wfn.org | Amid fears for future, Jerusalem's churches embark on prayers for

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Note #6800 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

peace
17-August-2001
01283

Amid fears for future, Jerusalem's churches embark on prayers for peace

Daily prayer services seek to avert all-out war 

by Ross Dunn
Ecumenical News International

JERUSALEM - Churches in Jerusalem have embarked on a week of prayers
dedicated to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that some observers
fear may escalate into a new Middle East war.

	The decision was taken by the heads of the churches in Jerusalem, amid
rising concern about the violence in the region.

	Warning that "hatred and a desire for revenge is rampant on both sides -
Israeli and Palestinian," the church leaders issued an appeal to "all our
people, throughout this land, to join us in intensifying our prayers for
peace, with justice, and reconciliation."

	The appeal quoted Jesus - "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you
...  Do not let your heart be troubled, or afraid" - an adaptation of John
14:27.

	"We are greatly concerned at the deteriorating situation in the Occupied
Territories of the Holy Land," the appeal said, citing many of the problems
encountered by Palestinians in the region, including the blockades imposed
by Israel against the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

	"Many families have been made homeless; the closures have turned towns and
cities into detention camps; the number of unemployed has risen dramatically
resulting in tens of thousands hungry for the daily bread; whilst our
children are confronted daily with a picture of bloodshed, violence,
assassinations and murder."

	The church services are running from Aug. 15-28. Each evening a service is
being held in a different church dedicated to prayers for ending the
violence.

	The church leaders also appealed to "brothers and sisters around the world
- many of whom have already offered generous support - to link their prayers
with ours at this special time."

	Anglican Dean Michael Sellors of St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem told
ENI he had attended the services in the city and judged them a great
success.

	Describing one of the services, held Aug. 16, he said: "The Syrian Orthodox
Church [inside the old City] was absolutely full and [with] an atmosphere of
peace and prayer."

	In his sermon, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Mar Swerios Malki Murad stressed
the important role that church leaders and their congregations could play in
helping to mediate an end to the conflict, when the parties themselves
seemed incapable of ending the bloodshed.

	Asked what support the churches were receiving from overseas, Sellors said
that the Christian community in the Holy Land had been inundated with
telephone calls, faxes and emails containing messages of solidarity.

	"For many of us, the knowledge that the people have been praying for us
around the world has been most heartening," he said.

	"We get anonymous cards, say from Australia, saying we are remembering you
and the people of the land in our prayers, 'may God grant you peace.'"

	Church of Scotland minister Clarens Musgrave, of St Andrews Church in
Jerusalem, told ENI that the rationale for the week of prayers was clear.
"Christians need to be involved and one of the things they can be doing is
praying about the current situation," he said.

	The week of prayer was launched as Israeli military planners began
predicting that the current conflict with the Palestinians might last for
years and could escalate into a Middle East war.

	Nearly 700 people have been killed since the outbreak of the current
violence last September.
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