wfn.org | DISCIPLES, UCC LEADERS WRITE ON FUTURE OF JERUSALEM

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org]

     Title: Disciples, UCC leaders write on future of Jerusalem
     Date: January 10, 1997
     Disciples News Service
     Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
     Contact: Clifford L. Willis
     E-mail: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
     on the web: http//www.disciples.org
     
     United Church of Christ
     Contact: Hans Holznagel, (216) 736-2214
     
     
     97a-1
     
         INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ)
     and the United Church of Christ recently issued a joint pastoral letter
on the future of
     Jerusalem. 
     
         The letter, signed by the Revs. Richard L. Hamm, Disciples general
minister and
     president,  and Paul H. Sherry, president of the UCC, is a prelude to the
expected
     introduction of resolutions concerning Jerusalem at 1997 meetings of each
     denomination's central deliberative body.  
     
         The future of Jerusalem is one of several "final status issues" that
will not be
     settled until various interim matters are resolved between Israel and the
Palestinian
     Authority. Final status talks, scheduled for May 1996, were stalled
indefinitely after the
     November 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 
     
         The pastoral message cautions that "Christians should not presume to
define and
     delineate the significance of Jerusalem for their partners in the
Abrahamic tradition." 
     Nonetheless, it seeks to "articulate principles and hopes that we, as
Christians, believe
     should be realized in the determination of the status of the Holy City."
     
         Chief among the positions is that Jews, Christians and Muslims share
a passionate
     regard for Jerusalem as a "city of hope and holiness...where redemption
and renewal have
     been promised."  
     
         The letter commends Israel for extending free access to Jerusalem's
holy places to
     the international Christian community since Israel assumed control of the
city in 1967. 
     But it also laments that under present conditions, Palestinian Christians
and Muslims
     living in the West Bank and Gaza are deprived of the right to worship at
the places held
     sacred to their traditions.  
     
         Furthermore, the continuous closure of Jerusalem and of Israel itself
to
     Palestinians in the Occupied Territories has "had a devastating impact on
the Palestinian
     economy, on education, on health care and on the unity of families." 
     
         Israeli actions in Jerusalem prior to agreements on the future of the
city are "of
     grave impact as well."  They include: extensive building of exclusively
Jewish
     settlements in and around the city; the expansion of the municipal limits
of the city to
     include those settlements; and building on confiscated Palestinian land. 
Such policies
     have displaced Palestinians and magnified "the fears of . . . 
Palestinian residents that they
     will be overwhelmed and marginalized in the city that they consider to be
the center of
     their national life." 
     
         "For Jerusalem to realize its vocation, it cannot . . .  belong' to
any one people or
     religion," the pastoral letter asserts.  Hamm and Sherry state clearly
that neither they nor
     their communions can "presume to define this solution in political
terms." But they call
     on those who negotiate the future of Jerusalem to "recognize its truly
unique role . . . 
     (and) define new modes of sovereignty and governance so that Jerusalem
will (be) . . .  a
     living antidote to the contemporary diseases of bigotry, intolerance,
ultra-nationalism and
     exclusivism."  
     
         The Disciples 1997 General Assembly and the United Church's 1997
General
     Synod are expected to consider resolutions that call for the communions
to examine the
     significance of Jerusalem in their theologies, their inter-religious
relations, and their
     practices of tourism and pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  
     
         The Disciples, with general offices in Indianapolis, have nearly 1
million
     members and more than 3,900 local churches in the United States and
Canada.  The UCC,
     with national offices in Cleveland, has 1.5 million members in more than
6,100 local
     churches in the United States and Puerto Rico.  The two denominations
have been in "full
     communion" as ecumenical partners since 1989.
     
                              - 30 -

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206,
tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS.part@ecunet.org) Wilma Shuffitt, News and
Information Assistant; (CLIFF WILLIS.part@ecunet.org) Cliff Willis, Director
of News and Information; (CURT MILLER.part@ecunet.org) Executive Director