Organized in 1974 by two Orthodox families and one Protestant, it was expanded in 1990 to include the Catholic family of churches. The council brings together well over ninety percent of the region's fourteen million Christians in one fellowship and speaks on behalf of the Christians in the Middle East in a manner that no other is able to do. The MECC, with a track record in service and stewardship spanning a quarter century, has a public image that enables it to enter credibly into tasks of ministry that others cannot. As a fellowship of four church families, it is a model that ecumenical organizations elsewhere are looking at with interest. Its structure has enabled the council to reach the grassroots of the region without intruding upon the jurisdiction of local churches, helping them rather than assuming tasks they themselves ought rightly to perform.
Local churches gain credibility simply by their association with the council.
The first, central to the MECC's mission, works to strengthen the bonds of peace between the various churches. The second helps churches give an ecumenical grounding for spiritual formation and education. And the third, the diaconal arm of the churches, does training in a wide variety of fields, educates in public health, and works among refugees, displaced people, and migrants. The communications department puts out publications in French, Arabic and English. NewsReport, the council's English language magazine, is composed, edited, and published here in Cyprus for the time being.