Bible Society Celebrates Year of the Bible 2004

 Beirut – LEBANON:  The Bible Society, in collaboration with the Catholic Information Center and the Christian Education Department of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Beirut, organized a Year of the Bible 2004 celebration held on Sunday afternoon, December 5, 2004, at Notre Dame du Mont convent in Fatka, Lebanon. The Celebration came after a year of announcing the Year of the Bible 2004 campaign through a press conference held at the Catholic Information Center in Beirut on December 2, 2003.

Personal representatives of six Patriarchal Sees attended the Celebration:

·        His Eminence Bishop Roland Abou Jaoude representing His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutors Sfeir, Patriarch of the Maronite Church

·        His Eminence Bishop Salim Ghazal representing His Beatitude Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church

·        His Eminence Bishop Youssef Malki representing His Beatitude Mar Ignatius Boutros VII Abdel Ahad, Patriarch of the Syriac  Catholic Church

·        His Eminence Bishop Jean Teyrouz representing His Beatitude Nerces Bedros XIX, Catholicose of the Armenian Catholic Church

·        His Eminence Bishop George Saliba representing His Beatitude Zakka I Iwaz, Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church

·        Father Majtodz Tchobanian representing His Holiness Aram I, Catholicose of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church of the House of Cilicia

 Also present was Rev. Dr. Riad Jarjour representing Rev. Dr. Salim Sahiouny, President of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Churches in Syria and Lebanon, Father Gabriel Karam representing the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Bishop Elias Awde, and Rev. Father Daniel Korieh representing the Middle East Council of Churches. There were several other Bishops, General Fathers, Mothers, Sisters and Reverends representing a rich diversity of churches, in addition to the Bible Society Board and General Assembly members, friends,  supporters, and the media, mainly Tele-Lumiere and SAT-7 televisions.

 The Celebration commenced with a word of welcome presented by the Chairman of the Bible Society, Mr. Amine Khoury, who warmly greeted the attendees and exclaimed that “the heavens are rejoicing at such a reunion where we, the body of Christ, is celebrating together the Word of God.” This was followed by a word of prayer offered by the General Secretary of the Bible Society, Rev. Lucien Accad.

 In the spirit of celebration, Christian singer Gabriel Sassi enlightened the gathering with one of his worship songs, and singer [and Bible Society staff member] Paulette Ziade joined him for a duet, and later on sang one of her own worship songs. This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation offered by the Society’s Executive Director, Mr. Mike Bassous, summing up all the activities and programs that accompanied the Year of the Bible 2004 promotion. “The Year of the Bible 2004 campaign is a success story of how six media agencies can coordinate their work and strengthen their field partnership” added Mr. Bassous, “in order to achieve more! Millions of Arabic-speakers have benefited from the joint efforts of this initiative”. He then introduced the four speakers who would be presenting the four objectives of the Year of the Bible 2004 campaign.

Rev. Dr. Riad Jarjour, former General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, commenced his presentation on the topic of how to Encourage the Church and support its mission through the Year of the Bible 2004 campaign. He stressed that the Bible is the constitution of the Church’s faith, its guidance towards its work and mission. He continued, “the Bible message is firmly grounded in our tradition and relevant to all times and places, and to all peoples and generations.”

 The second speaker followed with a PowerPoint presentation about Increasing Bible accessibility and availability to all those who wish to obtain it, presented by the United Bible Societies General Secretary, Rev. Miller Milloy, who emphasized on the impact of the Scriptures all over the world. “Currently, 65.9% of the world’s population is beyond a saving faith in Jesus Christ!” explained Rev. Milloy. “The United Bible Societies is committed to the highest possible standards of quality in Scripture translation and publishing.” The presentation included statistics on world translations, distribution, and the power of the Bible message that far out-weighs its pages.

 Father Ayoub Chewah, Head of the Liturgical Institution at the Holy Spirit University, and Regional Coordinator of the Catholic Biblical Federation, continued by tackling the important topic of Affirming the authenticity of the Bible and its teaching. He stressed on the importance of the spiritual and salvation power of the Scriptures, emphasizing that the trust each believer has in the Semitic teachings of the Bible comes from within and by the help of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging that “we are sons of the Spirit, and not slaves of the letter”.

 Finally, Dr. Nicolas Abou Mrad, Bible scholar and professor at Balamand Univerity, Antonin University, and the Institute of St. Paul, Emphasized that the Bible is relevant to all generations, and speaks to all ages. He stressed on the role of the interpreter in transmitting the living Word of God to all peoples, particularly to the younger generation, so that everyone can live according to the principles of the Scriptures. “Whenever we study the Bible, God is our Inspirer…the words guide us towards His Kingdom” concluded Dr. Abou Mrad.

The Celebration ended with the Apostolic Blessing, offered on behalf of His Beatitude Cardinal Sfeir by Bishop Roland Abou Jaoude, who is also the head of the Catholic Information Center. This was followed by a dinner party that included all the attendees, participants, and presenters. Each guest received a gift package which included samples of all the Bible Society’s publishing during the 2004 campaign, a catalogue of resources, Year of the Bible 2004 pins and posters, and 2005 Scriptural Calendars – all as a reminder of the impact that the Year of the Bible 2004 had on the Christian community in the Middle East.