Guests from Württemberg Church in our Church
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From Friday March 10 to Monday evening March 13, the NECB hosted a group of 24 church leaders from the diocese of Württemberg in southwest Germany. The group included the regional bishop (Prelat) of the Heilbronn district, Rev. Harald Stumpf, 13 assistant bishops (Dekans) with their spouses, and the officer for ecumenical and foreign relations in the governing Synod of the Württemberg diocese, Rev. Klaus Rieth. They were also accompanied by Rev. Dr. Uwe Gräbe, the ME liaison secretary at EMS. On Friday morning the group visited NEST and met with Dr. George Sabra. Later, accompanied by Rev. Badr, they were received by Maronite Archbishop Paul Sayyah in Bkirki who spoke on the current situation. Afterwards they were briefly greeted by Patriarch Bechara Raii. On Saturday morning Rev. Badr gave them an introduction to our church and its role in society, followed by Dr. Muhammad Sammak, who briefed them on the recent document issued by Al Azhar on “The Muslim-Christian Coexistence”. On Sunday the group joined our worship service at church where Rev. Rieth preached. A reception followed that included church council members and several evangelical church leaders from the larger community.
On Monday the group spent the whole day in Schneller School where they participated in the inauguration of the new computer library and football field. Of course the visit was interspersed by sightseeing trips to Byblos, Baalbek, the Chouf cedars, the National Museum, etc. All in all it was a most successful visit wherein both churches in Beirut and Württemberg benefited and celebrated their longstanding partnership.
