Baltimore ministers address their Jewish neighbors in light of the concerns
about actions by the 2004 General Assembly
In an open letter
issued not long after the Assembly, 16 minister members of Baltimore
Presbytery expressed their concern about what they saw as the lack of
even-handedness in the criticisms on Israel's actions in Palestine, while
also noting that the statements did criticize attacks on innocent people
by both sides. They also criticized the Assembly's action to continue
funding for the "Avodat Yisrael" congregation in Philadelphia, noting that
Baltimore Presbytery acted over ten years ago to remove a similar
"Messianic" congregation from its roll as being incompatible with a
healthy Jewish-Christian relationship.
Jack Sharp, one of the signers of the letter, sent it to
us recently.
[11-1-04]
An Open Letter to the
Baltimore Jewish Community:
Last month the 216th
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) met in Richmond, Virginia.
The General Assembly is the highest deliberative body of the denomination,
and speaks to and for the national church.
A number of its actions spoke about Israel and Judaism. We are acutely aware
that these actions have been painful to many within the Jewish community and
have called into question our friendship and support. Many of us
Presbyterians were surprised by these actions and wish to go on record
stating that they do not fairly represent our views.
What were the Assembly's
actions?
The General Assembly stated its "opposition to the construction of a wall
and other barriers," "welcomes the possibilities for peace contained in the
'Geneva Accord,'" described the "horrific acts of violence and deadly
attacks on innocent people, whether carried out by Palestinian 'suicide
bombers' or by the Israeli military, as abhorrent and inexcusable by all
measures," and authorizes 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." What troubles us is that taken as a whole, these statements were
not even-handed or adequately analyzed - especially in the call for our
denomination to proceed with "selective divestment" of companies that do
business with Israel and the expressed concern for the plight of
Palestinians without an equal concern for the terror inspired by the actions
of the Palestinian Authority or the jihadist terrorist groups.
On the domestic front, the assembly called for a re-examining and
strengthening of the relationship between Christians and Jews while at the
same time it refused to suspend the funding of a Presbyterian congregation
in Pennsylvania, that calls itself "Avodat Yisrael" and whose minister calls
himself a rabbi. Many in our denomination and those who sign this letter
feel that the approach of this congregation in Pennsylvania is deliberately
deceptive and contradictory to the theological commitments of our
denomination. Furthermore, the Presbytery of Baltimore has gone on record
rejecting efforts to proselytize Jews by removing just such a Messianic
congregation from its membership over a decade ago. We are sorry that our
denomination has not suspended this funding. We share in the Jewish
community's dismay at this insensitivity, and will continue to take steps to
communicate our disagreement with these actions.
Although previous General Assemblies have expressed strong support for
Israel, and described Jews and Christians as "partners" who both stand in
covenantal solidarity with God, the actions of this Assembly dealt a
disturbing setback to the vitally important relationship between our two
communities. In our opinion, these actions failed to convey a sense of
balance and fairness in regards to the struggle between Israel and the
Palestinian people. It also failed to recognize the inappropriateness of a
Presbyterian congregation expropriating Jewish symbols and rituals for the
purpose of bringing Jews into Christianity.
We, the undersigned disagree with these actions by the national church but
find some hope in the Assembly's call for a new dialogue between
Presbyterians and Jews. We pledge ourselves to work within our denomination
for increased sensitivity to the concerns of our Jewish neighbors regarding
Israel, while seeking to work as true partners to hasten an end to the
conflict that has caused so much pain for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In
the coming weeks and months, we will seek greater dialogue with our Jewish
brothers and sisters and will work within our presbytery to take actions
opposing both the divestment proposal and further funding for congregations
that adopt Jewish symbols and rituals for the purpose of evangelism within
the Jewish community.
Signed:
(The following ministers are listed alphabetically)
Rev. Thomas W. Blair -
Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church
Reverend Wayne G. Boulton
- Pastor, Roland Park Presbyterian Church
Reverend Andrew Foster
Connors -- Pastor, Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church
Reverend Alison Halsey -
Pastor First & Franklin Presbyterian Church
Reverend William L.
Hathaway - Pastor, 1st Presbyterian of Annapolis Church
Reverend James G. Kirk -
Pastor, Harandale Presbyterian Church
Reverend Kenneth E.
Kovacs - Pastor, Catonsville Presbyterian Church
Reverend Christopher
Leighton - Executive Director, The Institute on Christian & Jewish Studies
Reverend Terry Martin-Minnich
- Associate Pastor, Roland Park Presbyterian Church
Chaplain Ronald Martin-Minnich
- Chaplain, Maryland Army National Guard
Reverend Brett Porter
Morgan - Pastor, Ashland Presbyterian Church
Reverend Peter Nord -
Executive Presbyter, Baltimore Presbytery
Reverend W. Terry
Schoener - Pastor, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church(Severna Park)
Reverend John R. Sharp -
Pastor, Govans Presbyterian Church
Reverend Gretchen van Utt
- Pastor, Springfield Presbyterian Church
Reverend Herbert
Valentine - Retired Former Executive, Baltimore Presbytery
