MECC
Video - The Canticle of the Creatures By Saint Francis of Assisi
Performed by: The Glory of Heaven Choir
Video Produced By MECC
The Near East School of Theology in Beirut Celebrates the Graduation of Its Students, Among Whom One of Our Colleagues
The Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut held a graduation ceremony for its students on Saturday, May 30, in the School’s Church, in the presence of Reverend Dr. Paul Haidostian, President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE), President of Haigazian University in Lebanon, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Evangelical Family, and His Eminence Archbishop Hosam Naoum , Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem and Primate of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and Member of the MECC Executive Committee.
Attendees were also the NEST President Dr. Martin Akkad, NEST Dean Reverend Dr. Rima Nasrallah, MECC Associate Secretary General Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, Director of the MECC Theological and Ecumencial Department Father Dr. Antoine Al Ahmar, and Coordinator of the MECC Eco Justice Unit Environmental Justice Unit Father Movses-Garen Yosolkanian, NEST Teachers and team, parents and guests.
Commemoration of the Entry of the Holy Family Into Egypt
From the Coptic Orthodox Church to the Whole World
Do You Know What Path the Family Took?
Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)
"Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you..." (Matthew 2:13). With this verse, Matthew the Evangelist revealed in the second Chapter the Holy Family’s refuge to the land of Egypt, an escape to this country holding a historic, geographic and cultural importance, according to His Holiness Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Mark Tawadros II. But why fleeing? What is the path the family has taken?
Matthew the Evangelist mentions the reason for Jesus’ fleet to Egypt in the same chapter and the same verse, when he said, “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13). This boy, who almost suffered the same fate as the rest of the children of Bethlehem whom King Herod ordered to kill after failing to find Him through the Magi, for “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12)
Joseph obeyed the angel and took his family to escape from Herod's tyranny, despite the hardships and dangers of travel at that time. Since the early centuries AD, the entry of the Holy Family to this country became a celebration of the Coptic Orthodox Church with the Fraihi rite on the 24th of the month of Bashans of the Egyptian calendar or the first of June of each year.
Light of Hope: MECC Issues the Fifth Bulletin About the Situations in the Middle East Region
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has launched "Light of Hope," a new bulletin series dedicated to documenting the ongoing ordeal in the Middle East, with a primary focus on the catastrophic situation in Lebanon. This publication serves as a "cry" for the people of the Antiochian Levant who have endured decades of pain.
