World Mission Council
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LINKING WORLDWIDE: THE MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA
Situation overview
The Church of Scotland has long held links with the countries
and churches of the Middle East. Scots were involved in
the earliest days of the reformed churches in Lebanon,
Syria and Egypt and also started medical and educational
outreach in Palestine and Israel.
Today the Church of Scotland maintains good relationships
with many churches and organisations within the Middle
East and North Africa region. On a regional level, the
Middle East Council of Churches provides an ecumenical
context for our links of partnership and friendship.
Egypt
In Egypt the Church of Scotland maintains good relationships
with the Synod of the Nile, the Reformed Church in Egypt,
and also works with the Coptic Evangelical Organisation
for Social Services (CEOSS) which offers development,
support for Egyptian communities as well as opportunities
for interfaith and ecumenical dialogue.
Supporting Refugee Egypt
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The refugee programmes of the St Andrew’s
Church in Cairo and the All Saints Cathedral in
Cairo have also been given support by the Church
of Scotland. At present the Guild project is raising
funds to help the Sudanese refugee community in
Cairo and the money raised will be put to good use
through the St Andrew’s Church and the All
Saints Cathedral. |
The Synod of the Nile Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church
is the minority of the Christian minority. Around 85 per
cent of the population of Egypt is Muslim with the remaining
10 to 15 per cent of Christians being mostly Coptic Orthodox.
The Evangelical Church in Egypt also runs the Evangelical
Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC). It is the largest
Christian Arabic language theological training institute
in the world. Located in Cairo it serves Arabic language
needs for the Evangelical and Protestant churches of the
Middle East with multi-level education for men and women.
It trains pastors, teachers and musicians from different
countries in the Middle East. It also has English language
opportunities for short term courses.
American Presbyterian missionaries began a ministry
in Assiut in upper Egypt in 1854. A Scottish missionary,
the Rev John Hogg, assisted in this mission work and
is celebrated for his work in the Church in Egypt. Much
of the Evangelical Church’s strength and reputation
has grown from the schools and hospitals founded by
the early church workers in Egypt. These institutions
continue today and have been joined by the world renowned
development work of the Coptic Evangelical Organisation
for Social Services (CEOSS).
Syria and Lebanon
In Syria and Lebanon, our link there is the National Evangelical
Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). NESSL was organised
in 1920 as the Union of several presbyteries. In 1959
it assumed responsibility for the direction of almost
all the work of foreign mission bodies from the USA, France,
Denmark, Holland and Switzerland. NESSL is well known
for its educational and medical work and in recent years
has been pioneering care of the elderly in homes in Syria
and in Lebanon. In recent years it has been re-establishing
work in the south which was long occupied by Israel and
is active in ecumenical and interfaith relationships.
The Near East School of Theology (NEST) is a high level
Theological Seminary serving Presbyterians, Congregationalists,
Lutherans and Episcopalians from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine/Israel,
Turkey, Iran and several African nations. It trains Arab,
Armenian and other Middle Eastern, African and some European
church leaders for pastoral, academic and other church
leadership positions throughout the region. The current
president, a Syrian presbyterian, Dr Mary Mikhael PhD
- Columbia University, New York, and the dean, Dr George
Sabra PhD – Tubigen, Germany, are both lay church
leaders and highly recognised for their scholarship worldwide.
The Middle East Council of Churches is active in educational
and development and projects amongst the Palestinian
refugee community in Lebanon.
Israel and Palestine
The Church of Scotland has two Church centres –
St Andrew’s, Jerusalem (pictured right) and
St Andrew’s, Galilee – both with guest
accommodation. Tabeetha School in Jaffa is also
run by the Church of Scotland. |
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The Church of Scotland has links
with the Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.
The diocese has numerous congregations in Israel
and Palestine and congregations in Scotland are
encouraged to look at twinning with these congregations.
Contact can be made with the minister at St Andrew’s,
Jerusalem in the first instance or with the information
office of the diocese. Positive links also exist with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan, the official name for the Lutheran Church
in the Middle East. |
Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation movement
among Palestinian Christians. It's an ecumenical Center
for Palestinian Liberation Theology which seeks to make
the Gospel contextually relevant. In Arabic Sabeel means
'the way' and also a 'spring of water'. Sabeel strives
to develop a spirituality based on justice, peace, nonviolence,
liberation and reconciliation for the different national
and faith communities. Sabeel also works to promote a
more accurate international awareness regarding the identity,
presence, and witness of Palestinian Christians.
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The Middle East Committee
of World Mission Council has given strong support to the Ecumenical
Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel
(EAPPI). The mission of the EAPPI is to accompany Palestinians
and Israelis in their non violent actions and concerted
advocacy efforts to end the occupation of the Palestinian
territories. |
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