Revs. Scott and Elmarie Parker to Present an Update on the Syria-Lebanon Network Partnership to Los Ranchos on March 7 via ZOOM

We hope you’ll join us Monday, March 7 from 7-8 p.m., when the Revs. Scott and Elmarie Parker will provide an update via Zoom on the Syria-Lebanon Network Partnership (SLNP), with which our Presbytery of Los Ranchos has been involved since 2014. The Parkers have previously presented updates at presbytery meetings, and to some of our Los Ranchos churches.

To register for the event and receive the Zoom link, please click here. The session will also be recorded and posted to the Los Ranchos website for later viewing.

Scott and Elmarie have lived in Beirut, Lebanon since 2013. They are taking time from visiting their families in the United States to give us a comprehensive report on the worsening crises in Lebanon and Syria–and the inspiring ways that the 35 churches of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, along with other PC(USA) regional partners and the National Evangelical Churches in Iraq, have continued to serve their people during these past 10 years of war and political upheaval and, most recently, the pandemic. A Q&A will follow their presentation.

Scott serves with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) as a writer in residence, communicating the experiences and views of the Middle East Church and peoples with Presbyterian constituents in the United States and MECC partners in Europe and the United States. He has also created “Strong Kids, Strong Emotions,” a play-based program that seeks to develop emotional and spiritual resiliency in Iraqi and Syrian child refugees in the Beirut area.

Elmarie serves as regional liaison to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, helping to facilitate PC (USA) support for partner programs and activities and implementing partnership strategies. She says, “Seeing the faithfulness of the church in these Middle Eastern countries has inspired me to stand with them and to do all I can to help deepen and strengthen the ties between them and Presbyterians in the U.S.”

Scott observes, “I believe that there’s a convergence between the current needs and opportunities being opened by God’s Spirit in the Middle East and my own skills and gifts. And I believe that the future of the church in the U.S. depends upon learning from and engaging with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.”

The presentation is being arranged by the presbytery’s Strategic Coordinating Team’s Worldwide Mission and Community Engagement Network Team, which provides Los Ranchos funding in support of the Syria-Lebanon Network Partnership. We’re grateful to Rev. Tim McCalmont (HR) for establishing the Los Ranchos connection with SLNP and his continuing work with the partnership.