December 10, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

Another season of Advent has begun. For Christians the world over, this means beginning a new year of reflection and action about who and what we are called to be. It is a season of choices, preparation and beginnings.

Scriptures that call us to make choices about where we stand mark the opening days of this season. They point toward Jesus’ call for a ‘new world order’ and highlight our human struggle in choosing between the powers of this world and the power of God. Serving the global church in the Holy Land, we share a joint witness of concern for the choices being made today; choices which too often create change by violence rather than by justice, compassion, or truth.

As we recall the birth of Jesus and reflect on the Biblical town of Bethlehem, we cannot help but think of the Bethlehem of today—of Jenin, Rafah, Nablus, Hebron—or of cities in other places which reel from the effects of injustice, hatred and conflict.

Living in the midst of a war-torn land, we urgently lift up the call to wage a just peace rather than war. Advent is a time to renew hope in a God that loved the world so much that a child was sent to proclaim a new heaven and a new earth. Christians find our way by faith in the incarnation. It is what allows us to believe that we have a choice in how to respond to daily violence. It is what allows us to believe that the larger choices of war and its destruction are not out of our hands.

Our choices shape the very reality for which we prepare. We join the leaders of our denominations in their strong opposition to our government’s unwavering desire to go to war in Iraq. Beyond any political considerations, a pre-emptive war simply finds no justification in traditional Christian teaching. Our deep concern is also with our brothers and sisters here in the Holy Land. A war against Iraq would likely bring continued house arrest for the entire Palestinian population. It would further the severe economic distress Palestinians are already experiencing and would deepen the economic strain within Israel. The transfer of the Palestinian people is also a real fear, whether from villages to cities within the territories to actual expulsion from the country. Any such attempts will inevitably lead to an increase in Palestinian resistance and would very likely result in heavy casualties to both Palestinians and Israelis.

We find all such actions incompatible with our understandings of the Gospel and urge that we prepare for a different future, for a world built on peace and justice. It is time to truly wrestle with Jesus’ calls to love one another, to love our enemy in both interpersonal and international relationships. It is time to fulfill Jesus’ call to be peacemakers. It is time to counter our ‘Just War Theories’ with ‘Just Peace Theories.’ There may be no more important task for the third millennium of Christian witness. Having lived through more than two years of destruction and death, we are not naïve about the costs and struggles of such a change. We believe that peacemaking is a more viable choice than war.

Faithful choices and thoughtful preparations create ways for new beginnings. Advent is a time to rejoice that today is not too late to start anew. In the chaos of our world, we hear the angels proclaim, “Do not be afraid; I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10) We rejoice, for the world can be a different place, knowing that God will work miracles within us.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Douglas Dicks - Presbyterian Church (USA) Liaison - Jerusalem

Rev. Dr. Mary Jensen - Asst. for Communications to Bishop Dr. Munib Younan, Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem

Janet Lahr Lewis - General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church

Catherine Nichols - Global Ministries, UCC/Disciples of Christ

Reverend Sandra Olewine - United Methodist Liaison – Jerusalem, GBGM-UMC Missionary

Lilian Peters - Quaker International Affairs Representative, Jerusalem

Pastor Michael P. Thomas - Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, English-speaking Congregation, Jerusalem

Alain Epp Weaver and Sonia Weaver - Mennonite Central Committee