2009 Conference of Bishops
More than half of the 66 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA secretary, and five of the six bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), plus spouses and staff visited the Middle East, Jan. 6-13, 2009.
Lutheran Bishops Plant Olive Trees, Pray at Israeli Separation Barrier
BEDDO, West Bank (ELCA) — North American Lutheran bishops visited this small Palestinian village in the West Bank, northwest of Jerusalem, an area where the Israeli separation barrier cuts through Palestinian agricultural lands, making way for Israeli settlements to be constructed. Many of the bishops helped plant olive trees near the barrier as signs of peace.
Forty-four bishops representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) are participating in a weeklong series of meetings with religious, political and community leaders in Israel and the West Bank, and visiting religious sites. Their visit, concluding Jan. 13, also focuses on support and encouragement for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), which is timely because of the war in Gaza.
Some 500 trees are to be planted here eventually. Before they left, the bishops visited a local Palestinian man’s home, now surrounded on three sides by a tall metal barrier. Newly constructed Israeli settlements surround his home on the other side of the fence on land that was once his, he said. The bishops prayed at the barrier before leaving.
In remarks here, Adnan Husseini, governor of Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority, said life in the area was difficult for residents because of the barrier. “We need permission to move in and out of the wall,” he said. “If we want to build a Palestinian state, we have to move in this state.”
The bishops visited this area to do two things, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. “We will cry out songs of lament for all people, and we will plant olive trees here as a sign of commitment for the generations to come . . . to see olive trees, not walls.”
The bishops concluded their day with dinner at the International Center of Bethlehem.
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Tough Streets of the City
By Daniel J. Lehmann
Lutheran bishops walked the crowded, littered and graffiti-strewn streets of the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, seeing firsthand the impact of an Israeli settlement in the heart of a Palestinian city.
The modern, sleek mid-rise building in the heart of the old city of Hebron stands ringed by Israeli Defense Forces personnel and lookout posts. In the ancient streets below, shops become sparse the closer they are to the settlement of some 500 people.
Camped in the middle of 170,000 Palestinians, the complex highlights one of the biggest problems confronting the two sides: the expanding presence of Israelis in the occupied territory of the West Bank.
The trip by bishops of the ELCA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is to stress accompaniment with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, raise awareness of regional issues and boost advocacy for peace. It runs through Jan. 13.
On Saturday, shoppers jammed the streets just a few blocks for the heart of the old city. In the older section, the few shopkeepers open for business leaped from their chairs to offer scarves, jewelry, Palestinian memorabilia and handicrafts to the conspicuous out-of-towners, some of the few pedestrians on the narrow streets.
The visit to Hebron was arranged by the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel. A unit of the World Council of Churches, the group keeps track of how Israel deals with Palestinians in territories it controls.
Just past the shops the bishops toured the Abraham Mosque, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. It houses the purported remains of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and other Old Testament figures.
On Sunday, the group was to split up to attend worship in the various churches of the ELCJHL and spend time with members afterward.
