Title: ELCA Presiding Bishop Addresses Middle East Crisis ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 17, 2006
ELCA Presiding Bishop Addresses Middle East Crisis 06-106-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a July 17 pastoral letter to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) regarding the Middle East conflict and escalating military action that has now expanded into Lebanon, the ELCA presiding bishop said he will continue to call on the international community and the U.S. administration "to do everything possible both to negotiate an immediate stop to the violence that has caused the killing and suffering of innocent people and urge all parties to resolve the conflict through dialogue."
In addition, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, who also serves as president of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, said the ELCA is providing immediate humanitarian relief through the work of the Middle East Council of Churches.
"I write to you out of my deep sadness and concern regarding the escalating conflict in the Middle East," Hanson wrote. He noted that the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants "caused a severe reaction from Israeli forces."
"The escalation of the conflict moves the Middle East further away from a just and lasting peace for which we have been praying and working," Hanson said.
Hanson said he spoke by phone July 15 with the Rev. Munib A.Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Jerusalem.
"In our conversation ... I heard both his deep concern that, as the war spreads, the future of Christianity among Arab people is at risk, and his call for our renewed commitment to praying and working for peace," Hanson wrote.
Hanson asked the ELCA's 4.9 million members to continue to pray for "a just and lasting peace in the Middle East that will bring an end to the pain and misery experienced by all people in the region."
The presiding bishop also suggested Lutherans visit the ELCA Web site for resources on how congregations can respond to humanitarian needs in Lebanon, for updates from people in the region and for advocacy information. He also referred congregations to the ELCA social statement "For Peace in God's World," adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1995, as a resource for discussion of global peace issues.
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The text of the ELCA presiding bishop's pastoral letter is at http://www.ELCA.org/bishop/m_060717.html on the ELCA Web site.
Information about the current situation in the Middle East, including information about how to respond, updates from people in the region and advocacy information is at http://www.ELCA.org/middleeast/lebanon.html on the ELCA Web site.
The social statement "For Peace in God's World" is at http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/peace/ on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog