wfn.org | McCullough of CWS Joins Christian Leaders Appeal For Peace With Justice in Holy Land

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Christian Leaders Appeal For Peace With Justice in Holy Land

> Church World Service
> 475 Riverside Drive
> New York, New York 10115

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McCullough of CWS Joins Christian Leaders Appeal For Peace With 
Justice in Holy Land

NEW YORK, May 21, 2009--Following two days of meetings, Church World 
Service Executive Director and CEO  John McCullough joined Christian 
leaders in offering President Barack Obama their support for efforts 
to achieve "a real, just, and lasting two-state solution" to the 
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The participants, who met May 14-15 at The Carter Center in Atlanta, 
concluded the conference with a letter to President Obama in advance 
of his meetings this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The purpose of the conference, Towards a New Christian Consensus: 
Peace with Justice in the Holy Land, was to present to the new 
administration the participants' collective conviction and Christian 
understanding of the importance of immediate action to seek peace 
with justice in the Holy Land.
The Carter Center agreed to host the conference at the request of the 
participants.  The center was founded by former U.S. President Jimmy 
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, 
to advance peace and health worldwide,
Humanitarian agency Church World Service has long been active in the 
Middle East, through advocacy work, peace building initiatives, 
sustainable economic development, and refugee assistance programs 
done in partnership with faith- and community-based organizations there.
Participants in the conference included the Rev Mark S. 
Hanson,  presiding  bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; 
Jim Wallis,  president and  chief  executive  officer, Sojourners; 
the Rev. Dr. William Shaw,  president of National Baptist Convention, 
Inc.; the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican  bishop in Jerusalem; 
Ambassador Warren Clark,  executive  director, Churches for Middle 
East Peace; Dr. Bob Roberts, Jr.,  founder and  senior  pastor, North 
Wood Church; and others.
Following is the text of the letter sent to president Obama last 
Friday and the names of those who signed it:

> May 15, 2009

> Dear President Obama,

We are a diverse group of Christian leaders convened in Atlanta, who 
have been meeting for the past two days.  As you prepare for meetings 
with Israeli, Palestinian, and other Arab leaders, we offer you our 
support, encouragement and commitment.  We have heard testimony 
consistent with the experiences of our churches in the Holy Land 
about a growing sense of despair.  Yet, at this meeting we sense a 
rising hope.  That hope is grounded in the growing consensus across 
the Christian community that supports a political solution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the new leadership that you bring, 
both of which will make more possible a real, just, and lasting 
two-state solution and an end to conflict in the region that upholds 
the security and freedom of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Our pledge to you is to continue to build constituencies that will 
advocate for a just political settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict.  We request that you call upon Prime Minister Netanyahu to 
embrace the principle of a two-state solution.  As members of your 
administration have already suggested, we share a concern about how 
Israeli settlements make that solution less and less 
possible.  Furthermore, we are concerned that a way be found 
immediately to open the Gaza borders in a manner that respects both 
humanitarian and security concerns.

We are committed to an ongoing conversation with you about achieving 
the solution we can no longer postpone.  Know that we are praying for 
you in these critical meetings.

The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, Presbyterian Minister, Executive 
Director of AMIS, Inc, and Moderator of the 214th General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Rev. Dr. Jimmy R. Allen, Coordinator, New Baptist Covenant

The Rev. Dr. Randall C. Bailey, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Hebrew 
Bible, Interdenominational Theological Center

The Rev. Bruce Burnside, Bishop of the South-Central Synod of 
Wisconsin, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Ambassador Warren Clark, Executive Director, Churches for Middle East Peace

Dr. Elizabeth Corrie, Director of the Youth Theological Initiative 
and Assistant Professor of Youth Education and Peacebuilding, Candler 
School of Theology, Emory University

The Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem

Dr. Joy Fenner, Former President, Baptist General Convention of Texas

James Fine, Legislative Secretary for Foreign Policy, Friends 
Committee on National Legislation

> Ms. Beth Fogg, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

The Rev. Dr. David Goatley, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Lott Carey 
Baptist Foreign Mission Convention

Dr. Marsha Snulligan Haney, Professor of Missiology and Religions of 
the World, Interdenominational Theological Center

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in America and President, Lutheran World Federation

Lynne Hybels, Advocate for Global Engagement, Willow Creek Community Church

The Rev. Charles Jones, Area Director for Africa, Europe, and the 
Middle East, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society

The Rev. John McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service

The Rev. Dr. Kathy Nelson, Pastor, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and 
F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc.

The Rev. Gradye Parsons, General Assembly Stated Clerk for the 
Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

The Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, Canon for Global Justice and 
Reconciliation, Washington National Cathedral

Dr. Bob Roberts, Jr., Founder and Senior Pastor, North Wood Church

Leila Sansour, Executive Director, Open Bethlehem

The Rev. Dr. William Shaw, President of National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Ronald J. Sider, Professor at Palmer Theological Seminary, 
Philadelphia, and President of Evangelicals for Social Action

The Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, President, Progressive National Baptist 
Convention

James M. Wall, Contributing Editor, Christian Century and former Editor

Jim Wallis, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sojourners

Ambassador Phil C. Wilcox, Jr., Director, Foundation for Middle East Peace

The Rev. Robina Marie Winbush, Associate Stated Clerk and Director, 
Department of Ecumenical and Agency Relations, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)