From
left: Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary; Rev. Dr
Margaretha Hendriks-Ririmasse, vice-moderator of the WCC Central
Committee; Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the WCC Central
Committee; Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan; and Metropolitan Prof. Dr
Gennadios of Sassima; vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee, after
the WCC Executive Committee vote.
The Executive
Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting near Geneva at
the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey voted to approve the full membership
of the Evangelical Lutheran
The approval ended a two-year process in which both
the Executive Committee and Central Committee of the WCC considered the
application of the ELCJHL. During this period, visits to the churches in
Jerusalem and discussions with other member churches in the area took
place.
"The ELCJHL widely identifies with ministries of the
World Council of Churches," Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan of the ELCJHL,
said in a brief speech to the Executive Committee after the vote,
pointing to their support of the Jerusalem Inter-church Centre, the
Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel and the
Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum.
"We are honoured to serve God's will through the
essential ministries of the World Council of Churches," Younan said.
"The ELCJHL supports these ministries ... because they show our people
in Jerusalem, The Holy Land, and Jordan that their Christian sisters and
brothers around the world stand with them, accompanying them in their
sorrows and in their joys."
Younan said, "in this age of globalization, we join
with the churches in the world around us to be instruments of peace,
harbingers of justice, initiators of dialogue."
"The ELCJHL is richly blessed by the accompaniment we
have received through this ecumenical body, and we hope that we have
returned some of that goodness to you," he said.
The ELCJHL, with its origins in 19th century
missionary activity in the Holy Land, is made up of congregations in
Amman, Jerusalem, Ramallah and the Bethlehem area. An updated count of
WCC member churches will come after the WCC 10th Assembly being held in
Busan, Republic of Korea, 30 October to 8 November, 2013.
Source: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/church-in-jordan-and-the.html
Source: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/church-in-jordan-and-the.html
High resolution photos can be requested via photos.oikoumene.org
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