Dear Beloved in Christ,

I am delighted to announce that Saint Joseph Melkite Mission in Seattle, Washington will host the 46th Annual National Melkite Convention between June 30th and July 4th, 2010 at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue City.

Our Convention Team has prepared for you an exciting and enriching program filled with all kinds of wonderful activities that are fit for such an important event. I hope and pray that your stay and participation will be most enjoyable and memorable.

It is with great enthusiasm that I invite each one of you, on behalf of the community of St. Joseph Mission, to a magnificent 4-day celebration honoring our Eastern heritage under the auspices of our Beloved Eparch Cyril Bustros of Newton. The upcoming convention promises to be an inspiring gathering of brilliant minds, powerful speakers and sheer family merriment.

The theme of our convention will focus on the theme of Unity and Diversity within the Church, as being one of the most important issues that faces our Melkite Church in this beautiful country. The keynote speaker of the convention will be Archbishop Elias Chacour, Melkite Eparch of Galilee in the Holy Land. Our distinguished guest his Excellency the most reverend Celestino MiglioreTitular Archbishop of Canosa, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. Our religious guest Mirna Nazour from Our Lady of Soufania in Damascus, Syria, will share her unique spiritual experience as an “Ambassador” of Christian Unity in the Middle East.

As members of God’s family, we are connected to one another, and we live an active community life as a church. Most importantly we join one another to form the Melkite family all over the USA. Another important aspect of our community life is our joy in each other’s company, expressed in the frequent meals and social times we share, and the support we offer one another in our daily life; in this way the unity we celebrate at the Eucharist is lived out day by day.

May the new born Babe, the child of Bethlehem’s cave, bless you all with your families and your Melkite community, and may He also bless the United States.

Respectfully yours in Christ,
Rev. Samir Abu Lail
Pastor