Azar Ajaj and Phil Sumpter on the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel (CECI)

We are happy to now publish our third Mary's Well Occasional Paper of 2014. Written by Azar Ajaj and Phil Sumpter, it offers an account of the origin and contemporary situation of the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel (CECI), or as it is commonly called in in Arabic, al majma3.

Here are the first sentences:

In 2005, representatives from five Christian denominations in Israel—Baptists, Assemblies of God, Open Brethren and Church of the Nazarene (the latter including a smaller denomination within them, the Christian Missionary Alliance)—formed a coalition in order to make a bid with the Israeli government to gain recognition as an “official religion,” a unified entity entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as Israel’s other officially recognized religions. The purpose for seeking such a status was primarily practical, for non-recognition by the government inhibits the day-to-day functioning of individual congregations. 

Click HERE to download and read the entire PDF of volume 3:3 of Mary's Well Occasional Papers.