wfn.org | Lutheran bishop highlights crisis facing Arab Christianity

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

There is hope for a better future

BROOKLYN, United States of America/GENEVA 27 July 1999 (lwi) - One of
the challenges facing the contemporary Christian church is the need to
proclaim that "Arab Christianity is a shrinking minority."

"The continuous emigration of Christian Arabs for social and economic
reasons causing them to leave home, heritage, history and their most
sacred places has brought about a crisis for the concept of Arab
nationality. Many people do not know of the existence of a Christian
church."

These remarks were made by Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ), when he addressed the
Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage (ALAMEH)
during the body's Third General Assembly held in Brooklyn, New York from
5 to 7 July 1999.

According to ELCA News, the information service of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Bishop Younan in his keynote address
to the assembly, recalled that the most important epochs in Christianity
happened in the Middle East. He named several critical periods and
described the "epoch of the Seven Councils" as "the best time
Christianity experienced in its history. In times of persecution,
Christianity flourished and grew. The Islamic period allowed a good
relationship between Christianity and Islam," he added.

The ELCA News quotes Bishop Younan, whose ministry extends to Palestine,
Jordan and Israel as saying that the dialogue Christians have with
Muslims today goes back to the Islamic era through the 7th and 9th
centuries. During that period, he said, "Christians lived in a dignified
way. It was a golden period for Christians." But the crusades and the
advent of the missionary changed that, he explained. The crusades
brought deterioration, eventually creating a gap between the local
Christians and Muslims, he added.

Younan, whose keynote address focused on the role of ALAMEH in the
2000-year-old history of Christianity in the Middle East and the
challenges facing the Arab and Middle Eastern church as it moves into
the year 2000, noted that although Christians in the Middle East are
still suffering from their history, there is hope that a better future
can be built.

The Lutheran bishop said Arabic Christianity has its roots in the Middle
East and has a prophetic role there. "It is the salt in society and the
leaven in the dough. As we enter the year 2000, we must have this
mentality. We must encourage the creation of a Christian Arabic identity
and the sense of belonging to the community," Younan told the 62
assembly participants drawn from all over USA.

Created for the mission and ministry of witness and service with and
among persons of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage, ALAMEH has the task
of raising up leaders among the Arab and Middle Eastern population in
the USA and encouraging candidates for ordained ministry. Thanks to the
cooperation between the association and ELCA's Division for Outreach,
there are two Arab-speaking congregations in the country, and the Arab
and Middle Eastern community has been recognized as the fifth community
of color within the ELCA.

Meanwhile the Rev. George Muenich, Zion German Lutheran Church,
Brooklyn, New York, presented a check to the Rev. Munib A. Younan,
bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, for the work of the
Lutheran church in Jerusalem. Muenich's congregation has been involved
with this part of the world since 1895, when it began giving financial
support to the former Schneller School, which was also known as the
Syrian Orphanage, Jerusalem.

A member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1974, the ELCJ has
2,000 members. The ELCA, which joined the LWF in 1988, has over 5.1
million baptized members. The ELCA's members of color or whose primary
language is other than English include African-Americans, Hispanics,
Asians and Pacific Islanders, American Indian and Alaska Native peoples,
and the recently recognized, Arab and Middle Eastern community.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/