North American Lutheran Bishops Preach at Middle East Worship

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada (ELCIC) attended and preached at worship
services Jan. 11 at five Lutheran congregations in Jerusalem and
throughout the West Bank.
Forty-four bishops representing both churches are
participating in a series of meetings Jan. 6-13 with religious,
political and community leaders in Israel and the West Bank, and
visiting religious sites. Their visit also focuses on support and
encouragement for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and
the Holy Land (ELCJHL).
ELCJHL congregations and bishops who preached were:
+ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Beit Sahour, Beit Sahour: The
Rev. Bruce H. Burnside, ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin
(based in Madison)
+ Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem: The
Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop (Chicago)
+ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope, Ramallah: The Rev. Susan
C. Johnson, ELCIC national bishop (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
+ Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Beit Jala: The
Rev. Margaret G. Payne, ELCA New England Synod (Worcester, Mass.)
+ Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem: The Rev.
Floyd M. Schoenhals, ELCA Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod (Tulsa, Okla.)
The Jerusalem congregation celebrated worship in Arabic and
English, led by the Rev. Ibrahim Azar, pastor of the Arabic-
speaking congregation, and the Rev. Mark Holman, pastor of the
English-speaking congregation. The worship theme was Jesus'
Baptism.
In his sermon, Hanson told the congregation that God's word
of promise for all is that "the heavens are still opened and the
Spirit of God is still descending."
"In Baptism God commissions us and promises us the strength
of the Holy Spirit for the struggle for peace with justice. How
good it is that, even in the midst of occupation and war and
violence, we have something to say, and that is that Jesus the
Christ, crucified and risen, continues to accompany us," the ELCA
presiding bishop said.
"The liberating gift of Christ through faith by God's grace
is that Christ continues to accompany us as we accompany you,
Palestinian Christians, in your struggle for justice and peace,"
he said.
Some of the visitors for worship at the Church of the
Redeemer represented four ELCA seminaries: the Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago; the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia; the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary,
Columbia, S.C.; and Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio.
Students and faculty from the seminaries were in the Middle East
as part of their "J-term" programs in which the Lutherans tour
and study in different regions of the world each January.
Following worship the North American bishops, spouses and
staff were hosted by member families for lunch throughout
Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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Information about the 2009 Bishops' Academy is at
http://blogs.ELCA.org/09cobacademy/ on the ELCA Web site.
Information about the ELCJHL is at http://www.elcjhl.org/ on
the Web.

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