Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the Middle East (MEU) voted July 17 to postpone the much-anticipated September 2006 relocation of its headquarters offices to Beirut, Lebanon.

An emergency meeting of the MEU executive committee was called at the present headquarters in Nicosia, Cyprus where the escalating consequences of the regional conflict were acknowledged. The situation will be reappraised at the church's year-end executive committee meetings in December to determine whether a move can go ahead early in 2007.

"This has not derailed our plans to eventually move the office to Beirut," said Dr. Kjell Aune, president of the Adventist Church in the Middle East; "However, with all major world governments issuing evacuation alerts to their citizens, coupled with uncertainties of when normal life and basic logistical services can be restored, it is not currently possible to operate with an international staff whose responsibility is to reliably serve the 14 countries which comprise our territory."

Commenting on the events that led up to the decision, Conrad Vine, secretary-treasurer of the Adventist Church in the Middle East acknowledges that this has been a very tense period in the history of the Middle East church. He says they are equally concerned about the intense plight of distressed church members suffering in Iraq. "Our prayers and thoughts...remain with all those caught up in the escalation of violence across the Middle East, especially in Iraq, and we pray for a peaceful resolution to the current crisis."

There have been no reports so far of any Adventist casualties or damage to churches or other institutional structures in the area. [News Editor: Alex Elmadjian for ANN/APD]