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Ordaining the Second Female Pastor in Beirut
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Rev. Habib Badr participated in the ordination of the second female pastor in the Middle East, Rev. Najla Abu Souwan-Kassab, at the Rabieh Evangelical Church in Beirut on Friday 24th of March, 2017. This marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, in the Feast of the Annunciation. This was the second ordination in almost one month. The first ordination was of Rev. Roula Sleiman in Tripoli’s National Evangelical Church on the 26th of February 2017.
Many local and international church leaders and Christian organizations joined the event. Bishop Mounib Younan (president of the World Lutheran Federation, WLF), Rev. Chris Ferguson (president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, WCRC), Rev. Sabine Dreßler (Reformed Alliance in Germany), Rev. Laurie Kraus (manager of the Presbyterian Disaster Association USA), Rev. Sophia Comnerin (vice president of the Uniting Church of Sweden), Rev. Andrea Zaki (president of the Evangelical Church in Egypt), Rev. Paul Haidostian (president of Haigazian University), Bishop George Saliba (Metropolitan of Mount Lebanon for the Syriac Orthodox Church) and other leaders along with many faithful believers.
"It is indeed a historical moment", said Dr. George Sabra, the president of the Near East School of Theology (NEST) who preached on that day. Women’s ordination in the Middle East, however, came after the women's ordination in many different parts of the world (USA, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and finally in the Middle East). Thus, it was the result of decades of discussions in the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) and the theological training of women at NEST along with the decision taken by the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon to ordain females. "Certainly, serving Christ needs no gender qualifications", said Dr. Sabra, "rather needs not to be despaired in following Christ, and to love Him from all one’s heart". It is a clear message, rooted in theology and the Bible, that we send to our people here and to the world in this particular time of rising religious fanaticism and extremism, Dr Sabra concluded.
