For over three
centuries Old South has served as "mouth house" (in the peculiar words
of the Puritans). We have
been a venue for public discourse on pressing issues of the day. In
1773 Old South hosted meetings that led to the Boston
Tea Party. Gathered in our Meeting House were British loyalists and the
Sons of Liberty. They spoke, argued, threatened,
cajoled and held forth, some with eloquence, all with conviction and
emotion. Because so much was at stake, the debates
brought out both best and the worst in those who gathered. Civic
discourse is not always civil, but it is always important.
We continue this legacy of public discourse by renting our building on
October 26-27, 2007 to Friends of Sabeel - North
America. Founded in 1989 and located in Jerusalem, the Sabeel
Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center is a movement
among Palestinian Christians. Sabeel enjoys the participation and
support of the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, the United
Church of Christ and other U.S. churches. Sabeel's founding director
has spoken at the UCC's General Synod and Old
South hosted Sabeel's 2002 conference
Old South recognizes that Sabeel presents a challenging perspective on
the situation of Palestinian Christians. It is for this
reason that Old South developed a broad series of forums and
conversations to deepen our exposure to the three
Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). With the help of a
variety of interfaith leaders, we are engaged in
sobering conversations about religion and race, land and law, power and
oppression.
As Old South has been harshly criticized by some and enthusiastically
applauded by others for renting our building to the
Sabeel conference I want to clearly state our position.
Old South Church in Boston and our denomination, the United Church of
Christ, stand firmly in support of Israel. We
grieve for Israel's profound experience of insecurity and fear as it is
surrounded by a horrific combination of hostile
nations, corrupt leadership and terrorism. We also stand firmly in
support of Palestinian Christians and grieve for their
experience of suffering, fear and deprivation as an oppressed minority.
We acknowledge that Palestinian Christians and
Israelis both possess narratives that are fraught with suffering,
insecurity, injustice and anguish. Standing with Israel and
standing with Palestinian Christians are not mutually exclusive
commitments. The narratives of these two peoples remain
in uneasy proximity and neither can nor should be eclipsed in favor of
the other.
Old South's decision to rent our building to Sabeel is in continuity
with a history that dates back over 300 years and
is at the heart of a free and vital democratic nation.
The Rev. Nancy S. Taylor
Senior Minister
Old South Church in Boston
Boylston & Dartmouth at Copley
Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
(617) 425-5150
<nst@oldsouth.org>
<http://www.oldsouth.org/>
Background
Information: The United Church of Christ and the Middle East
Old South Church in Boston is a member of the
United Church of Christ, the largest
mainstream Protestant
denomination in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with more than 400
churches and 90,000 members.
The United Church of Christ was formed 50 years ago in a merger of
American Christian denominations, including the
Congregational church. As UCC Minister and President John Thomas said
from the pulpit of Old South
Church on
October 21, 2007, "The birth of the United Church of Christ was never
simply a rearrangement of institutional church
bureaucracies; it was to
be a sign of the unity both of the church and the world, understanding
that a divided church
could not offer a credible witness to a divided world."
Given its core belief, “That They All May Be One”, the UCC is engaged
in both ecumenical and interfaith partnerships.
Informed by those partnerships, over the past 36 years the UCC –
through votes at its biennial national gathering of delegates
known as General Synod – has made explicit its positions on the
Middle East. Among those positions are the following:
Opposition to violence;
Affirmation of Israel’s right to exist within
secure and internationally recognized boundaries;
Assertion of the right of Palestinians to
enjoy sovereignty in an independent, contiguous, and viable state of
their own,
within secure and recognized boundaries,
neighboring Israel;
Support for a shared Jerusalem, capital of
Israel and the Palestinian state, open to people of all faiths;
Identification of the Israeli Occupation of
Palestinian land to be a major source of conflict;
Theological and political critique of the
separation barrier and its impact on Palestinians’ lives and
livelihoods, as well as
its impact on people and groups on both sides
who wish to work together, in non-violent ways, who are denied that
possibility;
The United Church of Christ is deeply committed to interfaith
relationships, including relationships with the Jewish community.
General Synod has addressed this special relationship several times.
· In 1987, Synod
voted to affirm the UCC’s relationship with the Jewish community,
including a rejection of
supercessionist
theology with the statement that “God’s covenant with the Jews has not
been broken, but
endures.” As
John Thomas has stated, “God’s enduring covenant with the Jews, and
God’s covenant with the
church, link us in
inextricable and mysterious ways.”
· In 1983 the
Executive Committee of the UCC condemned anti-Semitism in all its forms
and in 2001, Synod
confessed the sin of
anti-Semitism and renounced it.
The UCC is involved in ecumenical Christian-Jewish dialogue with major
US Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish
Committee, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the American Jewish
Congress, and the Anti-Defamation League. In
September, 2005, Christian and Jewish participants in that dialogue
visited Israel and Palestine together.
The United Church of Christ, along with many other mainline Christian
denominations, is also in partnership with the Sabeel
Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center whose ministry is with and on
behalf of Palestinian Christians. Founded in 1989, the
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center is located in Jerusalem.
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu serves as the
international patron of Sabeel.
Sabeel encompasses a community that includes members of various
Christian traditions and thought. It enjoys the participation
and support of the ecumenical Christian community in Jerusalem as well
as the support of US denominations in addition to the
UCC. Sabeel’s website makes clear its commitment to the search
for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through
non-violent means; a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict; condemnation of suicide bombing as morally and
theologically wrong; the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to
live in freedom and security.
