Welcoming Word of the Secretary General

at the Meeting of the

Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches

July 9 and 10, 2025

Beirut – Crowne Plaza Hotel

Your Beatitudes, Eminences, Graces, Reverends, Fathers, Church Representatives, and esteemed colleagues,

After much effort, we have managed to find a suitable time for the leaders of the Middle East Council of Churches to gather, in order to review the work and achievements of the Council’s team over the past year and a half, discuss matters related to the Council’s operations, and make appropriate decisions.

The Executive Committee meeting was originally scheduled for early December 2024, but the political and security situation did not allow for it. We also had to wait for the end of the two-month ceasefire trial period, which made a meeting in January or February 2025 impossible, with high levels of uncertainty and concern. Therefore, we did not start exploring possible dates until March 2025.

Since then, we have maintained contact with respected Committee members to set a date. Attempts to fix the date in April and May were canceled, but we finally agreed on a date that ensures a quorum beyond the minimum—more than four members from each family. Here we are today, gathered with the Lord’s guidance and blessing, to serve humanity in His holy name.

Since the first meeting of this Executive Committee in 2022, I expressed to its esteemed members that one meeting per year is not enough, to avoid delays or accumulation of decisions. The Executive Committee should meet four times a year; annual meetings are for general assemblies, and our General Assembly every four years is like a Convention. I have also stressed to all members, with due respect to their titles, that I advocate for the presence of church representatives in every part of the Council and the revival of departmental committees, both to provide expertise and connections and to ensure transparency and avoid misunderstandings that lead to disputes. Thus, we must set the date for our next meeting today.

Regarding the minutes of meeting, we transcribe them from recordings stored on a secure hard drive in the General Secretariat office and also uploaded them to Dropbox, ensuring their safety should we need to reference details. We will work to provide them to you promptly after future meetings. For us, who see the Council as a knowledge community, meetings are one of the most important venues for generating knowledge and exchanging experience.

As for decisions taken during meetings, I compile them in a special table for internal use to track execution, just as we do after every staff team meeting, where our colleague who is in charge enters them in a table for execution follow-up. These records show that most decisions have been implemented; what remains is either in progress or could not be completed, as will be clear when we review the previous minutes.

Truthfully, I must note that the time span between meetings, although beyond our control, has not affected the work’s volume, pace, quality, accountability, transparency, or effectiveness. The team has proven its worth, working out of their “affiliation to MECC” and understanding of its goals and values, which have guided the institution for half a century. As you will see in the presentations of our colleagues’ work, and as anyone following our weekly bulletin, Momentum, now in its fifth year, can appreciate, this bulletin serves as a weekly report to the Council’s leadership, churches, General Assembly, Executive Committee, local and international partners, and all stakeholders.

In closing, I must thank the churches for their heartfelt support, you are partners and mediators in this constant backing of the Council’s work. I also wish to offer words of appreciation and thanks to my colleagues, one by one, for their dedication and willingness to go beyond the call of duty to ensure our success. To our partners in the global ecumenical movement, we extend our gratitude for their unlimited support, despite the difficulties they face in their own countries.

There is a spirit of faith and purpose in the Council, forming a key part of its renewed organizational culture, guiding our daily work and strategic direction. The synergy between your wisdom and abilities and the experience and activity of the MECC team ensures the organization’s effectiveness and fulfillment of its mission.

May the Lord bless your ministry, the service of the team, and the solidarity among all Council members, all inspired by the message of the Incarnate Lord and true to His teachings that continue to light humanity’s path. May the Lord bless this meeting, making it an occasion for productive knowledge and application, and a gathering of loved ones, as the MECC was intended to be. During our meeting, let none of us forget that we serve one purpose that gives us our very existence: to bear witness to the message of salvation in the place where it was first revealed and spread. So let us always remember that difference of opinion does not diminish mutual respect.

There is no better way to end my words than with the words of the Lord, the source and symbol of light:
“Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Amen.