A symposium titled "The Church and Development Issues - Building Bridges" was held at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo on Saturday, June 24, 2023. The symposium was organized by the College's Church and Society Center. Dr. Hani Hanna, Dean of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, participated in the symposium. The meeting opened with a prayer from Rev. Eid Salah, Pastor of the Ain Shams Evangelical Church and researcher in Arab Christian heritage..
The symposium included two sessions in which Dr. Q. Sherif Salah, Executive Director of the Center, presented the Center’s mission and objectives. Dr. Q. Rady Atallah, President of the Evangelical Synod of the Nile, also presented a presentation in which he shed light on the role of the Evangelical Church in serving the community. Ms. Evelyn Boutros, Program Development Consultant at the Bishopric of Social and Ecumenical Services, participated on behalf of His Grace Bishop Julius, Bishop of Social and Public Services and Churches East of the Railway and Old Cairo. Her speech reviewed models of development programs implemented by the bishopric in cooperation with international and governmental institutions. She also presented the challenges facing development work in Egypt and proposed ways for ecumenical community work..
Dr. Magdy Latif El-Sindy, Dean of the Coptic Institute for Church Management and Development, also participated in the symposium. In his speech, "How do we write a unified ecumenical community action charter?" he addressed the gaps currently existing in development work (between theory and practice, between goals, capabilities, and means, between words and deeds, between limited projects and national programs, and the gap between sectarian and ecumenical work). All of these gaps require bridges for joint action to be bridged. Dr. Magdy Latif then presented the principles of the charter's work, which are: respect for independence and doctrinal differences, the principle of the specificity of diversity, the principle of continuous communication, the principle of complementarity rather than competition, the principle of transparency and credibility, the principle of keenness on openness, clarity of purpose before commencing joint field work, the formulation of a framework for the partnership protocol, the distribution of roles and responsibilities to activate accountability, and the principle of managing the success of the partnership. He also outlined the steps for establishing the charter, which are: communication, convergence for understanding, cooperation to build progress and coordinate efforts, integration in organized work that is geographically and sectorally specific, etc. The various areas of cooperation could include: research and studies, conferences and seminars, joint celebrations, adopting common Christian positions on social/humanitarian issues, jointly designing pioneering development programs, and implementing joint community activities or projects. To address the challenges of ecumenical work, the Dean of the Institute concluded his speech by recommending the importance of providing a platform for initiating institutional ecumenical community work and establishing a database of church bodies working in the field of social and development services..
During the session, Ms. Margaret Saroufim, Head of the Development Sector at the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, delivered a speech in which she explained that civil society is an effective partner in achieving sustainable development. She provided an example of the history of development work in Egypt, the role of the organization, and the support of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for training and capacity-building of human cadres through the economic and social axis and the health sector, as well as awareness-raising through participation in the initiatives launched by His Excellency. At the conclusion of the symposium, Dr. Hanaa Gad, Senior Researcher and Supervisor of the Research Unit at the Center for Church and Society, presented the center's future plans, calling for partnership and support. She explained that the center seeks, through its strategy, to form an entity to initiate joint ecumenical community work, in partnership with supporting organizations by holding get-to-know-you meetings and organizing workshops to work together; to implement integrated development programs, to fulfill the mission of the college and the center in serving the church and society, and to connect theology with life..
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