Palestinian Christian Church, Witness and Theology

A Workshop in Karlsruhe, Towards Peace, Justice and Reconciliation in the Holy Land

As part of the ongoing World Council of Churches 11th General Assembly taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany, between 31 August and 8 September 2022, under the theme "Christ's love moves the world to reconciliation and unity", a workshop entitled “Palestinian Christian Church, Witness and Theology”, was organized on Tuesday 6 September 2022. It included two sessions on the topic at hand, moderated by the Head of the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Jordan and The Holy Land His Eminence Archbishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, the Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Amman Reverend Imad Haddad, and the Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College Reverend Munther Isaac.

In the first part of the workshop, an introductory overview of the Church of the Holy Land was presented. Then, the latest field updates in Palestine/ Israel were highlighted. Moreover, the workshop discussed the challenges faced by Christian Palestinians, and tackled the witness of Palestinian Churches on the field, as part of their ministries of love and mercy, advocacy for a just peace, and fight against all forms of racism and extremism. The positions of the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on many related issues were also presented.

The second session of the workshop focused on Palestinian theology, highlighting the “Kairos Palestine” theology and movement, in addition to other Palestinian theological themes.

At the end, conclusions were given and participants presented their recommendations towards consolidating and supporting the Christian presence in the Holy Land, and strengthening an ecumenical movement in order to achieve peace, justice and reconciliation, within the framework of the true and prophetic Church.