Last week at the ELCA Conference of Bishops meeting we approved a message to the President of the United States and our legislators calling for them to work for a permanent bilateral cease fire in Gaza. This was an action by the entire conference and one that I strongly support. You can read it here https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/8217
When we make such statements we do so informed not by United States partisan politics but by our ELCA Social statements and commitments to peace in the Holy Land. We also do so in conversation with our partners in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Lutheran Christians living in the Holy Land, ministering to those in the West Bank and Gaza and who know first hand the horrors of this war. A letter of gratitude from Bishop Azar is the picture below.
We affirm both Israel and Palestine’s right to exist. And acknowledge the rise in anti-semitic and anti-muslim hate that has arisen once more in our nation. The work of building a lasting peace is hard. But it is the way forward. #NTNL #ELCJHL #InMissionTogether