Christians have been a vital presence in the Holy Land for nearly 2,000 years, and current generations in this ancient place refer to themselves as “living stones”. Today, conditions threaten the survival of the Christian churches in Israel and Palestine. A broad group of western Washington Christians present this conference out of deep concern for our sisters and brothers in the land of the Bible.

We all need to be more active in supporting our Christian sisters and brothers in Israel/Palestine…we need gatherings that will both educate us and inspire us about standing with them in their difficult situation.  This important conference is not about ideology – it is about taking seriously our identity as members of the global Body of Jesus Christ.    The Rev. Dr. Richard Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary

"I  want to express my endorsement…..it comes at a very important time….so much awareness and prayer is needed."    The Rev. Jack Y. Sara, Old Jerusalem Alliance Church

Featured speakers include:

Dr. Bernard Z. Sabella (Catholic)
Middle East Council of Churches,
Professor of Sociology, Bethlehem University

Mr. Sami Awad (Baptist) 
Director, The Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem

The Rev. Jane Barron (Church of Scotland) 
Immediate past pastor, St. Andrew’s Church, Jerusalem

Honorary co-chairs include: The Rev. Dr. Richard Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary; The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA); the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Western Washington); Pastor David C. Wold, Bishop Emeritus, SW Washington Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;  Dr. Donald E. Wagner, North Park University (Covenant), Chicago, the Rev. Dr. Sanford Brown, Executive Director, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, The Rev. Msgr. Labib Kobti, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem pastor to Arab Americans, San Francisco  (more to be named)

Co-sponsors include: Episcopal Bishop’s Committee on Justice and Peace in Israel/Palestine; University Presbyterian Church, hosting sponsor; Middle East Fellowship; North Puget Sound Coalition for Peace and Justice in Israel/Palestine; Friends of Sabeel--North America; Social Justice and Peacemaking – Seattle Presbytery, the Phoenix Group, the Church Council of Greater Seattle (more to be named)

For more information contact Steering Committee co-chairs:

Shannon Parks-Beck                      John Berg                        Mary Pneuman
windsweeper@gmail.com          johntberg@msn.com             fmpneuman@cs.com