► 'Helping Hand' Society Welcomed Rev. Suheil Sauod

On Friday the 16th of November, the 'Helping-Hand' society in its regular meeting welcomed Rev. Suheil Sauod. During the worship service Rev. Sauod presented his book "The Gospel: Doctrine and Life" الانجيل عقيدة وحياة which was published recently.

Rev. Sauod said that the book is divided into two parts. The first part includes sermons which he had preached during his ministry as pastor in the Presbyterian church. These sermons are following the regular church calendar. The second part is about Evangelical doctrines which help Christians to live their faith devotedly.

Mrs Salwa el-Shab also meditated from the Gospel of Matthew ch. 25. She stressed on stretching the hand to the sick, the prisoner, the naked and to all who are in need.

► EMS First General Assembly

Rev. Habib attended the first General Meeting of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) in Germany on 10 November 2012. The General Assembly elected Chair of the General Meeting and of the Mission Council, Rev. Marianne Wagner, Pastor for World Mission and Ecumenism in the Protestant Church of the Palatinate. The assembly elected the deputies too. Dr. Habib Badr, senior pastor of NEC, and Rev. Klaus Rieth, responsible for Mission, Ecumenism and Development Cooperation in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wuerttemberg.

The EMS Fellowship has defined priorities for the next two years which are to have particular significance for all members. Thus it is planned to strengthen sharing the gospel and interfaith dialogue, for example in Indonesia, as well as the commitment to peace and justice especially on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East. Conferences will be held for missiological education and training. The Women’s and Youth Networks are planning international consultations, whilst special attention will be paid to the exchange of personnel both in the Ecumenical Volunteers and Study Programmes.

(Information are taken from Gerd Sander, Press Relations Officer, www.ems-online.org)

For more details, please CLICK THIS LINK

► Confirmation Service

On Sunday the 4th of November 2012, parents and large congregation of our church participated in the confirmation service of six confirmands, who joined the church membership on the occasion of All Saints Sunday.

The confirmands are: Maya Asfour, Nadia Asfour, Mounir Moadieh, Ramzi Katoul, Lara Sabra, and Nour bou Malham.

The confirmation-candidates had attended earlier (past spring-summer period) a series of special classes, where they had the chance to reflect on the meaning of Christian faith and studied different topics, such as baptism, church creeds, communion and other important themes of the Christian faith.

Confirmation refers to the decision a person makes in response to God’s grace, with intentional commitment and public affirmation of one’s baptismal vows before the congregation. Confirmation is finally endorsed through the participation of the confirmands in the communion service, through which they claim full membership of their church.

May God lead the new members of our church in their paths of life to be good, loving and caring Christians in their church and society.