EMS warmly congratulates Rev. Dr. Rima Nasrallah van Saane on her installation as Senior Pastor of the National Evangelical Church of Beirut (NECB) on 28 June. 

She is the first woman to hold this position and succeeds Rev. Dr. Habib Badr, who has faithfully led the church since the 1990s. 

“Rev. Dr. Rima Nasrallah’s appointment is a significant and encouraging development for the Church. Her profound theological scholarship, pastoral experience, and commitment to inclusive ministry commend her to this important responsibility. We rejoice with NECB in this historic step,” says EMS President Rev. Anne Heitmann. 

Rima Nasrallah previously served as Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Practical Theology at the Near East School of Theology (NEST), a valued EMS partner through the Studies in the Middle East (SiMO) programme. 

She has also been an active member of the EMS Theological Committee and International Women’s Network. In 2018, she made history as the first woman ordained as a pastor of the NECB. 

The NECB Church Council, its highest decision-making body, voted unanimously to appoint Rima Nasrallah to the leadership position of “Senior Pastor”.

Her installation marks a significant step forward for women in church leadership and a new chapter for NECB. 

“The senior pastors of NECB have played a decisive role in shaping the work of EMS over the past decades,” says Rev. Dr. Dieter Heidtmann, General Secretary of EMS. “As a long-standing member of the EMS Presidium and Mission Council, Rev. Dr. Habib Badr has rendered outstanding service to the EMS. We are delighted that, with Rev. Dr. Rima Nasrallah van Saane, we can continue this close collaboration to further strengthen our ties with Christians in the Middle East.”