wfn.org | Help on the way for Jerusalem's Anglicans

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2000-130

http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

Help on the way for Jerusalem's Anglicans

by Jan Nunley
 
     (ENS) It's hard to imagine the Holy Land without Christians.

     Yet that's the danger posed by the accelerating emigration of Christians 
from the birthplace of Christianity, a diaspora fueled by marginalization and 
despair over their socioeconomic future. In 1948, the year the State of Israel 
was established, Christians represented 20% of the population. That figure 
dropped to 9% by 1995 and is falling fast: an official Israeli government website 
reports that, of the over 6 million people living in Israel today, Christians 
constitute 2.1% of the population, with Jews at 79.2%, Muslims 14.9%, Druze 1.6%, 
and 2.2% not classified by religion. Anglicans represent the largest Protestant 
community in the Holy Land.

     As a result, the Diocese of Jerusalem, part of the Episcopal Church in 
Jerusalem and the Middle East, faces increased difficulty maintaining the 
schools, hospitals, and churches that are a vital part of its witness. So, just 
as the apostle Paul took up a collection for the Jerusalem church in the cities 
he visited, Anglican leaders want congregations and individuals to take up the 
cause of maintaining an Anglican presence in the land where Jesus lived and 
ministered.

     On October 1, the U.S. Episcopal Church will launch the "Jerusalem 2000-
Millennium Appeal" for donations to the Diocese of Jerusalem.

     The appeal grew out of separate visits to the Holy Land by both Presiding 
Bishop Frank Griswold and Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey in 1998. A team 
of four worked with Bishop Riah Abu El Assal of Nazareth to evaluate the 
resources, liabilities, and needs of Jerusalem Anglicans. In April, another team 
composed of Sandra Swan, director of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Mrs. 
Phoebe Griswold, and the Rev. Jane Butterfield of the Episcopal Church Center's 
Office of Anglican and Global Relations, toured some of the facilities of the 
diocese and talked with staff members and clergy. 

     Among the projects to be funded are:

     *Classrooms, laboratories, and equipment for the Arab Evangelical Episcopal 
School in Ramallah

     *Constructing a neo-natal unit and emergency room at St. Luke's 
Hospital in Nablus

      *Improvements to churches in Raineh, Shefar Amre, Ramla, Birzeit, and 
Marka

    *Expansion and upgrading of the Ahlliyyah School for Girls, Amman, 
Jordan

    *Establishing a home for seriously disabled children in Beirut, Lebanon

     The American campaign's spokespersons are Patti Browning, wife of former 
Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning, and Phoebe Griswold, wife of Presiding Bishop 
Frank Griswold. The trustees of the campaign include George Carey; the Rev. Canon 
John Peterson, secretary of the Anglican Communion Office; and Sandra Swan.

     Donations can be dedicated to benefit health, education, or church building 
projects. Brochures and other materials to help in raising awareness of Jerusalem 
2000 will be sent to all Episcopal parishes.

     The Province of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, 
formed in 1976, covers Jerusalem, Iran, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Persian Gulf. Its 
four dioceses do not exceed 35,000 baptized members, and the province maintains 
55 congregations, 40 institutions of educational and medical services, and about 
90 clergy. Christians in some of these countries face hardship; in others, the 
Anglican Church is a tiny enclave of Christianity in a sea of Islam; in still 
others, the church is tolerated but may not evangelize or seek converts; and in 
several instances, the church serves a primarily expatriate population. 

     The Jerusalem bishopric, founded in 1841, now includes Israel, Jordan, 
Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank. Since 1970, the Episcopal Church has 
been one of only ten "recognized" Christian communities in Israel, whose 
ecclesiastical courts are granted jurisdiction in matters of personal status, 
such as marriage and divorce.

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News 
and Information.