Who We Are
History
Presbyterian Middle Eastern Americans trace their Reformed roots to Presbyterian missions in the Middle East in the mid-19th century. Here in the United States, Middle Eastern Christian immigrants started to join the Presbyterian Church more than a century ago.
In 1898, the Armenian Presbyterian Mission of West Hoboken was organized to minister to refugees from the 1895 Turkish massacres and was officially recognized by the Jersey City Presbytery. The Mission later became the Armenian Presbyterian Church in New Jersey.
In 1899, a small group of Lebanese immigrants met regularly for worship in an apartment in Fall River, Massachusetts. The group eventually became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, first as a mission and in 1934 as a church.
The first Assyrian Presbyterian Church in the United States was established in Chicago in 1910 as the Carter Memorial Persian Assyrian Presbyterian Church.
Today, there are more than 60 Presbyterian congregations and fellowships throughout the United States worshiping in different languages, including Persian, Assyrian, Armenian and Arabic. This, indeed, is a reflection of the work of the Holy Spirit among us and a testament to the enduring witness of Middle Eastern Christians in Diaspora.
The Office of Middle Eastern Intercultural Ministries
The office of Middle Eastern Intercultural Ministries provides spiritual and organizational services to enable the growth and enhance the ministry of Middle Eastern Presbyterian churches and fellowships in the United States.
In partnership with its Advisory Committee and the National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus, the office of Middle Eastern Intercultural Ministries provides the following services:
Assists presbyteries in forming new worshiping communities for Middle Eastern immigrants.
Coordinates leadership training events for clergy and laity.
Creates and produces language-specific resources.
Advocates for the participation of women and youth in all ordained leadership roles in the church.
Acts as a bridge of dialogue promoting educational and cultural understanding
For more information regarding the Middle Eastern Ministries, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. PCUSA:
Madison McMullen
(800) 728-7228, x5385
Madison.McMullen@pcusa.org
Rev. Magdy Girgis, D. Min
Middle Eastern Ministries field staff
Magdy.Girgis@pcusa.org
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هأنذا صانع امرا جديداً
وَالآنَ هكَذَا يَقُولُ الرَّبُّ، خَالِقُكَ يَا يَعْقُوبُ وَجَابِلُكَ يَا إِسْرَائِيلُ: «لاَ تَخَفْ لأَنِّي فَدَيْتُكَ. دَعَوْتُكَ بِاسْمِكَ. أَنْتَ لِي. (إشعياء ٤٣: ١)
يقول هنا : "لا تخف يا إسرائيل" لما كنت يعقوب أنا كنت معك، وأنت الآن إسرائيل أنا أيضاً معك. بمعنى أنه وأنت في أضعف ًحالاتك أو في أحسنها أنا معك. انا هو خالقك لكن ليس هذا فقط، أنا جبلتك يعني خلقتك على صورتي. وهو مازال يعمل و يشكل ويجدد في أوانينا نحن الذين آمنا به لكي يصنعنا وعاء آخر يليق بشخصه القدوس.
نعم يا إسرائيل، أنا قد خلقتك وجبلتك ، وأيضاً فديتك. فديتك في الماضي عندما خلصتك من كل الأعداء المحيطين بك.
والآن وقد كلمنا هذه الأيام الأخيرة في ابنه. فقد فدانا واشترانا بدمه الثمين. وأيضا خصصنا له وهو يعرفنا بأسماء (انت لي) كما قال الكتاب في يوحنا ١٠ ("٢ وَأَمَّا الَّذِي يَدْخُلُ مِنَ الْبَابِ فَهُوَ رَاعِي الْخِرَافِ. ٣ لِهذَا يَفْتَحُ الْبَوَّابُ، وَالْخِرَافُ تَسْمَعُ صَوْتَهُ، فَيَدْعُو خِرَافَهُ الْخَاصَّةَ بِأَسْمَاءٍ وَيُخْرِجُهَا. (يوحنا ١٠: ٢، ٣)
عدد ٢، ٥ يقول "أنا معك" لاتخف، انا جعلتك تعبر في النهر كما في اليابسة (عبور نهر الأردن). الذي يعد هنا ليس إنسان، هو الله. ونحن نعلم أنه هو هو أمس واليوم وإلى الأبد. إن الذي وعد هو أمين وهو قادر أن يحفظ كنيسته وأبواب الجحيم لن تقوّي عليها. فقط هذا يحتاج منا كعروس المسيح ان تكون لنا الركب الساجدة أمامه، وأن نأكل كلامه كل يوم فنحيا به، ونستطيع به ان نقاوم ابليس فيهرب منا.
١٨ «لاَ تَذْكُرُوا الأَوَّلِيَّاتِ، وَالْقَدِيمَاتُ لاَ تَتَأَمَّلُوا بِهَا. ١٩ هأَنَذَا صَانِعٌ أَمْرًا جَدِيدًا. الآنَ يَنْبُتُ. أَلاَ تَعْرِفُونَهُ؟ أَجْعَلُ فِي الْبَرِّيَّةِ طَرِيقًا، فِي الْقَفْرِ أَنْهَارًا. (إشعياء ٤٣: ١٨، ١٩)
لماذا لا يذكرون الأوليات والقديمات؟ أليست هي أعمالاً عظيمة تشهد بفضله عليهم؟ نعم، إنه هوالذي عبر بهم البحر الأحمر وفي نفس الوقت أهلك المصريين الذين طاردوهم. وطرد الأعداء من أمامهم وزرعهم في الأرض التي أراد لهم أن يمتلكوا. إذ سيجعل طريقا في الصحراء ليرجع شعبه من السبي. في الأرض المجددة، لكنه سيعمل ماهو أعظم!
كَمَا اخْتَارَنَا فِيهِ قَبْلَ تَأْسِيسِ الْعَالَمِ، لِنَكُونَ قِدِّيسِينَ وَبِلاَ لَوْمٍ قُدَّامَهُ فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ، (أفسس ١: ٤)
اختارنا فيه قبل تأسيس العالم ليبين فينا عظمة نعمته. فقد جاء إلى العالم ليخلص الخطاة الذين أولهم أنا. ليساعدنا الرب ان نختاره هو الأول وقبل كل شيء، لأنه هو الطريق والحق والحياة. امين
“Behold, I am doing a new thing.”
Now thus says the Lord,
your Creator, O Jacob,
and He who formed you, O Israel:
“Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
He says here: “Do not be afraid, O Israel.” When you were Jacob, I was with you—and now, as Israel, I am still with you. Meaning: whether in your weakest state or your best, I am with you. I am your Creator, but not only that—I formed you, meaning I created you in My image. And He is still at work, shaping and renewing us who have believed in Him, to make us into a new vessel worthy of His holy person.
Yes, O Israel, I have created you and formed you,
and I have also redeemed you.
I redeemed you in the past when I saved you from all your surrounding enemies.
And now, in these last days, He has spoken to us through His Son. He redeemed and purchased us with His precious blood. And He has claimed us as His own and knows us by name—“You are Mine”—as Scripture says in John:
“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice,
he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
(John 10:2–3)
Verse 2 of Isaiah 43 says, “I am with you. Do not fear—I caused you to pass through the river as if on dry ground” (referring to the crossing of the Jordan River). The one who promises this is not a man—it is God. And we know that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The one who promised is faithful and able to preserve His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. All this requires from us, as the Bride of Christ, is that we have knees bowed before Him, that we feed on His Word daily and live by it, and through it we can resist the devil—and he will flee from us.
“Do not remember the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs forth—do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”
(Isaiah 43:18–19)
Why doesn’t He want them to remember the former things or the things of old? Didn’t He do great and mighty works that testify to His favor toward them? Yes, He is the One who brought them through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptians who pursued them. He drove out their enemies and planted them in the land He desired them to possess.
But now He will do even greater things!
He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, to show in us the riches of His grace. He came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. Let us choose Him, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Amen.
© 2021 NMEPC
