 PCUSA support for struggling Egyptian church declines By Parker T. Williamson The Layman Volume 35, Number 3 Posted June 3, 2002
In the early days of this fledgling church, American Presbyterians invested generously, establishing churches, schools, hospitals, a conference center and a seminary to train leaders. The central focus of these activities was the Synod of the Nile, the governing body that supports the work of local congregations. But the situation has changed. Today, most PCUSA money goes not to the Synod of the Nile but to a huge non-governmental development organization called CEOSS (Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services). In 1999, the PCUSA unified budget gave $16,623 to the Synod of the Nile. During that same year, various PCUSA agencies gave $204,768.54 to CEOSS. In the past five years (1997-2001), PCUSA contributions to CEOSS totaled $585,929.64. Responding to concerns raised by some Egyptian church leaders, Victor Makari, coordinator of Middle East/Interfaith Relations at PCUSA headquarters, denies that his office is shifting its support to a secular organization. He says CEOSS, founded by Presbyterian minister Samuel Habib, has “Christian roots.” A Christian Ministry? Noting that CEOSS has “Evangelical” in its name, Makari argues that this organization calls itself a Christian ministry. But one finds little in its mission statement to support this claim. The statement reads: “The mission of CEOSS is to promote the sanctity, equity and harmony of life. It seeks to nurture moral and spiritual awareness, en-hance a sense of belonging, promote respect for diversity, combat injustice, ad-dress conflict, and advance social justice for individuals and communities.” There is nothing in that mission statement that could not be affirmed by Azhar Sheikh Tantawi – the highest-ranking Muslim leader in Egypt. A CEOSS brochure de-scribes the organization as “an Egyptian non-governmental voluntary organization with roots in the Protestant Presbyterian Church.” It ascribes to the following beliefs: “God created all human beings equal, with the same rights, regardless of gender, race, religion or beliefs. “God’s plan is to renew and reconcile the world. “The well-being of the individual is a fundamental human right. “Justice is the root of peaceful relations.” No reference to Jesus Makari defends the organization’s lack of any reference to Jesus Christ with a reminder that “it is against the law to engage in proselytism in Egypt.” It is not against the law to state one’s belief or to tell the story of Jesus Christ. But “the attempt by a Christian to influence another [person] to become Christian, or the appearance of an attempt to do so,” Makari said, “is expressly prohibited.” The danger here is that a Muslim easily could interpret one’s Christian testimony as an attempt to convert, and a mere accusation in Egypt’s Muslim-dominated courts could be enough to convict a Christian.
Makari views CEOSS-type activities as ways that Christians can demonstrate the love of Christ without crossing the line. CEOSS, whose major work concentrates on community development, education and health care, does have a program that broaches the subject of religion. Sponsoring a “Forum for Intercultural Dialogue” that includes Christians and Muslims, CEOSS says that its controlling principles are “equality, tolerance, pluralism and democracy.” These principles closely parallel the approach that is promoted by the PCUSA’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and Peacemaking Program. In its original “Building Communities Among Stran-gers” report, the Advisory Committee en-couraged the view that all religious beliefs are equally valid paths to God. The 1998 General Assembly ordered a revision that would be faithful to Scripture, but in 2001 the original version was still on sale at Louisville headquarters. The Peacemaking Program promoted a similar theme when the keynote speaker of one of its conferences asked rhetorically, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?” Proclaiming the gospel That kind of rhetoric would offend most Christians whom I visited in Egypt. From the hymns they sing to the elders’ words when they offer sanctuary prayers, it is clear that their lives center on a personal relationship with Jesus. Few of them would support an interfaith dialogue that promotes peace with Muslims by diminishing the Savior’s significance.
Asking questions Asked if Egypt’s evangelical church leaders agree with the priority he places on CEOSS, Makari replied with a smile, “It depends on whom you ask.” The Layman asked that question of scores of Egyptian pastors and elders. Anxious not to offend PCUSA officials, most agreed to share their views only when assured of anonymity. Several lauded CEOSS development programs. “Who can argue against their water purification and disease prevention projects, micro loans for small businesses, and educational opportunities for village children?” an Egyptian pastor said. But he questioned PCUSA priorities. “Why has giving to this organization become such a high priority for the PCUSA, when many of the churches that it helped establish are so desperately needy? After all,” he said, “only the churches are explicitly proclaiming the gospel.” CEOSS, whose income in the year 2000 was almost 24,000,000 Egyptian pounds, about $5 million U.S., received multi-million-dollar support from the Ford Foundation, the British Embassy, the Egyptian government, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands, UNICEF and numerous ecumenical organizations. But the evangelical churches rely only on contributions from their members, many of whom are poor, and the support they receive from their parent church, the PCUSA. Churches in need The needs of evangelical churches, especially among those in the villages of Upper Egypt (the southern portion of the country), are great. Topping the list are salaries for the village pastors. The average salary for a pastor ranges from 150 to 200 pounds per month ($30-$40 U.S. per month). Limited by subsistence income, these pastors are barely able to feed their families. They cannot afford to travel to the denomination’s conference center on the Mediterranean Sea. They cannot afford to retire because they would have to give up their church-owned home (usually a section of the church building), and their retirement income would not support the cost of renting an apartment. Medical care for most of these village pastors is prohibitively expensive, and the services are located many miles away from their parish. Citing PCUSA policy, Makari has declined all requests from the Egyptian church for salary support grants. He says such grants would make the partner church “dependent” and that partner churches should support their own leaders. “The Synod of the Nile is not a rich church,” he told The Layman, “but also it is not a poor church. It has the means to examine its own priorities.” Internal affairs Makari says the PCUSA does not intervene in the internal affairs of the evangelical church. “I have made it my professional commitment not to get into their internal matters in any way,” he told The Layman. Evangelical church leaders, however, say that Makari is deeply involved in their affairs, and that his priorities point toward CEOSS and projects supported by a handful of pastors in the Cairo/Alexandria/Delta region, several of whom receive substantial salary supplements from a fund supplied by CEOSS. They point to his role in a recent property issue as illustrative. The Synod of the Nile had voted to sell the Dokki House, an unused property in Cairo, and distribute the proceeds among its poor pastors, primarily in the villages of the south. But when Makari was informed of the synod’s action, he called three friends who hold power of attorney over Egyptian church property and blocked the sale. Asked why he intervened, Makari told The Layman that he did so at the urging of “a considerable and responsible number of people [who held the minority position in the synod vote] … who were crying out to us.” When asked if he understood at the time that the majority of synod members voted to sell the property and that this action was recorded in the synod minutes, Makari affirmed that he did. “But I need to say that those who expressed concern have been very well established persons within the synod whose leadership has been recognized by all … So we needed to heed what some of those voices were saying,” he said. Some pastors do receive salary supplements. Commonly referred to as the “Pastors’ Society,” members of this group draw up to 150 Egyptian pounds per month from an account whose major source is CEOSS. Sources in Egypt have told The Layman that members of the Pastors’ Society form an elite corps among synod leaders and that their selection is contingent not so much on financial needs as on their willingness to support CEOSS in synod deliberations. They say that these pastors – mostly from the north – comprise the majority of Egyptian mission interpreters whom Makari selects when he establishes itineraries for visiting groups from the U.S. church. Makari says he is only vaguely aware of the Pastors’ Society, and he does not know who the grant recipients are or how they are selected. He says it is common knowledge that CEOSS provides money for the grants, but he dismisses the suggestion that this would make recipients feel beholden to the development organization. The Louisville executive also rejects any suggestion that the itineraries he helps establish for US visitors unduly favor CEOSS and exclude the concerns of the Upper Egypt churches. Moderator’s visit But a review of recent trips to Egypt reveals that CEOSS commands a major segment of the agenda, and visits with representatives from churches in Upper Egypt appear to be rare. The PCUSA moderator’s trip to Egypt in May was a case in point. Makari says that Moderator Jack B. Rogers visited the CEOSS offices in Cairo, a church conference center on the Mediterranean Sea and a school for retarded children in Alexandria. Asked before the trip if the moderator would visit any of Upper Egypt’s village congregations, Makari replied, “Unfortunately, there won’t be time.” |
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