THE MECC: An Overview

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is a fellowship of Oriental and Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches of the region. It initiates carries out educational pastoral and humanitarian services wherever member churches are present in the Arab countries, Turkey, Iran, Palestine/Israel and Cyprus.

The Council is a meeting place for the churches, and a facilitator of their dialogue towards unity. It promotes the churches cooperation in the field of religious education and in the service of the poor, the marginalized, the displaced and the refugees regardless of religious, cultural or ethnic affiliations. It also provides opportunities for inter-religious understanding and cooperation towards justice and peace in the region.

The MECC is governed by a General Assembly which meets once every four years to determine the Council's orientations and elect its presidents, Executive Committee and General Secretary. The Executive Committee approves the Council's programs on the basis of the Assembly's directives and appoints the unit commissions and department committees as well as their related directors.

The MECC programs include:

Education and Renewal: The aim is to develop the spiritual leadership, necessary for the Council's work in education and to initiate activities in the areas of youth, women, family and religious education in and out of schools.

Faith and Unity: The objective is to promote inter-church theological dialogue and pastoral cooperation, to support the work of the Association of Theological Education in the Middle East (ATIME) and to facilitate inter-faith understanding.

Life and Service: The purpose is to promote people's awareness and leadership potential needed for the human and socio-economic development of the Arab or Middle Eastern societies. It provides humanitarian service to the victims of wars or human made and natural disasters. It also coordinates the activities of the Department on Service to the Palestine Refugees (DSPR), the Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation program in Lebanon (ERR), the Ecumenical Popular Education, (EPEP), the Ecumenical Relief Service to the victims of the Gulf War (ERS) and the Service to other Refugees and Migrant Workers (SRMG).

In addition the Council is served by a Communication Department which publishes information bulletins in Arabic, English and French, organizes documentation and publication and audio-visual production. A Finance and Administration department handles the Council's finance under a Standing Committee on Administration and Finance (SCAF).

The General Secretariat works for the unity of the Council and for maintaining its ecumenical role among the churches and in society as a whole. It explores new openings for inter-religious cooperation in the service of all human beings and in building a society that respects religion and at the same time guarantees national unity on the basis of equal rights and responsibility. It also promotes solidarity for justice and peace in the Middle East.

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