THE INSTITUTE FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN STUDIES, CAMBRIDGE has found a way
to help Christian communities that are struggling to survive the current turmoil
in the Middle East.
The Principal, Professor David Frost, writes: ‘This last month marked the first anniversary of the kidnapping of our close friend and Visiting Lecturer, the Orthodox bishop Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo, Syria, who with his fellow-bishop Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syrian Orthodox Church (pictured) were abducted while negotiating with an opposition group the release of hostages, and their driver shot. We don’t know if the bishops are alive or dead: but rather than wring our hands helplessly, we believe there is something we can do.
‘What these communities will desperately need is trained leaders to inspire present and future re-building. Through the generosity of Dr Sebastian Koga MD FRSA FRGS FRAS, the Institute can offer a scholarship by competition, with all costs met, to bring a native of either Iraq, or Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, for three years’ study at the Institute for a doctorate of Anglia Ruskin University through the Cambridge Theological Federation. The expectation is that the successful candidate will return to his
or her community as a teacher and prospective leader.
‘We are now looking for further sponsors to join us in offering more awards. We hope also that, through the Cambridge Theological Federation, other Christian denominations will
be encouraged to establish similar training opportunities for those who will bring new life to their communities.’
Details of the Koga Scholarship are available at Koga Scholarship and can also be found on the Institute’s website: www.iocs.cam.ac.uk.
For further information, please contact: The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies,
Palamas House, 25-27 High Street, Chesterton, Cambridge CB4 1HD; telephone +44
(0)1223 741037, fax +44 (0)1223 741370; email: info@iocs.cam.ac.uk
