► The Installation of Dr. George Sabra at N.E.S.T.
Dr George Sabra, in a beautiful service at the Near East School of Theology, was installed as the 9th president of the Near East School of Theology last Sunday, the 7th of October, 2012. The Board of Managers and many distinguished guests attended the ceremony, during which Rev. Dr. Salim Sahiouny (President of the Supreme Council of Protestant Churches in Syria and Lebanon) presented the Symbol of the Office to Dr Sabra, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian (President of Haigazian University) presented Dr. Sabra's academic biography, and Rev. Megerdich Karagoezian (President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East) presented the charge to the president.
On the occasion of his installation as president, Dr. Sabra delivered an insightful address: "Serving, Coping, Transforming: The Three Tasks of a Theological Seminary". The address was presented and developed in a profound way providing a historical overview of the mission and the future prospect of the N.E.S.T.
After the service the audience congratulated Dr. Sabra wishing him a fruitful and a blessed leadership and contribution to the mission of the N.E.S.T.
Dr. George Sabra was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He received his Bachelor of Philosophy from the American University in Beirut (1977). Then he obtained his Master of Divinity (1980) from Princeton Theological Seminary, USA, and a Master of Arts in Medieval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies (1981) at the University of Toronto, Canada. In 1986, he was awarded the Doctorate of Theology from the Faculty of Theology in the University of Tübingen, Germany.
Dr. Sabra is the professor of Systematic Theology at the Near East School of Theology and has been its Academic Dean since 1995. He represented the Reformed Churches in the Middle East at the World Alliance of Reformed Churches from 1993 to 2001 and is currently a permanent member of the International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. He has represented his church, the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, in different committees.
He is also a lecturer in the Civilization Sequence Program at American University of Beirut, and has lectured at the Lebanese American University, the Faculty of Theology in University of the Holy Spirit, Kaslik, and the Antonine University, Lebanon.
He is married to Lydia Nseir, and they have two daughters, Maria (23) and Julia (18).
