A handbook of councils and churches profiles of ecumenical relationships

(Federación de Iglesias Evangélicas del Uruguay, FIEU)

Founded in 1956.

Basis of membership: To be a member, a church must indicate its agreement with the objectives of the Federation, and the application must be approved unani­mously by the members of the executive board. The final decision is with the assembly.

Member churches: Armenian Evangelical Church

Evangelical Church of the River Plate
Evangelical Waldensian Church of the River Plate

Mennonite Church of Uruguay

Pentecostal Church Naciente

Associate members:

Bible Society of Uruguay

Christian Association of Youth

Evangelical Gerontological Foundation of Uruguay

Evangelical Hospital

Youth for Christ

The Federation of Evangelical Churches of Uruguay is affiliated with the Com­mission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.

(Consejo de Iglesias Cristianas del Uruguay, CICU)

Founded in 1998.

Objectives: Information between the churches and mutual knowledge of each other; promotion of initiatives of dialogue, common prayer, and witness; discern­ment, in the light of the gospel, of the signs of the times in the national and global community, to contribute to awareness-building and speak with a common voice where possible; serving the churches by promoting ecumenical endeavour and fra­ternal rapprochement.

Member churches:

Anglican Diocese of Uruguay

Armenian Evangelical Church

Pentecostal Church Naciente

(Iglesia Metodista del Uruguay, IMU)

Church Family: Methodist

Membership: 1,000

Congregations: 21

Pastors: 12

Lay pastors: 4

Member of: WCC (1971) – CLAI – FIEU – CICU – WMC – CIEMAL

Periodical: Boletin Metodista (quarterly, in Spanish)

Website www.imu.org.uy

Methodism came to Uruguay in 1838 through mission from England. It was interrupted in 1842 and re-initiated by the Methodist Missionary Society from the USA in 1870. During those first years the work in Uruguay was part of the mis­sion based in Buenos Aires. When the annual conference of South America was formed in 1893, Uruguay became a district. From the beginning there was a strong emphasis on education. The Crandon Institute of Montevideo was founded, which until today is one of the most prestigious educational establishments of the country. Later the Crandon Lyceum and College of Salto were added, and more recently the Institute of Good Will which is dedicated to the formation of young people who are physically handicapped. In 1952 Uruguay became a provisional conference separate from Argentina and in 1968 it was authorized by the general

Latin America

conference of the United Methodist Church to be an autonomous church. The dis­trict conferences were abolished and instead of the episcopal tradition the church adopted the system of a president as leader. The position is open to clergy as well as lay members. The highest authority is the national assembly and a board for Life and Mission composed of three clergy and six lay persons supervises the whole church. Besides the one thousand members there is a wider community of about two thousand people who are related to the church.

The mission of the church is implemented through five departments: evange­lism, education and formation, women and family, youth, and service and wit­ness. The coordination between these departments and with the department of communication aims at an integrated response to mission. In 2004 a pastoral institute was created for the on-going formation of the laity and the renewal of pastoral studies. Two large programmes are the focus of the mission of the church: the integrated rural mission in the north, in the most impoverished region where the church is growing more than elsewhere, and the urban mission in Monte­video. Both are challenges to the whole church and areas of voluntary service of professionals and lay persons from the congregations and the wider community. The church has taken a leadership role together with the Waldensian Church on the issue of women’s rights in reproductive health and has a ministry with per­sons of diverse sexual orientations. Historically the IMU has marked itself by its commitment to human and political rights in the country.

Together with the Conference of Argentina and the Church in the South of Brazil the programme “Churches without Borders” was initiated in 2003, as a joint mission and pastoral project in the border zone between Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. The IMU maintains close relations with the Methodist churches in the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Argentina and Brazil.

Middle East

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is a fellowship of churches relat­ing to the mainstream of the modern ecumenical movement, the same that gave birth to the World Council of Churches and other regional councils throughout the world. The Middle East is the region where the church was born, and where the Orthodox churches (Eastern and Oriental) have existed since the beginning of Christianity. The Catholic presence dates back to the time of the crusades and the Latin penetration of the region. In the 19th and 20th century, Protestant mis­sions established themselves in the Middle East and Protestant churches came into being. They formed in 1962 the Near East Christian Council. Informal con­tacts between Protestant groups and the Orthodox, which began in the 1930s, led in 1964 to intentional dialogue. By 1972, sufficient progress had been made to draft a constitution for an ecumenical body. In 1974 the Middle East Council of Churches was brought into being at its first general assembly, in Nicosia, Cyprus. From the outset, the MECC adopted the model of “families of churches”. The East­ern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox and the Protestants were the three found­ing families. In 1990 the Catholic churches (Latin and Oriental rite) joined the council, constituting the Catholic family within the MECC. Each family is equally represented in the governing bodies and the general assembly, and decides on its own representation.

The MECC has been a sign of hope for the Christians in the region in the midst of fear and despair caused by conflict and division. The churches have endeav­oured to hold up the council as an instrument through which they could demon­strate together their hope in a better future through spiritual renewal, the search for unity and common witness. This has included efforts for a true and credible witness to justice and peace in the Middle East. The general assemblies since 1974 have been spiritual events and opportunities for mutual enrichment:

The recurrent concepts of unity, peace, hope and perseverance that are reflected in the themes of the assemblies point to the will of the churches to address together the issues of the Middle East. The MECC has worked quietly and effec­tively as an agent of mercy and reconciliation in war-torn Lebanon. It has a long-standing record of solidarity with the Palestinians, providing assistance to refugees, upholding the rightful quest for a Palestinian state and supporting peace initiatives. It was early on the scene in Iraq after the Gulf War, and has supported

Middle East

the churches and people of Iraq in the situation of violence and conflict since 2003. It has initiated discussions within the Arab society to engage both Muslims and Christians in the examination of what should go into the building of a just and peaceful civil society, and it has participated in some important initiatives of Christian reconciliation. The inclusion of the Catholic churches in 1990, which was the fruit of long and patient efforts, has made the MECC the most represen­tative Christian body in the region. The council has also been engaged in a dia­logue with Evangelical missions operating in the Middle East, which sometimes bypass the established churches and create tensions.

The guiding principles of the council are to strengthen the fellowship of its member churches, to encourage mutual support between the churches, to build understanding and respect between Christians and people of other faiths, to nur­ture a spirit of service (diakonia), and to be a mediator between Christians and churches in the Middle East and their brothers and sisters in Christ elsewhere. Programmatically, the MECC works on questions of faith and unity, education and renewal, life and service, and communication. The MECC has 27 member churches in 12 countries, representing 14 million Christians. The head offices are in Beirut, Lebanon, and smaller offices exist in Limassol, Cyprus, and Cairo, Egypt.

Periodical: MECC News Report, Courrier œcuménique, Al-Muntada

Website: www.mec-churches.org

Member churches of the Middle East Council of Churches

Catholic family:

Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia

Chaldean Catholic Church of Babylon

Greek Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch, Alexandria & Jerusalem

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Maronite Church of Antioch

Syrian Catholic Church of Antioch

Eastern Orthodox family:

Church of Cyprus
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Evangelical family:

1. 
   – Diocese of Egypt
   
2. 
   – Diocese of Jerusalem
   
3. 
   – Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf
   
4. 
   – Diocese of Iran
   Episcopal Church in the Sudan
   
   
   

Evangelical Church in Sudan

National Evangelical Union of Lebanon

French Reformed Church in Tunisia

The Middle East Council of Churches is affiliated with the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.

The Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches is an association of the Evangelical (Protestant) churches of the Middle East which believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in Jesus Christ as Lord, Saviour and the one head of the church. They believe that the Holy Bible is the sole foundation for Christian doctrine. They confess that justification is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and that good works are the fruit of faith.

The motivation for unity was always rooted in the faith and life of the Evan­gelical churches in the Middle East. The ecumenical movement in the Middle East sprang up from within the evangelical church, which through its biblical concepts and spirituality, yearns for unity. This motivation brought the Evangelical churches of the Middle East together. “The United Missionary Council in Jerusalem” (1924) was the first step, followed by the “Council of West Asia and North Africa” held at Helwan, Egypt in 1927, and its two peers, “The Mission­ary Conference of Syria and Palestine” held in the north, and “The Missionary Conference of all Egypt” held in the south. Later all these assemblies joined under one nomenclature, “The Near East Christian Council”. Thirty-five years later, in 1964 in Egypt, the Syrian Orthodox Church joined the council, whose name changed to “The Near East Council of Churches”. Then, in 1974, in order to encourage other churches in the Middle East to join the ecumenical movement, the Evangelical churches initiated the idea of playing a lesser role in administra­tion and direct responsibility, in order that the other churches in the Middle East might join. As a result “The Middle East Council of Churches” came into exis­tence on the basis of Orthodox, Oriental and Evangelical church families.

The yearning for unity does not mean that the member churches within the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches are fully united. Theological questions related to eucharist and ministry are still unresolved, therefore the quest for unity is still a top priority for the FMEEC, which believes that unity amongst its members will foster the unity with the other families within the MECC. In 1997 the Fellowship formulated a “Proposal for the Unity of the Evan­gelical Churches in the Middle East”, which however was not accepted by all its members. In 2005 a new proposal was launched, aiming at a formal agreement between the churches of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions in the Fellowship.

The objectives of the Fellowship are to strengthen the mission and ministry of the Protestant churches, to promote leadership training and formation of the laity, men and women, and to bring the member churches to closer unity through work­ing and learning together.

The Fellowship runs programmes in the areas of theology, women, Christian education, church-related schools, and service to the churches in Iran and Sudan.

Middle East

Member churches of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches

Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Egypt
Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Iran
Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem
Diocese of the Episcopal Church in Cyprus and the Gulf
Episcopal Church in the Sudan

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan

Evangelical Presbyterian Synod of the Sudan

National Evangelical Union in Lebanon

Population: 802,500

Anglicans 2,900

Cyprus is an independent republic since 1960. The constitution divided the population into two ethnic communities, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot. In 1963 tensions began to develop which resulted in a rebellion led by the Turkish Cypriot leaders. A United Nations peacekeeping force was established in 1964. In 1974, after a coup d’état staged by the ruling military junta of Greece, Turkey invaded the northern part of the island. As a result, 142,000 Greek Cypriots and 55,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced, and another 20,000 Greek Cypriots enclaved in the area were gradually forced to leave. In 1983 the Turkish occupied area was unilaterally declared an independent “state”, recognized by Turkey only. UN-led direct talks between the two sides resumed in 1999. In 2002 the UN pre­sented a plan for a comprehensive settlement. After further negotiations it was submitted to the people of Cyprus in two simultaneous referenda in 2005. The Greek Cypriots rejected it, the Turkish Cypriots voted in favour. Cyprus was admitted as a member of the European Union in 2005, but without achieving the goal of unity. In the event of a solution, which is still hoped for by all Greek and Turkish Cypriots, there is a provision for the admission of the Turkish-occupied part of the island. The Church of Cyprus is the majority church. There is an Armenian Apostolic Church which is part of the Holy See of Cilicia. The Angli­can community belongs to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. Latin and Maronite Catholic churches, and several small Protestant and Pen­tecostal churches are also present in Cyprus.

Church of Cyprus

Church Family: Orthodox (Eastern)

Membership: 654,000

Dioceses: 6

Parishes: 628

Bishops: 10

Priests: 600

Member of: WCC (1948) – MECC – CEC

Periodical: Apostolos Varnavas (monthly, in Greek)

Cyprus was evangelized from the very beginning of Christianity. The Apostle Barnabas is regarded as the founder and first bishop of the local church, because of his great contribution to the establishment of the new faith and his martyrdom (AD 57). Towards the end of the 4th century, the Church of Cyprus was fully established. Bishoprics were organized in all main towns and church life flour­ished in all its aspects. The Patriarchate of Antioch wanted to place the church under its jurisdiction, but the Council of Ephesus in 431, and later the emperor, recognized the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus. Politically, Cyprus became dependent on Byzantium. From the 7th to the 10th century it suffered under the attacks of Arab Muslims. It was in this period that the local church leaders began to assume the political role of ethnarchs, which became gradually established thereafter in the course of the country’s history. Cyprus was definitively liberated from the Arabs in 965, and there followed a flourishing of monasticism and Byzantine art. Most of the monasteries of Cyprus were founded in the 11th century.

This progressive course of the church was stopped when the Crusaders con­quered the island in 1191. The period of French (1191-1489) and Venetian rule (1489-1570/1) that followed lasted for almost four centuries. The conquerors introduced a Latin hierarchy and took control of church affairs. The Orthodox Church suffered much under the Latin rule. The bishops, priests and monks defended the Greek Orthodox faith and identity (tradition, culture, language) and the faithful gathered around them. Under the Turkish occupation (1570-1878) the Latin church was almost completely extinguished. The Turks allowed only the existence of the Greek Orthodox Church, which was permitted to reconstitute itself. Nevertheless, the Ottoman period was also a time of hardship. The bishops, and especially the archbishop, were the only shelter and protection for the Ortho­dox people. They were also held responsible by the regime for any problem, dis­turbance or protest, and many were exiled. During this period, the Ecumenical Patriarchate assisted the Church of Cyprus many times and in many ways.

When the British established their rule over Cyprus, in 1878, the Orthodox Church and people believed that an era of justice, prosperity and modernization would begin, and that the British would allow the fulfillment of the national dream, the union (enosis) of Cyprus with motherland Greece. Unfortunately, nothing of that happened. After a spontaneous protest in 1931, which was vio­lently repressed, the struggle for liberation began in 1955, organized, financed and guided by the Orthodox Church. Archbishop Makarios III, following the long tra­dition of ethnarchy, was the political leader of the liberating organization (EOKA). He was exiled, but Cyprus became an independent state in 1960, for the first time in its long history, with Archbishop Makarios as its first president.

Unfortunately, the coup d’état of 1974, organized by the junta in Athens, was a disaster for the people, the Republic and the Church of Cyprus. Turkey invaded the island under the pretext of protecting the rights of the Turkish-Cypriot com­munity, occupied 37 percent of the land, and destroyed churches, monasteries,

Middle East

cemeteries and other shrines. Archbishop Makarios, who returned to Cyprus in December 1974, resumed the struggle for the rights of his flock and efforts to rebuild the country upon the ruins left by the invasion. The Church of Cyprus has consistently denounced and opposed the division of the country.

Since independence, the church has developed many and diverse activities, cov­ering all aspects of life and society in Cyprus. It has built many schools and has set up cultural, philanthropic and church foundations, as well as a radio-TV sta­tion. Scholarship programmes for needy students have been put in place. The church has established two new bishoprics (Limassol and Morphou) and has ini­tiated missionary activity in Africa. A new (1979) constitutional charter of the church was written to replace the old one of 1914. The Church of Cyprus has become host to many international Orthodox and ecumenical meetings.

Population: 74,878,313

Surface area: 1 million sq.km

Capital: Cairo

GNI per capita: 1,390 US$

Classification: Developing economy

Languages: Arabic

Religions : Muslim 86%; Christian 14%

Christianity: Orthodox 9,971,860; Protestants 545,844; Catholics 257,000;

Egypt was the cradle of one of the world’s great civilizations. An empire grew up around 3200 BC in the Nile valley, and a series of dynasties ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. The last dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 BC who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, and later the Romans. The Arabs introduced Islam and Arabic in the 7th century and ruled Egypt until it was taken over by the Turks in 1517. Britain seized control of the country in 1822. Egypt recovered full sovereignty after World War II, and became a republic in 1952 under President Nasser, who nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956. Another major milestone was the construction of the Aswan dam in Upper Egypt, which was finished in 1971. Egypt fought three wars with Israel in 1956, 1967 and 1973, before it signed the Camp David peace agreement in 1978. It is the most populated country in the Arab world. It struggles with huge economic problems and social inequalities. Egypt was Christianized as of the first century and Alexandria was one of the main centres of the early church. Islam is the majority religion, but the Coptic Christians still form a sizeable minority. The Copts are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Besides the Coptic Orthodox Church, there is also the smaller Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Anglican, Catholic and Protestant-Evan-gelical and Pentecostal churches have come into being in the 19th and 20th cen­tury, mostly – but not only – among the Copts. The Fellowship of Evangelicals in Egypt is affiliated with the WEA.

Church Family: Orthodox (Oriental)

Membership: 12,000,000*

Dioceses: 72

Parishes: 1,500

Bishops: 101 Priests: 3,100

Member of: WCC (1948) – AACC – MECC

Periodicals: El-Kerazah and Watany (weekly, in Arabic)

Website: www.coptic.org

The Copts are the native Christians of Egypt and the direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Eusebius records the tradition that the church in Egypt was founded by St Mark the Evangelist, and Alexandria ranked with Antioch and Rome as one of the chief sees of the early church. The Coptic Church suffered severely in the persecution under Diocletian. In Egypt the rapid development of monasticism is attested by the many Coptic “Lives of the Saints” and “Sayings of the Fathers”. The Byzantine political domination and the misunderstanding of the Coptic doctrine caused the Coptic Church to undergo severe sufferings at the hands of the Byzantine rulers. In 616 the Copts came under Persian domination. In 642 they were conquered by the Arabs, whose rule in varying forms has lasted to the present day. Long periods of comparative peace would suddenly be broken by persecution, e.g. under the Caliph el Hakim (996-1021), who is said to have destroyed 3,000 churches and caused large numbers to apostatize. The Coptic Church is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. The Coptic lan­guage is used mainly in the church and in the service books, which provide the Arabic text in parallel columns. The liturgies used are those of St Basil, St Gre­gory and St Cyril. Five important fasts are observed: 1) the pre-Lenten fast of Nin­eveh, 2) the great fast of Lent, 3) the fast of the Nativity before Christmas, 4) the fast of the Apostles, after the Ascension, 5) the fast of the Virgin, before the Assumption. In addition Wednesday and Friday are fasting days except between Easter and Pentecost. Of the hundreds of monasteries which flourished in the deserts of Egypt there are now twenty left with more than 1000 monks, and seven convents with about 600 nuns.

Towards the middle of the 19th century the Coptic Church began to undergo phases of new development. Primary, secondary and technical schools for boys and girls were established, some by the patriarchate and the diocesan authorities, others by various Coptic benevolent societies. The theological school for the preparation of priests and lay leaders was re-established in Cairo in 1975 under the name of Theological Seminary. Today there are nine seminaries in Egypt and five outside the country.

It should be noted that the Coptic language, being the last form or stage of the ancient Egyptian language (originally written in picture-form called hieroglyph­ics), is indispensable for the study of Pharaonic history and for biblical studies. In the 2nd century AD, Pantaenus, the principal of the theological school in Alexan­dria, established the Coptic alphabet, using Greek characters and adding seven from the Egyptian which correspond to sounds that do not exist in Greek, in order to record phonetically the vernacular of Egypt. Public interest in theological stud­ies as well as in Coptic history and tradition has led to the foundation by the church of the Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo. More than one hundred post­graduate students are currently enrolled in the institute.

The Coptic laity (men and women) participate actively in the life of the church. Parish church councils comprise various sub-committees which cooperate with the clergy to meet the pastoral and social needs of the community. Diocesan com­munities and parish congregations have established a large number of benevolent societies covering a wide range of spiritual, educational and welfare services.

*Distribution:

1. 
   – Egypt: 11,000,000
   
2. 
   – Outside Egypt: 1,000,000 (Australia, Europe, North America)
   

Middle East