A delegation of US Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican Church leaders are visiting the Middle East between April 16 and 27. Planned for several months, the trip is "all the more urgent" given the deepening crisis, said the delegation's leader, the Revd Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.

The NCC - whose 36 member denominations comprise 50 million adherents - organised the visit by invitation of the Middle East Council of Churches and Jerusalem church leaders.

Acknowledging security concerns, the delegation nevertheless intends to fulfil as much of its planned itinerary as possible. The group will meet with clergy in each country and expects to meet with high-level political officials, including Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, and Lebanon's Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri. The delegation also intends to meet with Israeli and Palestinian government officials and with the US Consul General in Jerusalem, and hopes to visit Israeli and Palestinian wounded and bereaved.

Delegation members include:

The Rt Revd Arthur Edward Walmsley, retired Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut
The Revd Janet Arbesman, Presbyterian Church, USA
Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocese of the Armenian Church
Mark Byron Brown, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Revd James A Forbes Jr, Senior Minister, Riverside Church, New York City
Revd Joseph Rice Hale, former general secretary of the World Methodist
Council The Revd Robert S Jones, National Baptist Convention USA
His Eminence Cyril Aphrem Karim, Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church
of Antioch for the Eastern United States
The Revd William Shaw, president, National Baptist Convention USA
The Revd James, Churches for Middle East Peace
James Edward Winkler, general secretary, United Methodist Board of Church and Society

Article from: National Council of Churches