ELCA and ELCJHL Bishops Deepen Conversations among Christians and Muslims

WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Rev. Munib A. Younan,
bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, were
among 1,000 people who attended the fourth major Muslim-Christian
dialogue conference here Oct. 7-8.
"It has been both the challenge and the hope for this conference
that common words would lead to common deeds," said Hanson. "We have
heard stories of places where particular Muslims and Christians are
deepening their understanding of one another in dialogue that leads to
engagement in their communities."
The discussion was an extension of a 2007 document, "A Common Word
Between Us and You," from 138 Muslim scholars to Christian leaders,
calling for Christians and Muslims to work together for peace. It
declared that the world's future depends on peace between Muslims and
Christians.
In a message to the attendees, Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed
said the purpose of the conference was "to examine and chart out some
concrete, practical, and, more importantly, actionable ideas."
Younan said three actions are needed: to understand what it means to
love the neighbor; to infiltrate the "Common Word" into the grass roots,
especially among the younger generation; and to create a "prophetic
diakonia" -- working together to provide development, relief and social
services.
"I have challenged that some steps should by taken like working
together, Muslims and Christians, for justice in the world," said
Younan. "To work for justice in the world, it cannot be only Muslims or
Christians and cannot be only for our own interests, but it must really
take into consideration what problems are facing us and need justice."
Younan cited a number of Muslim and Christian charities. He
suggested forming a joint charity project which would consist of and be
equally funded by Muslims and Christians. "There is poverty in the Muslim
and Christian world and we cannot deal with them (issues of poverty)
alone," he said.
Hanson, paraphrasing Younan's comments at one of the conference
panels, said, "If our common words do not lead to common deeds that bring
justice where there are very real conflicts today, where people's lives
are at stake, then our work is completely unfinished."
Both Lutheran bishops have met with Muslim leaders, focusing on
issues of peace in the Middle East. Past conferences of the "Common Word"
initiative were held at Yale University, the University of Cambridge and
the Vatican.
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Information about the conference is at
http://president.georgetown.edu/sections/initiatives/commonword/77725.html
on the Web.
Audio of comments by Bishop Hanson is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/091009Hanson.mp3 and that of Bishop
Younan is at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/091009Younan.mp3 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