An Episode Within the "Community Knowledge" Series

Continues Its Regional Program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”

With a hope crowned with the holiness of Pentecost, and with a spirit filled with joy, the trial broadcast of the MECC TV channel began today. It marks a new step in the Ecumenical Eastern world and a historic milestone in the history of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).

The launch of the MECC TV channel and radio station comes after many media efforts that consolidated the Fiftieth Year of the MECC Founding and crowned it with this new media achievement, which will be a resounding voice in the wilderness, promoting the Ecumenical work and rapprochement between Churches, and defending the rights of all people.

Noting that the trial broadcast began with a documentary entitled “Presence and Witness, The 50th Year of the Founding of the Middle East Council of Churches... Half a Century of Service”.

Watch with us the MECC TV channel via the following frequency:

Nilesat: 11096

S.R: 27500

Pol: Horizontal

The Secretary General Professor Michel Abs: Disseminating knowledge and promoting good patterns of thought and behavior in society is one of the Church's primary tasks

Father Rifaat Bader: The media is the light form which the Church sends its message... proclaiming the good news and proclaiming Christian values in today's world, and this is the Church's right

The Journalist Lea Adel Maamary: The role of Christian media amidst dangers and surprises is to give its people strength

Dr. Laure Abi Khalil: Today's Pentecost is a Pentecost of the media, which needs a new spirit to carry it to a broader horizon of social and spiritual responsibility

In celebration of the Blessed Feast of Pentecost, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) held a press conference to launch its new TV and Radio Stations. It will serve as an Ecumenical platform bringing together the various Church Families in the region, and a humanitarian voice speaking in the name of truth, dignity, and justice.

The conference took place on Monday, June 9, 2025, live from the "Platform of the Word" at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut, with an online participation of Father Rifaat Bader, the Head of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media and Publisher of Abouna Website, and Delegate of the MECC Executive Committee for the Media Affairs, Dr. Jean Salmanian, Member of the MECC Executive Committee, as well as the MECC General Secretariat team.

Nilesat: 11096

S.R: 27500

Pol: Horizontal

By the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs

“Momentum”

6-6-2025

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments in the activities of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), as well as the Church, Ecumenical, and social events…

This is in addition to the weekly word of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs which is entitled in this issue “Toward a New Era in Ecumenical Media”.

In this context, the MECC invites you, in the issue, to a press conference to launch its TV Channel and Radio Station, which will be the voice of the Ecumenical movement and a unifying platform for the various Church Families in the region. It will be held on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 1:00 pm Beirut time, at the "Platform of the Word”, at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/eb3c99762fe6/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

To Launch its TV Channel and Radio Station

Monday, June 9, 2025

As we celebrate the blessed Feast of Pentecost, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) invites you to a press conference to launch its TV Channel and Radio Station, which will be the voice of the Ecumenical movement and a unifying platform for the various Church Families in the region.

The conference will be held on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 1:00 pm Beirut time, at the "Platform of the Word”, at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut.

Soon in the Ecumenical World!

In a new Ecumenical media initiative, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and with great joy, is launching a television channel and radio station, which will be the voice of the Ecumenical movement and of the Churches committed to this mission in the region.

This project comes after equipping the production center and establishing the “Manbar Al-Kalima” platform at the Middle East Council of Churches, and launching their operations, and after gathering the Council’s audiovisual archives—a collection of fifty years of work.

The programming network consists of four sections: regular programming, news, liturgy, and Christian education programs and documentaries. The production will also focus on various current Church, Ecumenical, social, and humanitarian events and issues.

In his word for the occasion, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Professor Michel Abs, said: " This channel speaks in the name of the Son of Man, and thus the intellectual challenge it faces is great, because it speaks the truth—and in our days, truth is a heavy burden. May the Lord bless those who carry it."

As we celebrate Pentecost, and after completing the launch preparations, the MECC will hold a press conference on next Monday, at 1pm Beirut Time, to announce the start of broadcasting, which in the first stage will be limited to a few hours a day—recurrent several times daily—until it becomes continuous 24-hour broadcasting.

Stay tuned for this new Ecumenical production!

Continues Its Regional Program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”

Spiritual and Psychological Support Sessions in an Ecumenical Framework

Stemming from its belief in the importance of spiritual and psychological support, the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) continues organizing its regional program " Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling." It held a new workshop between June 1 and 6, 2025, at the Monastery of Notre Dame du Puits in Beqanaya – Lebanon, in the presence of the MECC Associate Secretary General Reverend Dr. Refaat Fikry.

Participants were a group of Clergy, Nuns, lay people, and pastoral workers, representing various Church Families and countries of the Middle East such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt. Noting that they had previously participated in national workshops organized in their countries as part of the same program, and are now trained to develop their capacities to provide support within their communities.

The workshop aimed to develop the participants' capacities regarding the concept of trauma and ways to heal it through pastoral ministry. It empowered them and provided them with the necessary skills to support others spiritually and psychologically in the face of the challenges imposed by the difficult circumstances casting a shadow over the region due to various crises.

As part of its human capacity building objectives, the Diakonia and Social Service Department, Lebanon’s Office, at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), continues to implement its food security program with the participation of a group of Lebanese women in the villages of Hmayra, Ouwaynet, and Machta Hassan.

The three-year program includes several diverse sessions on how to properly produce mouneh and its necessary steps. It also covers marketing methods and its basics, as well as the importance of using social media for this purpose. The sessions also help participants overcome the challenges they may face in this field and give them the opportunity to participate in many exhibitions.

Hence, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is participating through this program in the Rachid Karami International Fair, where you can find the participants' products, from June 5 to 9, 2025, between 4 pm and 12 am, in Tripoli - Lebanon.

It is worth noting that this program is implemented with the support of the international organization Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of June 2025. It includes the Ecclesiastical and Liturgical Feasts of the various Families of Churches in the Middle East. In addition to international days identified by the United Nations, and which are related to the MECC identity and its spiritual and human mission.

Professor Michel Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

After equipping the production center and establishing the “Manbar Al-Kalima” platform at the Middle East Council of Churches, and launching their operations, and after gathering the Council’s audiovisual archives—a collection of fifty years of work—we are now preparing to launch the Middle East Council of Churches’ television channel and radio station, which will be the voice of the ecumenical movement and of the churches committed to this mission in the region.

Because a message that is not shared with people, so that it may affect their hearts and make them better human beings, able to treat their fellow humans well, is as if it never existed, the TV channel and radio station of the MECC, with the support of Tele Lumiere–Noursat and its dedicated leaders, and with the efforts of those who love God and want to spread His word, are now being launched.

Preparations for the launch have been completed. Next Monday, with the timing of the Pentecost, the MECC will hold a press conference to announce the start of broadcasting, which in the first stage will be limited to a few hours a day—recurrent several times daily—until it becomes continuous 24-hour broadcasting.

It is noteworthy that all of this has been accomplished at “zero” cost, thanks to the support we have received from those concerned and the dedication of colleagues in the Communication and Media Unit—may God bless their efforts and service.

The programming network consists of four sections: regular programming, news, liturgy, and Christian education programs and documentaries.

These programs cover topics such as family, the history of the ecumenical movement in the region, interviews, church news, positions of church leaders, MECC news, masses, hymns, Christian education programs, and documentaries.

This is the initial program lineup which will be developed further as more content is produced and as suggestions come in from stakeholders…

On the Occasion of the Yearly Anniversary of His Enthronement as Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Holy See of Cilicia

On the occasion of the Yearly Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I as Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Holy See of Cilicia, the Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, on behalf of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) family, extends his warmest congratulations to His Holiness, who is Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), wishing him continued health and success in his pastoral service as a faithful servant of the Church of Christ.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) also raises its Prayers to God on the intention of His Holiness to bless his service, bestow His graces upon him, and grant him the power of the Holy Spirit to lead his Church to the salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, and to remain a model of love and endless giving in the field of the Lord, wishing him many years of goodness, blessing, and holiness.

Media of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

It is the day of the founding and birth of the Church, the day on which it was entrusted with its mission: a community of missionaries and witnesses. The disciples accepted the word of the Lord with great joy to preach it around the world in one language, the language of God... It is the day of Pentecost, the memory of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles who were gathered with the Mother of God in Zion, Jerusalem, following the ascension of Jesus Christ into the heart of the Heavenly Father. It is the celebration of renewal that guides man from darkness and sin to light and chastity. This divine light was mentioned in the Bible of John in chapter 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Church families celebrate this divine event fifty days after Easter, each according to its rite and belief. According to Acts 2: 1-11 "And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim…" With the Pentecost, the Church ends the third stage of the New Testament. The first would be the stage from the Annunciation to the Cross, the second, from the Cross to the Resurrection, and the third, from the Resurrection through the Ascension to the Pentecost.