University of Balamand
In 1972, Ephraim left his secular career and entered the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at the University of Balamand. The ongoing civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s caused, in 1975, the transfer of operations of the institute to the Theological Academy of Thessalonica in Greece. While attending the Institute, Ephraim entered holy orders when he was ordained a deacon on August 15, 1974. He was ordained a priest on October 15, 1978. After graduating, Patriarch Elias IV of Antioch asked Ephraim to return and reopen the Institute of Theology in Beirut; Ephraim served as its Dean from 1978 to 1981.