to the knowledgeable observer.

From the beginning, the churches put their confidence in the MECC and considered it as their representative in various fields and as their spokesperson in the world's platforms in matters that need collective action, which the churches cannot do separately.

The MECC was able to be a tool for social and cultural change and development in several fields. It was able to adapt to local and international transformations and to deal with the requirements of the environment, which is the characteristic of active organizations that are able to survive and develop.

In its meeting today with its international partners, the MECC, with its ecumenical committees and its staff team, is preparing to record a new shift in its foresight as it is on the threshold of its fiftieth anniversary. It will prove once again that the Church of Christ, who has conquered annihilation, will remain a source of renewal in values ​​and of charting a new path for humanity.

The MECC, while working to secure the necessities of life for the vulnerable groups in these countries, aspires to be a means of spiritual and values renewal. Moreover, it aspires to be a means of rebuilding the social capital in our society and restoring human dignity that some groups of this region have lost and forgotten due to their excessive humiliation and marginalization.

Social progress is material and spiritual par excellence, and we cannot work on one of these two dimensions of human existence without the other. This is the essence of our faith and our work. We derive it from the sayings and deeds of the Lord, our treasure until the end of times.