wfn.org | Fwd: WCC NEWS: Email a peace prayer to Bethlehem

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 28/05/2008 15:16:16

>EMAIL A WISH OR PRAYER FOR PEACE TO BETHLEHEM

Bethlehem participants in a global week of church advocacy are inviting  individuals and groups around the world to send them wishes and prayers  for peace. Incoming emails will be shared with parishes, schools and  organizations in Bethlehem and Jerusalem as part of the action week, which  is led by the World Council of Churches.

The messages will remind Palestinians cut off from each other and from the  outside world that they are not forgotten, the Bethlehem groups say. The  address to use is aei@p-ol.com. Prayers and wishes that reach Bethlehem  will be posted on www.aeicenter.org.

Some of the emails will be read aloud in Bethlehem's Manger Square on  Sunday, 8 June 2008. That evening, people of Bethlehem will form a "living  clock" to commemorate six decades of living as refugees and uprooted  people since 1948, and 41 years of occupation. 8 June is also the day  parishes on five continents will be using a special prayer from Jerusalem  church leaders written for the action week (see below).

The 4-10 June International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and  Israelhas participants in 17 countries this year and reaches out to  ecumenical contacts in many more. Events will take place from Canberra to  Edinburgh, Manila to Oslo. These include meetings with government  officials, vigils, public demonstrations, cultural events and media  appearances. Pax Christi International has helped plan the week and World  Vision International is one of the participants.

The prayer and a liturgy from the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem,
plus the week's It's Time for Palestine message, are available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5647

Messages should be sent to aei@p-ol.combefore 7 June.
English is the preferred language, however, other languages are welcome. 

International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3627

>Arab Educational Institute:
>http://www.aeicenter.org

>WCC member churches in Israel/Palestine:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4746

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc -coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness  and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of  churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,  Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million  Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman  Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from  the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.