2009 Conference of Bishops

JERUSALEM (ELCA) — For the first time North American Lutheran bishops, spouses and staff worshipped Jan. 9 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a historic religious site built on the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.

Forty-four bishops representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) 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 ELCJHL.

Following worship, the group traveled to East Jerusalem, visited Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), a medical facility of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on the Mount of Olives, and learned about the LWF’s Middle East programs.

AVH has been serving the needs of Palestinian refugees since 1948, said the Rev. Mark B. Brown, an ELCA pastor and the LWF’s regional representative.

The LWF is planning at least two construction projects in the near future, Brown said. In response to a lack of recreational facilities for Palestinians, the LWF plans to develop a sports and community center on the Mount of Olives property, he said. In 2010 the LWF, the ELCJHL and the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria Foundation of the Evangelical Church in Germany plan to start construction of a housing project on the property. Plans calls for 84 units, reserved for Palestinian Christians, Brown said.

The housing project is an attempt to respond to the dwindling number of Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, down from more than 31,000 in 1946 to less than 15,000 in 2000, Brown said. The housing project also attempts to preserve the concept of a “shared Jerusalem” for Christians, Jews and Muslims, he said.

“The lack of affordable housing has caused Christians to leave East Jerusalem and move to the West Bank or somewhere else,” Brown said.

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