What Are the Details?

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), through its Service and Relief Department – Diakonia, continues its efforts to support the livestock sector and enhance livelihoods and food security in rural areas, as part of its ongoing mission to assist the most vulnerable families and alleviate increasing living burdens.

In this context, 134 livestock breeders in the villages of Deir al-Bukht, Khirbet Ghazaleh, and Al-Kutaybeh in rural Dara’a were supported through the distribution of 220 rations to cover 220 heads of cattle. Each ration consisted of 900 kilograms of mineral-fortified pelleted fodder and 720 kilograms of hay. In addition, veterinary services, medications, and vaccines were provided, along with one food basket for each of the 134 breeders’ families.

The beneficiaries also attended training sessions on proper cattle care, ways to manage common livestock diseases, and optimal nutrition practices to improve the quality and quantity of milk production.

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…

"The blood shed in St. Elias Church is the blood of us all. Our heartfelt condolences to you, and mercy to the martyrs."

Balamand, July 10, 2025

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and President of the Orthodox Family in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), received a delegation from the MECC Executive Committee, composed of Representatives from different Churches and countries of the Middle East, at the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand. The delegation included His Beatitude Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Catholicos Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, and MECC President for the Catholic Family, 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 MECC President for the Evangelical Family, the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, and other Members of the Executive Committee representing Churches from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus.

Episode 1

Prepared and Presented by the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary

Produced by MECC

Produced by the Middle East Council of Churches

“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics.

An Episode Within the "Community Knowledge" Series

Headquarters of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council - Beirut

On MECC TV

Watch the Weekly Word of the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, entitled this week "Toward the Meeting of the Executive Committee." It will be broadcasted on the MECC Satellite Channel on Saturday, July 5 and Sunday, July 6, 2025, at 4:10 pm Beirut time.

MECC TV Frequencies:

Nilesat: 11096

S.R: 27500

Pol: Horizontal

On MECC FM and MECC TV

Watch the “Ecumenical Horizons” program, every Tuesday live at 10 am Beirut Time on MECC FM 106.9, and at 4:10 pm Beirut Time on MECC TV, via the following frequency:

Nilesat: 11096

S.R: 27500

Pol: Horizontal

Rerun on MECC TV every Friday at 4:10 pm Beirut Time.

“Ecumenical Horizons” is a weekly program that features spiritual, cultural, intellectual, educational, youth and environmental topics, produced by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).

This issue includes reports, videos, news, articles, and a full coverage of the latest developments 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 the Meeting of the Executive Committee”.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/d61158ae371c/momentum-mecc-weekly-newsletter.

You can also subscribe to the Momentum Newsletter via the following link: https://mecc.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=fd3381352a&u=1db32cafe9ea32b38eb90480a.

Professor Michel Abs

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

In a few days, the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches will convene, after several months of postponement due to the unstable situation in the region, which has made travel somewhat risky and challenging.

The Executive Committee is the highest authority in the Council, responsible for approving essential and strategic matters. All the Council’s constituent bodies refer to it for decisions on cornerstone issues concerning the work of this ecumenical institution, which has now entered its second fifty years, years the churches hope will be long and marked by renewal and creativity, seeking distinguishing features to guide its work and social service in all areas: ecumenical, developmental, educational, dialogical, environmental, and others that concern the church.

The current Executive Committee is meeting with a long-term perspective, aiming to outline the strategic framework for the coming years, as a continuation and follow-up to the framework plan approved by the Committee and adopted by partners in 2021. That plan guided the Council’s work over the past four years. The Secretary General presented a report on those four years during the Executive Committee meeting held at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand, which was dedicated to the election of the Secretary General…

In its endeavor to embody its slogan, "Building Bridges, Standing Together," to be a unifying platform for Church and Religious Families and all components of society, reflecting the Christian reality in the Middle East with a unified Church voice emanating from the cradle of Christianity to the entire world within a shared life with all components of society,

As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen its Ecumenical and humanitarian mission and to shed lights on the Church in the Middle East through all available media platforms and digital technologies,

The Middle East Council of Churches has launched a new WhatsApp channel, entitled “MECC News”.

We invite you to join this channel and follow the MECC news via the following link: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbB2Ym05a240L8hfFv0s.

Through this link, you can follow all the MECC activities, in addition to episodes, reports, videos, and articles produced by MECC, about various Christian, Ecumenical, humanitarian, and social issues.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) have now issued its online Ecumenical calendar for the month of July 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.

The Secretary General Professor Michel Abs: It is necessary to strengthen the Church's capabilities and develop human capital

At the invitation and organization of the Communication and Media Department at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), and under the supervision of the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, a training course on graphic design is being held with Father Spyridon Tanous, Parish Priest of Sharbila in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Akkar and its Dependencies. The course is taking place at the offices of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut, with the participation of the media team and colleagues from various departments in Lebanon and Syria, both in person and online.

The course, which will last for several weeks, began on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, with a word delivered by the Secretary General Professor Michel Abs. He welcomed the trainer, thanking him for his efforts and skills, emphasizing the need to strengthen the Church's capabilities and capacities, and stressing the importance of developing human capital.

In his turn, Father Spyridon was briefed about the participants. He also presented an overview of the knowledge, skills, and practical exercises that the training will provide, and which will benefit the participants in their respective fields and contexts.

As part of the Program “Restoration Fund for Rehabilitation of Faith-based Social Services & Religious Infrastructure Damaged During the Crisis in Syria”