In Full Communion

Anglicans and Lutherans working together in Canada

Message to the Church: Supporting our partners in Jerusalem

May 20, 2021

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Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the orphan, and plead the widow’s cause. —Isaiah 1:17

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are deeply distressed by the escalating violence and bloodshed in Gaza and central Israel. The volatile situation in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where dozens of Palestinians are being evicted from their family homes by Israeli settlers, has progressed into the death of numerous civilians, unprecedented destruction and deeper community divisions.

Our beloved and besieged church partners, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, tell us “we know from experience that violence and hatred will never lead to solutions to the deep ethnic and religious divisions that have afflicted this region for over a century. We urge all parties to act responsibly and calmly, and to preserve human life at all costs. We continue to pray and advocate for reconciliation and a just peace for Jerusalem and all its residents – Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, Palestinian and Israeli.”

We have written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, urging Canada to do more to promote peace. anglican.ca/gazaletter
On May 16, 2021, Canadian Anglicans and Lutherans observed Jerusalem & Holy Land Sunday. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem continue in their missions of healing to the wounded, humanitarian relief to those who have lost homes and jobs, and comfort to all who mourn the death of loved ones. We thank all parishes, groups and individuals who find ways to lift up our partners.

We urge every Canadian Lutheran and Anglican, and all peoples of good will, to walk in solidarity with our partners by:

Praying continuously for the cessation of all hostilities and peace in the Land of the Holy One and for the ministry of our partners.
Reviewing our letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and forwarding it to your local MP.
Making a donation to support efforts by our partners to continue ministries of relief, care, justice and peace.

Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City
In the words of Archbishop Hosam Naoum “Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City has been on the frontlines of these relief efforts, a beacon of hope to those trying to stay alive under such dire conditions. But they are overwhelmed and in desperate need of funding to obtain precious fuel for hospital generators, and to purchase emergency medicine and medical supplies so that the doctors and nurses who are working around the clock can meet the crushing flow of injured and traumatized victims.”

August Victoria Hospital, Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem
Most of the patients served by Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) continue to be in social need and seeking life-saving specialized care. On a daily basis, these specialty services touch countless lives, both young and old, from communities across the Palestinian territories. In light of the escalating violence, AVH has expanded its Triage Unit into a Temporary Emergency Set-up to help receive and treat injured individuals.

To make a donation in support of Al Ahli Arab Hospital: anglican.ca/jerusalem/donate
To make a donation in support of August Victoria Hospital: clwr.org/AVH

We join together in prayer:

God of Love,

In the midst of continuing political and social conflict, in fear and uncertainty, we thank you for faithful leaders in the Holy Land, especially Bishop Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and Archbishop Hosam Naoum of The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Give them strength in speaking out against injustices which eliminate the security and freedom of people. Give us that same courage to open our eyes to what is needed to protect and support those who are most vulnerable. We prayer for true and lasting peace. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Yours in Christ

The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls
Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC)

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)

Resources:

Video: In the Midst of This.

Matthew 10:40-42

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, ²and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ³He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”