Protestant churches and missions were one of the early proponents of ecumenism and inter-church cooperation in the Middle East. In 1911, an inter-Protestant effort was initiated in Beirut leading to the establishment of the United Missionary Council in 1920. A parallel development occurred in 1924 when a Conference for Workers in Moslem Lands was convened in Jerusalem leading to the eventual formation of the Western Asia and North Africa Council in Helwan in 1927. Other early cooperative efforts that stemmed from these early initiatives were the Missionary Conference of Syria and Palestine and the Missionary Conference of all Egypt. These various groups eventually united as the Near East Christian Council in 1927.
