“What is theologically significant about national borders?” “What might the Christian theological tradition have to offer on the subject of national borders?” That was the question posed to me by Sandy Garcia as part of an assignment at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis where she is a student. Sandy is one-half of the husband-wife pastor-team…
I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!…
There is so much that I found offensive about President Joe Biden’s recent trip to the Middle East, but I wanted to wait a week so I could cool off. “First, do no harm,” the medical adage says, and yet – and my expectations were ‘zero’ – he was able in a few short days…
POWER: “the capacity and extent to which one can influence the behavior and beliefs of another.“ In discussing the current political and religious climate, I have often mentioned that the Left, particularly the Religious Left, is especially uncomfortable with discussions of and strategies that employ the use of power. Power, its use and facility, makes…
Dear friends in Fort Wayne and around the country, We are approximately halfway through our solidarity tour to Palestine and Israel. And we have had a very full last few days. Thursday, June 16, was spent touring holy sites. In the morning, we toured the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock; with the permission of…
When you read this, I will be in Jerusalem traveling with 18 people in Palestine and Israel after a three-year COVID hiatus. We have now surpassed 250 people from within 60 miles of Fort Wayne who have traveled with me in my 15 “solidarity tours” since 2002. If I am to be honest, it’s been…
BACKGROUND Many of you know that in 1998-1999, I was a Fulbright Scholar working at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS) under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, King Hussein’s brother, in Amman, Jordan. In the ensuing years I was invited back three different times to give lectures to…
ICMEP Statement on Nakba Day 2022 ICMEP Condemns the Murder of Shireen Abu Akleh and Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of the Palestinian People Today, May 15, marks the 74th anniversary of the Nakba (“Catastrophe”), the forced displacement by Israeli forces of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, the destruction of a Palestinian homeland in 1948. It is…
The US and Palestine — A Challenge for the Church [Our friend and much-respected pastor of the North Manchester Church of the Brethren, Kurt Borgmann, received a Lilly Grant for a sabbatical. As part of the grant, both pastor and congregation agree to explore an issue/question of their choosing. Kurt decided that his three months…
I want to share with you a poem by our friend (and 2019 ICMEP Gala speaker and Champion of Justice Award recipient), Susan Abulhawa. Susan is a Palestinian-American author (her acclaimed Mornings in Jenin has been translated into 32 languages and sold over a million copies), poet, and activist. She is the founder of Playgrounds…