TO: The Commissioners of the 219th General Assembly
FROM: Former moderators of the General Assemblies
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
With enthusiasm and hope, we urge you to support the report of the Middle East Study Committee, as it has been amended by Committee 14.
Prior to the General Assembly, some of us were in disagreement with each other about significant aspects of the original Middle East Study Team Report. But after observing a remarkable process of discernment and consensus building, we celebrate the unanimous vote of Committee 14 to endorse an amended version of the report. We also give thanks for the new found spirit of collaboration and conversation that has arisen among constituencies across the church who have differing views on the Israel/Palestine conflict. God’s healing grace has been at work in the midst of this General Assembly.
We urge you to approve the recommendations of the amended Middle East Study Report, sending a strong message of peace, hope, and justice to our congregations and to the world. By adopting the amended report, you can demonstrate to our Christian Palestinian brothers and sisters, our American Jewish partners, our American and Middle Eastern Muslim partners, and to both the Israeli and American governments that the PCUSA is answering God’s call to be ambassadors of reconciliation. By speaking the truth in love through vigorous dialogue and action, the witness of the PCUSA can embody the vision of God’s Shalom, God’s Salaam, God’s Peace.
John Buchanan
208th General Assembly
Susan Andrews
215th General Assembly
Fahed Abu-Akel
214th General Assembly
Rick Ufford-Chase
216th General Assembly
John Fife
204th General Assembly
Jack Rogers
213th General Assembly
David Dobler
205th General Assembly
Herb Valentine
203rd General Assembly
