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NCC delegation to seek peace opportunities in Middle East

Jan. 21, 2005

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The question "How can we make the current opportunity
for peace a reality?" will be central to the Jan. 21-Feb. 4 mission of a
National Council of Churches delegation to the Middle East.

The 11-member group will be led by Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt Jr., a
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church leader and NCC president, and the
Rev. Robert W. Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and the agency's chief
executive.

They will press their conviction that governments and people of faith
must seize the opportunity presented by recent developments - for
example, the election of new Palestinian leadership and the Israeli
government's movement on the settlement issue - to get the Middle East
peace process back on track.

"We will ask the question, 'Is this the opportunity for peace?,' state
our conviction that it is and explore ways communities of faith can
help," Edgar said.

The delegation leaves the United States on Jan. 21 for Beirut, Lebanon
(Jan. 22-24), Cairo, Egypt (Jan. 24-27), and Israel and the Palestinian
territories (Jan. 27-Feb. 4).  Along the way, it will meet with the
Middle East Council of Churches, senior Christian, Jewish and Muslim
religious leaders, and grass-roots and interfaith organizations working
for peace.

The delegation has meetings confirmed with senior members of the Israeli
government and has requested time with officials in the Palestinian
Authority.

Along with peacemaking, the group's other top concern is the situation
of Christians in the Holy Land and the ongoing exodus of Christians from
the region.

The last two NCC delegation visits to the Middle East were in May 2003
and April 2002.

James Winkler, chief executive, United Methodist Board of Church and
Society, is part of the delegation. In addition to Hoyt, Edgar and
Winkler, other delegation members are His Grace Bishop Vicken Aykazian,
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, Washington: Sylvia Campbell,
adjunct professor, George Washington University, Washington, and a
member of the Alliance of Baptists; the Rev. Thelma Chambers-Young,
Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc., Oklahoma City; and the
Rev. Seung Koo Choi, chief executive, Korean Presbyterian Church in
America, Anaheim, Calif.

Also, the Rt. Rev. (Bishop) C. Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer,
the Episcopal Church, New York; Ann Hafften, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America, Weatherford, Texas; the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), professor at Eden Seminary, St. Louis; and
Antonios Kireopoulos, Greek Orthodox, NCC staff executive for
international affairs and peace, New York.

*Information for this story was provided by Carol Fouke with the
National Council of Churches' communications office.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
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