Rev. Dr. Nuhad Tomeh

Speaking: Thursday, October 16, 7:00 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church 

Nuhad Tomeh of Beirut, Lebanon, is currently assigned to serve with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) as an associate general secretary, in charge at present of the Iraq relief and rehabilitation program, which is part of the ecumenical relief services of the MECC. The effort is focused on relief supplies and assistance in rehabilitating schools, health care centers, and other community centers. The MECC is the implementing partner of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International and other partners.

Other duties with MECC include strengthening ecumenical and international relations, which require him to represent MECC at international ecumenical meetings and with MECC partners. He is also involved in human resource development and funds development for the MECC.

In addition to his duties with the MECC, Nuhad is also the regional liaison of the PC(USA) for Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gulf.

Nuhad’s work is not new to him. "I grew up in a mission field, living in the Middle East and then in the U.S.," he writes. "It was always a challenge to share the message of the gospel with the people around me, so in fact I was not drawn to mission service—I lived in it." The challenge for the region is peacemaking, Nuhad says, noting that the area is very interesting culturally, historically, and geographically and is the place where Christianity originated and spread. "Religious and political struggles never stop," he writes. "This shows the great need for reconciliation and this is where the context of my ministry is very challenging and significant."

Nuhad previously worked with the PC(USA)’s Worldwide Ministries Division in "three-way" mission, that is, WMD helped pay his support when he was seconded from his home church to a church or institution in another country. This is sometimes called "south-to-south" mission. From 1995 to 1998, he conducted in-service training and leadership development for churches in the Middle East and the U.S. Prior to that, from 1986 through 1995, Nuhad was a professor, dean, and acting president of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon. Since 1992, Nuhad has been coordinator of the Urban Rural Mission Program for MECC in Beirut. He also served this organization as coordinator of the Drug Addiction Awareness Program from 1987 through 1994.

From 1981 to 1990, Nuhad was part-time assistant and associate pastor for the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Beirut. At the Contact and Resource Center in Beirut, he was founder and director of the Drug Prevention and Counseling Program and supervised guidance and handicapped awareness and sensitivity from 1978-1986. Nuhad also served as part-time associate principal of the National Evangelical Institute in Sidon, Lebanon, from 1985-1992. Before that, from 1975-1977, he was a high school counselor and director of boarding facilities for the National Evangelical Institute.

Nuhad holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and psychology from Beirut Arab University in Beirut and a master of divinity from the Near East School of Theology. He received his doctorate of ministry, with a major in pastoral care and counseling, from Christ Seminary Seminex (ELCA) in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1985.

Nuhad’s clergy membership is with the Synod of Syria and Lebanon, which is the Presbyterian Church of Syria and Lebanon. When not preaching in various Synod churches, he attends the Beirut Presbyterian Church. When he is in Tucson, Arizona, where his wife Grace lives with their four sons, he attends St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.