From the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East

Provincial Clergy & Spouses Conference 2014

The clergy and spouses of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East met in Luxor, Egypt from 29 September to 2 October 2014. The theme of the conference was being good neighbors in the current Middle Eastern context.

We received greetings from The Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury, who wrote: “You are living in the first part of the parable of the good Samaritan. The wounded and the terrorized are before you, much of the world and even the church goes by; everyone has an analysis, but few of them start with the presence of Jesus, reaching out both to victim and perpetrator…. You are the Samaritans, hard pressed, threatened, but faithful. We pray for you constantly and learn from you regularly.” We also received greetings from Dr. Ahmed el-Tayyib, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, the hub for Sunni Muslims in the world.

The keynote speaker was Professor David Ford, the Founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme and Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. Professor Ford challenged us to be neighbors as Jesus was the neighbor of us all. He also helped us to better understand the Gospel of St. John in which “love as I have loved you” is at the heart of the Gospel.

Old Testament studies were given by The Venerable John Holdsworth of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, and New Testament studies were given by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Grant LeMarquand of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. We also received teaching from Bishops Michael Lewis, Suheil Dawani, Azad Marshall, and Bill Musk.

We all came from many different Middle Eastern countries and traditions, however, we were united in prayer, receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion, and studying the Word of God. We became aware of the overall context within the Middle East: 1) the growing number of refugees from South Sudan, Syria, and Iraq; 2) the increase in violence and terrorism; 3) the persecution of Christians and other minorities, especially in Iraq; and 4) the challenges facing the Church throughout the Middle East, especially in Iran. We also reflected on how we can be a good neighbor, as Jesus was, in relation to all these challenges.

Being in Luxor (Thebes) the ancient capital of Egypt, we had the opportunity to see the ancient Egyptian temples that go back 5,000 years. We were impressed by the ancient Egyptians search for God and the hope of life after death. This brought to mind the prayer of St. Augustine of Hippo (Anaba, Algeria): “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

We are grateful to the Egyptian Security who guarded us as we traveled. It was clear that Egypt was taking the security of visitors very seriously in order to promote tourism.

Finally, and most importantly, we thank God for this wonderful for this wonderful conference and the unity we experienced in this time.