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Note #6277 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

the Middle East
27-November-2000
00421

Ecumenical Christian group organizing prayer campaign for peace in the
Middle East

PC(USA) is one of 15 denominations in coalition

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE -- An ecumenical coalition is asking U.S. Christians to pray
throughout Advent for peace in the Middle East.

	Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), an advocacy network founded in 1984
and headquartered in Washington, D.C., proposes to start the vigil on Dec.
3, the first Sunday of Advent, and continue until the violence ends with a
lasting negotiated resolution of the conflict.

	The Presbyterian Church (USA) is one of CMEP's 15 member communions.

	"People across the country are grieving about the violence and about the
suspension of the peace process," said Corinne Whitlatch, CMEP's director,
who added that advocacy with the U.S. government, CMEP's normal role, is not
enough right now.

	"Prayer itself is a form of advocacy," she said. "We're just trying to
establish a structure so that it may be done ecumenically."

	The Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs (LOGA) has loaned a portion of
its web site to CMEP and has organized prayer for the vigil state-by-state,
beginning with Alabama and New York on Dec. 3, Alaska and North Carolina on
Dec. 4, Arizona and North Dakota on Dec. 5, and so on throughout Advent.

	To find the state-by-state listings, go to LOGA's web site: www.loga.org.

	"We offer this prayer vigil as an opportunity for congregations to
incorporate the welfare of the people of the Middle East into the heart of
their church life — in their worship, in their learning, in their giving,
and in their advocacy," the Rev. Mark B. Brown, the CMEP chair, told the
Presbyterian News Service. "We urge people to see this prayer vigil ... as
an outpouring of concern for Palestinians and Israelis -- Christians,
Muslims and Jews."

	Brown is LOGA's assistant director for international affairs and human
rights.

	The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has already posted some
short sample prayers on the LOGA web site, Brown said. CMEP has also
developed a resource packet called "A Shared Jerusalem." To order packets,
go to CMEP's web page: www.cmep.org.

	"Some people are surprised when we say that this prayer vigil will continue
until the violence ends and we can celebrate a just and lasting negotiated
resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Brown said. "Perhaps ... it
is difficult for many of us to pray with confidence for justice and an
enduring solution, but by engaging in this vigil we are participating in a
countdown, not to Armageddon, but to reconciliation.

	"We are declaring that God's grace is the source of all peace, and through
prayer we are humbling ourselves to God's will for all creation."

	CMEP has advocated for Israel's right to exist at peace with its neighbors
within internationally recognized boundaries and for the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination. It has called for negotiated, just
and peaceful resolutions to conflicts in the region, as well as for
equitable development and humanitarian assistance.

	In addition to the ELCA and the PC(USA), among the members of the coalition
are the American Friends Service Committee, the Mennonite Central Committee,
the Episcopal Church, the Church of the Brethren, the Maryknoll Missioners,
the United Church of Christ, the National Council of Churches in the USA and
the United Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Conference of Major
Superiors of Men's Institutes.

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