Lutheran Pastor to Head Jewish-Christian Institute

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Peter A. Pettit, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), became director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., on Aug. 1. Muhlenberg is a college of the ELCA.
"The institute is unique in the world of North American Lutheranism. It is a privilege for me to be able to add my leadership to a strong team of supporters at the institute," said Pettit.
"We are entering the era when Holocaust survivors and the liberators of concentration camps will no longer be available to us. The Holocaust will cease to be an event directly accessible through eyewitness testimony, and will become part of the of the history of Judaism and Christianity. How we tell that story, how we pass on its significance, will be formed in important ways during this era. We have the chance, uniquely in this generation, to shape that transition," he said.
Pettit attributed the strength of the institute to its founding director, the Rev. Franklin E. Sherman, associate for interfaith relations in the ELCA's Department for Ecumenical Affairs, as well as to the institute's volunteer leadership "in the areas of interfaith clergy support, lay Jewish-Christian dialogue, youth education for diversity and public witness to mutual respect and dignity.
"In coming years we look to deepening our presence in student life at Muhlenberg, to sharing our resources and strength with others around the church and to contributing more fully to the work of Jewish-Christian understanding around the world. In addition, we hope to make contributions in all areas of pluralism and diversity, building on the strengths we have developed in doing the work of Jewish-Christian understanding for the past decade," said Pettit.
For many years, Jewish students have constituted about 20 percent of Muhlenberg's student body. The college is located within walking distance of four synagogues and the Jewish Community Center which houses a Holocaust resource library.
"The commitment of Muhlenberg College to the life and future of the institute speaks volumes about its understanding of the Lutheran purpose in higher education. Not only for Lutherans, nor certainly restricted to any 'Lutheran' topics, but founded in the Lutheran understanding of vocation, the college works through the institute, as through all its arms, to serve our whole society with the tools to find our place before God in peace with all creation," said Pettit.
Since 1990 Pettit, 44, served as pastor of Hope Lutheran Church, Riverside, Calif., and since 1993 he has been an adjunct professor of biblical studies in Claremont, Calif., a satellite program of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif. He continues as North American coordinator of The Osher Jerusalem Center for Religious Pluralism, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem.
Pettit was a Finkelstein Fellow of the University of Judaism, Los Angeles, and director of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center, Claremont, Calif.
He has taught biblical Hebrew, Old Testament, Judaism and interfaith relations in several capacities at the Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, Calif.; California Baptist College, Riverside, Calif.; University of California, Riverside; Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, Hebrew Union College-Jewi= sh=20 Institute of Religion, Los Angeles; and University of Judaism and Continuing Education, University of California at Los Angeles.
Pettit is a graduate of Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and Claremont Graduate University. He received his doctorate from Claremont Graduate University in 1993.
He and his wife Lynn are the parents of two daughters.

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