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Church not just for Sundays

Military checkpoints, curfews and inflexible work schedules make it difficult for many parishioners in the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem to get to Church on Sunday. That's one reason why diocesan parishes place so much importance on alternative weekly church gatherings.

Many residents of Shefa Amr, in Galilee, keep Israel's typical Sunday-through-Friday work schedule. It's difficult getting time off for Sunday worship. The parish's Bible study, youth group, women's fellowship and choir allow members to connect throughout the week, said the Revd Fuad Dagher, priest at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. "If we limit activities to Sunday worship, we are the losers."

Wide spectrum of activities

Mid-week activities at Holy Family Episcopal Church in Raineh offer Arab Christians an outlet for socialising in a land that typically does not provide centres for non-Jews. "As Arabs in Israel there are no cultural centres for us here - nothing in our lives, just the church," said the Revd Samuel Barhoum, parish priest. His 200-member parish offers a wide spectrum of activities for people aching for something to do.

Youth groups exist for age groups ranging from young children to university students. The church has a women's fellowship that is quite active in the community, regularly visiting residents in hospitals and nursing homes.

Holy Family members also work together to provide food and clothes for people suffering in Ramallah. The parish also offers a weekly Bible study, and will soon start a class for newlyweds and offer a monthly family activity.

The church is full of people nearly every day of the week because of the various ministries, Fr. Barhoum said. Such events help build community within the parish, he added.

Curfews prevent Church-going

Weekly activities also serve an important purpose in the diocese's West Bank parishes, which face myriad challenges of their own.

The Revd Husam Naoum, pastor of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Nablus and St Matthew's in Zababdeh, cannot even be assured that his churches will have Sunday services each week. Israeli military-mandated curfews can keep Nablus residents holed up in their homes for weeks at a time. Fr Naoum said that even as a priest he only can get to church at times by using an ambulance from St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.

People look forward to meeting at any time, Fr. Naoum said. Mid-week activities not only serve as a follow-up to Sundays; they are the only chance for communal worship during certain weeks.

St. Philip's has a Bible study and prayer fellowships, but its most notable mid-week event is its Christian education programme on Fridays. In the past, some 120 to 140 of the 700 Christians in Nablus attended our classes and youth groups, Fr Naoum said. "All the denominations come together because we're the only church in Nablus that offers this kind of programme," he added.

However, attendance has dropped dramatically because of the tense political situation. Now, it is considered a big turnout if 90 people attend, and many weeks only 40 people come for the Friday event. Such impacts of the conflict can be discouraging, but Fr Naoum still feels God's care for the parish.

St George's Women's Fellowship

The women's fellowship at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem is another group that must contend with political challenges. Leader Shafiqa Dawani said checkpoints up north cause delays, just as they delay or deter many people from attending church on Sunday.

The women's group continues to meet every other Wednesday for singing, a meal and discussion. The fellowship also hosts annual events, such as its Christmas bazaar, with proceeds going to needy families in the area.

Such mid-week events are important these days, when Sunday church attendance can be difficult. However, most people say they would be necessary even without those barriers. Such activities are a sign of a healthy church, Fr. Dagher said. "Sunday is the climax of what we're doing during the rest of the week."

PRAYERS FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity generally takes place in January. This year's theme, 'We have this treasure in clay jars', was prepared by Argentinean churches, which placed a special emphasis on the issue of migration.

Jerusalem's event typically attracts more than 100 people. Most say one week is not enough. Interchurch unity needs to be a way of life, especially during this difficult time, they say.

Loss of Jerusalem's Christians

Their robes may look different, but when it comes to working on behalf of the Holy Land's dwindling Christian population, the Heads of Churches and Christian communities in Jerusalem have become increasingly unified. "For hundreds of years, Christians of different denominations closed the doors in the face of each other. Today, we're all under the same roof, and the doors are quite open," said Bishop Riah.

Palestinian Christians are flooding out of the Holy Land at alarming rates, according to George Awad, secretary at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. In 1967 there were close to 30,000 Christians in Jerusalem. Today, various heads of churches estimate that figure has dropped to 8,000-9,000 range, or less than 2 per cent of Jerusalem's population.

Heads of Churches working together

The heads of churches in Jerusalem meet monthly to discuss issues that impact their congregations. "We need the support of (local clergy) to try with all their abilities, and all their minds, from the deepest of their hearts, to find a way to stop all these acts of violence," said the Rev. Shemun Can, a Syrian Orthodox priest at St. Mark's Monastery in Jerusalem.

The heads of churches have worked together for this purpose in various ways. Last August, they organized a week of peace prayers, with services taking place at churches throughout the city. In addition, some church leaders have talked to political leaders about working for peace.

Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Bishop Riah and the Rt. Rev. Mounib Younan of the Lutheran church are the only Palestinian heads of churches in Jerusalem. As a result, they often work together on behalf of the Palestinian people. It appears they have plenty of work ahead of them.

Ecumenical work in Jerusalem has improved since the heads of churches banded together three years ago for Jubilee year activities. "People are looking for the situation to get better, so they can come to the Holy Land and see the salvation of our Lord from heaven."

ST PHILIP'S CHURCH, GAZA
Direct hit by guided missile

There was broken glass everywhere, on the floors, on the tables, on papers and beds. Christian leaders of Gaza gathered to offer their support and condemn the bombing of St. Philip's Episcopal Church, located within the Ahli Arab Hospital compound. The Church is in the centre of the hospital complex, and surrounded by buildings flying the Red Cross and Anglican flags.

At about 2.15, on January 23rd, Dr. Salah, the Hospital's physician on call, awoke to the sound of an explosion in the distance. Then he saw the distinctive light of a missile approaching - and saw it pass within 10 metres of his head and hit the Church. It came slowly, and he describes "the storm of wind and glass passing like a train through the bedroom". There was glass in his bed, in his hair, covering the floor.

'She died of fear'

An elderly woman had arrived at the emergency room, just prior to the attack. She was terrified, and suffering from high blood pressure. The doctor began to examine her and the missile hit next door, throwing him to the ground.

It took a few minutes for the electrical generator to come on, and by the time he was able to get to her, she had died. "She died of fear," he said.

Damage to Church and hospital too

The missile entered through the Church roof, and left a metre wide hole in the floor. Stained glass and crystal from the chandeliers littered the floor. The altar was covered with plaster. Deep cracks showed in the walls.

The Paediatric Clinics were damaged as well, with the collapse of the false ceiling and ventilation system. Through the hospital; physical therapy building, staff accommodation, laboratory, medical records, morgue, library - glass littered the floors, windows were broken, doors blown from their frames by the force of the blast. The damage to the hospital is extensive, and many of the old buildings showed structural cracks.

Hospital employees pointed out that they are nowhere near other apartments buildings, government or military facilities. Apache helicopters had not only fired the missile, they had returned to film the results of their attack. These were shown on Israel television.

Dr Salah said, "Ahli Arab Hospital is like a family, we all feel connected. I have been through so many attacks, but never imagined our hospital would be hit, or the Church. It is a holy place".

Suhaila Tarazi, Ahli's Director, moved through the hospital, shaking hands, accepting words of support from the steady stream of visitors, staff and neighbours. "I call upon our friends, all over the world, to keep us in your prayers and help us to overcome this tragedy."

Turned out in their nightclothes

Dr Nabila is Ahli's only female physician. One night, tanks surrounded her family's four-storey apartment building. People were given five minutes to evacuate the building, leaving with only the nightclothes they wore. Those who specialize in destruction then entered to plant vacuum bombs, which destroyed the building with such force, that cement blocks are scattered over a kilometre.

FROM SURREY TO SYRIA

This article was originally produced in Yes Magazine (July-September 2002), by the Church Mission Society and is reproduced by permission.

"Would you like an armed guard at tomorrow's service? I'm sure the Syrian government would provide one." The American Regional Security Adviser, a member of the congregation, asked the question just after a church was bombed in Pakistan.

This sort of issue didn't arise in Dunsfold, the Surrey village I'd abandoned for a three month sabbatical in Syria. My wife and I moved from a hamlet of six houses - with a total population of twelve people - to a flat in the centre of Damascus, which has a population of four million.

The outgoing CMS Chaplain hadn't been replaced and I was to look after three English-speaking congregations. I'd never been to the Middle East, nor spent so long away from England.

Our Syrian sabbatical couldn't have been more stimulating or refreshing. And I felt safer in Syria than I do in England. No, a guard was not necessary, not in Syria, which rightly has a reputation for being the safest country in the Middle East.

The plight of the Palestinians

Of course, tension in Israel, the country we were not allowed to mention, let alone visit, was rising, along with the anger of the 350,000 Palestinian refugees made welcome by the Syrian government.

We learnt something of their plight from Bishop Riah of Jerusalem, a Palestinian-Israeli-Arab-Christian, who sat in our flat drinking tea and talking about life during the Intifada - a narration that was shocking and humbling. The problems of Palestinians put petty parish politics into perspective.

We travelled 20,000 kilometres across Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. We swam in the Mediterranean, the Dead and the Red Seas. We visited Byzantine ruins and the recently rebuilt Beirut.

Syria is saturated with religious sites. We were living in the cradle of Christianity and we walked in the footsteps of St Paul. But it was the people, not the places, who changed us forever.

Syria's toleration of Christianity made it the perfect place to learn how, after 11 September, the 10 per cent Christian minority live out the Gospel among the 90 per cent Muslim population.

We met Aramaic speakers in Maaloula, and heard Syriac sung at the Syrian Orthodox Monastery (where my mobile phone went off during the prayers).

"Tell people to come and ask us"

I delivered letters of greeting from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Syrian and Greek Orthodox Patriarchs, and asked them what part the Anglican Church could play in Syria today. Both stressed the importance of 'presence', of being there in person.

On our last Sunday, a trainee priest from the Syrian Orthodox Church drew us aside and challenged us, "Since 11 September the Western world is asking itself 'How can we get along with Muslims?' We Christians in the Middle East have been doing this for hundreds of years. Why don't you come and talk to us. Tell people to come and ask us."

We need to go, and we need to listen. Where might you, as a church worker, go?

Geoffrey Willis