c. 2004 Religion News Service
(Bruce Gillette, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, N.J., was a delegate to the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Richmond, Va. He served as moderator of the Committee on Peacemaking, which handled most international issues.)
(UNDATED) Jewish cantor Sunny Schnitzer was a leader for the opening worship of the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), held in Richmond, Va. He sang Psalm 23, first in Hebrew, then in English.
Our church’s outgoing moderator, the Rev. Susan Andrews, explained in her sermon that her church in Bethesda, Md., has shared “sacred space” with Schnitzer’s Bethesda Jewish Congregation for 38 years.
“We … are joyfully and distinctly Christian,” said Andrews. “And BJC is joyfully and distinctly Jewish. But through vigorous adult education, and social outreach for peace in the Middle East, we celebrate our common God, our common values, and our common convictions. And then we lift up into the light of the day our deep theological differences. And all of us grow stronger in our faith because of it.”
Those affirming words of Jewish-Presbyterian relations seem to have been lost in the weeks after the assembly. Sadly, several assembly actions have resulted in unfair accusations that Presbyterians are anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. This simply is not true.
Critics of the denomination’s decisions need to consider the full context of the actions taken by the church. The actual resolutions and other helpful resources are available online at http://www.pcusa.org/interfaith.
Since 1948, when a Presbyterian assembly upheld the principle of “faithful devotion to the welfare, needs, and rights of both the Jewish and Arab peoples,” our church has issued statements for peace with justice in the Middle East, but with little impact.
Since 1967, the church has opposed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Middle East Christians have made clear to American Christians that they would welcome less talk and more action.
A Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem told delegates this year, “To have statements is not enough. They might be good for discussions within churches, but they’re not much help to us on the ground.”
The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem has said that, “(Speaking out) is not anti-Semitic. It’s not anti-Jewish. It is anti-Israel-government policy.”
In response to these appeals, delegates to this year’s General Assembly issued thoughtful statements and took action on a number of related items:
_ The assembly condemned violence by all sides, and stated that the “security of Israel and the Israeli people is inexorably dependent on making peace with their Palestinian neighbors, by negotiating and reaching a just and equitable solution to the conflict that respects international law, human rights, the sanctity of life, and dignity of persons, land, property, safety of home, freedom of movement, the rights of refugees to return to their homeland, the right of a people to determine their political future, and to live in peace and prosperity.”
_ The assembly authorized exploration of a selective divestment of church funds from those companies whose business in Israel is found to be directly or indirectly causing harm or suffering to innocent people, Palestinian or Israeli. The church’s top official, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, has written that the “focus of this action is to explore use of a proven tool of economic pressure to motivate real change in Israeli policies and movement toward peace.”
_ The assembly called for a study to “examine and strengthen the relationship between Christians and Jews and the implications of this relationship for our evangelism and new church development.”
This tension between wanting to share the gospel and be respectful of other faiths can be found in the church’s Confession of 1967:
“Christians find parallels between other religions and their own and must approach all religions with openness and respect. Repeatedly God has used the insight of non-Christians to challenge the church to renewal. But the reconciling word of the gospel is God’s judgment upon all forms of religion, including the Christian. The gift of God in Christ is for all. The church, therefore, is commissioned to carry the gospel to all whatever their religion may be and even when they profess none.”
All of the assembly’s actions this year are consistent with the commitment the church made in 1987 to “never again to participate in, to contribute to, or (insofar as we are able) to allow the persecution or denigration of Jews.”
Last November, I drove two of my church members to the airport so they could attend the funeral of their 20-year-old grandson, who was killed serving in the Israeli Defense Force. These grieving grandparents and many other Presbyterians are not indifferent to the sacrifices by so many loved ones for Israel.
We all want peace and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, for we are all made in God’s image.
DEA/MO END GILETTE
