Discussions Centered on the Challenges that the Christian Presence is Facing in the Middle East, the Importance of Strengthening Unity and Partnership Among Churches, and the Unification of the Date of Easter

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, headed a delegation from the MECC General Secretariat on a visit to the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Mark the Apostle in Sin El Fil. He met with His Grace Anba Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East for the Coptic Orthodox Church, and President of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) for the Eastern Orthodox Family.

The delegation included Professor Laure Abi Khalil, Coordinator of the Program for Dialogue, Social Cohesion and the Preservation of Human Dignity at MECC, and Lea Adel Maamary, Coordinator of Media and Church Relations at MECC.

Attendees were also the Head of the Coptic Orthodox Community in Lebanon and Syria Father Athanasius Rizk, Father Abanoub Al-Ourachalimi, Lawyer Abdallah Moussallem, and the Public Relations Officer Mr. Albert Gendy.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Video – A Reflection by Fr. Dr. Michel Kanbar

Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish, Al-Hajje, Lebanon

University Professor, Writer, and Historian

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

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

Organized by the Middle East Council of Churches

Interview with Professor Laure Abi Khalil; Prepared and Presented by the Journalist Lea Adel Maamary

The Armenian Relief Cross Association – Lebanon

Produced By MECC

“Momentum”

11-9-2026

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 "Water for Life". It is the word he delivered at the MECC Celebration for the “Season of Creation”, on Sunday 6 September 2026, at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut.

You can check the issue via the following link: https://mailchi.mp/41b112cd3fee/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.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Address by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
Professor Michel Abs
at the Celebration of the Season of Creation

Sunday, September 6, 2026
National Evangelical Church of Beirut

Your Eminences and Reverend Fathers,

Your Eminences and distinguished religious leaders,

Dear sisters and brothers,

We gather today at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut to inaugurate together the Season of Creation, this time during which the Church invites us to reconsider our relationship with creation—not merely as the material setting in which we live, but as a gift from God and a trust placed in our hands by the Creator, so that we may use it wisely, preserve it, and pass it on to generations yet unborn.

At the heart of our reflection this year stands water—that substance which appears so simple, yet is so profound in meaning, and without which life cannot exist.

But before speaking about water, we must stand in reverence before the majesty of the Creator and the greatness of the very act of creation. Creation is not merely the shaping of what already exists. In the understanding of faith, it is the passage from nothingness into existence. That something should exist where previously there was nothing, and that life, order, beauty, and diversity should emerge, is a mystery beyond the human capacity fully to comprehend or grasp. When we contemplate creation, from the smallest cell to the vastest ocean, we are not simply contemplating silent matter; we stand before the traces of a divine act that brought existence out of nothingness and endowed life with the capacity to continue and renew itself…

Discussions Focus on Strengthening Future Partnership

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, welcomed, on Wednesday 9 September 2026, a delegation from Kerk in Actie (KIA), including Mr. Dick Loendersloot, the new KiA's Humanitarian Representative for the Africa Region, and Mrs. Kirsten Kok, the new KiA's Humanitarian Representative for the MENA Region. They also visited the Council on Friday, September 11, 2026, at the MECC General Secretariat offices in Beirut.

The visit aimed to strengthen the existing partnership between KIA and the MECC. The delegation met with the Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, in addition to holding meetings with many colleagues from the MECC various departments. The visit also provided an opportunity to meet Mrs. Kirsten Kok, who has recently assumed her new responsibility, succeeding Mr. Dick Loendersloot.

As part of strengthening Ecumenical relations, the General Secretary of the Bible Society in the Gulf Dr. Hrayr Jebejian, visited the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Michel Abs, on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the MECC headquarters in Beirut.

During the meeting, both sides held a discussion focusing on the general situation in the Middle East and the key challenges that the people of the region are facing. They also discussed the activities of the Bible Society in the Gulf and its various programs, as well as its relationship with the Middle East Council of Churches and ways to enhance cooperation between the two sides.

In this context, Dr. Hrayr Jebejian invited Professor Michel Abs to participate in an upcoming meeting with the Churches of the Gulf.

Chanted by the Seminarians of Saint Paul’ Seminary Harissa, Lebanon

Video - A Reflection by Reverend Rifaat Fikry, MECC Associate Secretary General

Basilica of Saint Paul, Harissa – Lebanon

Produced By MECC

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

Under the Theme "Living Water"

His Eminence Archbishop Boutros Marayati, Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, and Member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of

Churches (MECC), presented his book, “We Remain in Hope…”, to the MECC Secretary General Professor Michel Abs, and colleagues.

Issued by Naaman Publishing House for Culture, the book is a new addition to Archbishop Marayati’s intellectual and spiritual works. Its pages offer reflections on hope in human life and the Christian faith.

The Secretary General Professor Michel Abs expressed his appreciation for this initiative, wishing His Eminence Archbishop Boutros Marayati many years filled with goodness, blessings, and holiness in service to the Church and humanity, as well as intellectual production.