Leader in global Christian evangelism to speak at New Wineskins convocation
By Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online, April 20, 2005
A leader in global Christian evangelism will be one of the speakers from the world church during a national convocation considering a “bold new design” for the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The convocation, with the theme “Following Christ into the 21st Century,” will be held June 15-18 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn.
The Rev. Dr. Sameh Maurice is the pastor of Kasr el Dobara Church in Cairo, Egypt, which event organizers describe as the largest Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church in the Middle East – 7,000 people regularly attend services and reach out to the city and region through multiple ministries and activities.
Maurice, who also is a physician and surgeon, is the Regional Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. His address to the convocation will be “Return To Your First Love,” according to a statement on the convocation Web site.
He was the keynote speaker for the 2004 Global Forum for World Evangelization, and his preaching and teaching regularly is broadcast on both radio and television in more than 50 countries.
The Rev. Tom Edwards, associate pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kan., who is coordinating the convocation for the New Wineskins Initiative, said Maurice “has a warmth and servant heart that God delights in.”
Delegates to the convocation also will refine and vote on draft documents that propose new statements of faith essentials and ethical imperatives, as well as a revised constitution that calls for greater flexibility, a new approach to leadership development at the congregational level and a pared-down, adaptive service structure at the national level.
While the convocation will include preaching, prayer and worship, as well as an international flavor with guests and speakers from Presbyterian churches around the world, the focus will be on how evangelical Presbyterians respond to what task force leaders called “grave concerns about the health and effectiveness of our present organization” in theology, mission and structure.
More information about the convocation is available on a special convocation Web site, or contact “Following Christ into the 21st Century” at 888-754-9693, or 7435 E. Oxford Ct., Wichita, Kan. 67226.