Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 1992, page 61

Religion

Armenian Patriarch Describes Concerns Over Jerusalem

By the Rev. L. Humphrey Walz

Christian churches in Jerusalem long for peace, Torkom Manougian, Armenian Patriarch for Jerusalem, has told the Geneva headquarters staff of the World Council of Churches. He said that the political situation in Jerusalem is of "collective concern" to all of the denominations represented in the Holy City. The Armenian Christian population there is only one of the Christian communities which is decreasing steadily through migration due to lack of jobs and housing, especially for young people.

"Our young people do not see much hope in the current situation, but we are encouraging them to stay," he said. The patriarch also spoke of the "new phenomenon of solidarity" among Christian leaders, especially among the three patriarchs. "This solidarity is the ground on which we stand," he said, adding (apparently with Israeli authorities in mind) that "some people in authority are not happy with it."

Christian Conference Planned for Cyprus

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU) will co-sponsor a "Consultation on Christian Witness, History, Justice and Service," Oct. 3-7 in Limassol, Cyprus. The theme will be "Signs of Hope in the Middle East."

A similar consultation brought together 90 Western (mostly American) and some 60 Middle Eastern Christian leaders in Cyprus last fall. That was when the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were struggling to bring Israel and its opponents to the Madrid negotiating table. The Nov. 11, 1991 Christianity Today hailed it as "The Other Peace Conference," and devoted seven columns to summarizing its high points.

As Christian entities go, few bodies could be more contrasting than these two co-sponsoring groups. MECC's 14 million members belong largely to churches dating back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. They feel heavy responsibility for maintaining their inherited faith undiluted and their solidarity in faithfulness uncompromised. On the other hand, EMEU is only six years old—a typically American "para-church" phenomenon, in which Christians from many churches or without affiliation are drawn together by common immediate goals and shared aspirations. Organizationally free from any established ecclesiastical control, such movements often undercut the ongoing work of local and regional churches.

The founders of EMEU, however, have avoided many related problems by keeping in touch with MECC and denominational leaders right from the start. It soon became clear that the younger, freer EMEU and the more venerable churches of the Holy Land had many things they could do better together than separately. In addition, the rapid geopolitical and religious changes in the relationship between East and West have led Coptic (Egyptian) Catholic Bishop Youkana Colta to voice the growing sentiment that "Christians (from both worlds) are increasingly feeling the need of each other."

The consultation will seek to strengthen the bonds of East-West Christian fellowship.

The 1991 EMEU/MECC consultation paved the way for productive future consultations. MECC participants gave Western participants a choice of tours to their various homelands and institutions. The impact of those follow-up visits has led to invitations to all of this October's participants to continue with four-day trips to Syria and Lebanon, to Israel and the occupied territories or to Egypt. Local hospitality will provide participants a personal relevance hard to acquire otherwise.

The consultation as a whole will seek to strengthen the bonds of East-West Christian fellowship and to face up to "the imperatives of our Christian faith relating to reconciliation, peace and justice among all peoples of the region, regardless of religion or culture."

Additional information is available from Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding, 175 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 1800, Chicago, IL 60604; phone (312) 408-0900, FAX (312) 922-0932.

The Rev. L. Humphrey Walz, D.D., retired associate executive of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast, is active in denominational and ecumenical movements.

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