wfn.org | U.S. National Council of Churches delivers letter in Jerusalem

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Dec. 12, 2000 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.     10-71B{563}

NOTE: This is the fourth story from an ecumenical delegation of U.S.
Christians visiting Israel.  Accompanying the group is UMNS photojournalist
Mike DuBose. His photos may be found at the UMNS photo gallery
http://umns.umc.org/jerusalem/ online. The United Methodist Church is a
member denomination of the National Council of Churches. For related
coverage, see UMNS stories #559, #560, #561 and #562.

JERUSALEM (UMNS) -- Following is the text of a pastoral letter addressed to
the Christian communities in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. It was written on
Dec. 5 and delivered here Dec. 9 by members of the ecumenical delegation
traveling in the Middle East.

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA 
December 5, 2000

A Pastoral Letter to the Churches of Christ in Jerusalem and the Holy Land

Your Beatitudes, Your Eminences, Your Graces, reverend fathers in God, and
all the beloved Christian community in Jerusalem

Grace and peace to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

On behalf of the churches of God gathered by the Holy Spirit in the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, in this time of earthly trial
we greet you with love and in a firm faith that God, creator of all things
in heaven and on earth, is with you in the Holy City that was the place of
our Lord's glorious triumph over death, sin and the evil.  For this we offer
praise and thanks.

^From afar in earthly distance, but nearby in our minds and hearts, we have
witnessed with deep distress, sorrow and concern the resurgence of violence
in the Holy Land.  We have heard the witness of our brothers and sisters in
Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, in Ramallah and Gaza, of the
destruction that has been wrought, of the thousands of injured and hundreds
of killed, of the population denied access to food, health care, employment,
emergency services and freedom of movement.  Even more, we have heard and
seen the increase in rage and hate, which destroy the soul as weapons do the
body.

Therefore, the General Assembly of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the USA offers its prayerful support to the Christian churches in
Jerusalem and the Holy Land, that their continued presence in the land of
Christ's birth, earthly ministry, death and resurrection may be
strengthened, and that they may endure this time its long pain and struggle.
Recognizing that only justice will bring peace, it affirms the establishment
of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and its call for the preservation
of the city of Jerusalem as a open, shared city where free access to the
Holy Places and freedom of worship are assured for people of all faiths.

Our churches have been called upon to support through prayer Christians,
Muslims and Jews and all those who are working for true justice and peace,
and to convey to U.S. policy makers their concern for peace with justice and
reconciliation in the region.

We have heard that, due to the fighting and violence, to the hindrance on
travel, and to the tragic suffering and death of so many, events and
ceremonies in Bethlehem celebrating the birth of our Lord two thousand years
ago are being canceled.  The lights of Bethlehem will be darkened.  This
news saddens us, darkening the brightness of our joy at Christ's Nativity.
We are given hope, however, by the words of the Scripture, "those who sat in
darkness have seen a great light".  That light is Christ, whose light shines
in our hearts, and illumines all so that we may in the paths of
righteousness and peace.

May Christ Who deigned to be born in a stable in Bethlehem two thousand
years ago, be born again in this year in the hearts of all who worship Him
there and in Jerusalem and throughout the world.

Robert W. Edgar
General Secretary, NCCCUSA

John L. McCullough
Executive Director, CWSW
#  #  # 

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United Methodist News Service
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