Knights of Columbus, St. Andrew Parish, The Right Reverend Riah Abu El-Assal, B.D.D.D., and Right Reverend Munib Younan to receive Awards from HCEF. Each year, at the time of the 6th International Conference, HCEF grants awards to people and institutions who have accomplished excellent work in support of the Christians of the Holy Land.

Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation

Announcement

Knights of Columbus, St. Andrew Parish, The Right Reverend Riah Abu El-Assal, B.D.D.D., and Right Reverend Munib Younan to receive Awards from HCEF

Each year, at the time of the 6th International Conference, HCEF grants awards to people and institutions who have accomplished excellent work in support of the Christians of the Holy Land.  Theodore Cardinal McCarrick will be the keynote speaker at the 2004 HCEF Awards Banquet on Friday, October 22, 2004.

The 2004 Awardees are:

LIVING STONES AWARDS

~ST. ANDREW PARISH~
Milford OH
(accepted by Fr. Rob Waller, pastor)

~KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS~
New Haven, CT
(accepted by His Excellency Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight)


HOLY LAND CHRISTIAN ECUMENICAL FOUNDATION AWARDS

~THE RIGHT REVEREND RIAH ABU EL-ASSAL, B.D.D.D.~
Bishop, The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East,
The Diocese of Jerusalem

~RIGHT REVEREND MUNIB YOUNAN~
Bishop, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem


The banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn Select Bethesda, Bethesda, MD.  Details about each of the awardees follow.  To register for the 6th International Conference, the Awards Banquet, or the Palestinian Cultural Night, please visit:
 For more information about the 6th International Conference, the Awards Banquet, the Palestinian Cultural Night, the HCSN Leadership Institute, the Student Leadership Institute, the HCEF Youth Summit, or the Ecumenical Prayer Service for Peace, please visit:
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/eventid/162/ID/23.cfm

*********************************************************************
ST. ANDREW PARISH
Under the leadership of Fr. Robert Waller, St. Andrew parish has been actively engaged in building HCEF’s programs for Holy Land Christians.  St. Andrew sponsored HCEF’s Fifth International Conference, and St. Andrew parishioners have been leading the sale of olive wood crafts in the Cincinnati area.  St. Andrew parishioners sponsor students in the Child Sponsorship Program, and several members of St. Andrew church are engaged in planning a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  In Fall 2003, St. Andrew parish and school sponsored five students and their teacher from Beit Jala, Palestine to live in their homes, worship in their church and attend their school.  In addition to building a long-term bridge of solidarity, this sponsorship brought the plight of Palestinian Christians to the front pages of Ohio’s newspapers and led to the development of an on-going Children’s Peace Project at HCEF.  St. Andrew parish is a model for partnership in its activities to support the Mother Church because of the active commitments of many of its members, including: Nancy Hemminger, Donna Beebe (school principal), Carol McNeal (parish pastoral council president), the five families from Beit Jala, the five host families from Milford, the parish of St. Andrew and the Holy Land Outreach Committee of St. Andrew.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Two years ago, the Knights of Columbus honored His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and offered funds to promote peace initiatives in the Holy Land and to support the Christian community.  The Knights’ Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) Fund will be an enduring support for the living stones.  The Knights of Columbus have also supported HCEF’s work by encouraging its Councils to support HCEF’s programs and by advertising HCEF’s Holy Land Gifts program.  Its Columbia magazine has featured articles about HCEF’s work and promoted HCEF’s Child Sponsorship Program.


THE RIGHT REVEREND RIAH ABU EL-ASSAL, B.D.D.D.
Bishop Abu El-Assal was born in Nazareth and has served as the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East, The Diocese of Jerusalem since 1996.  His leadership extends across the diocese’s 34 institutions, including schools and hospitals. He cares for 29 parishes, 29 priests, and 6 deacons who minister to the 7,000 Anglicans of the Diocese.  Throughout his ministry in the churches of the Holy Land, he has been a voice of peace and dialogue and has consistently called for the Christians around the world to support the Christian people in the Holy Land.  Bishop Abu El-Assal attended Bishop’s College in 1960’s with a specialty in Islamic Studies. He has also worked with a number of organizations including the World Council of Churches and the Nazareth Democratic Front.  Among his numerous citations is that of the Jerusalem Declaration (the highest award of its kind in Palestine).

RIGHT REVEREND MUNIB YOUNAN
Right Reverend Younan was born in Jerusalem and has served as the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem since 1998.  Prior to his consecration as bishop, he served as assistant pastor at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem and pastor at churches in Ramallah and Beit Jala, Palestine.  As the translator of the first Arabic translation of the ’Augsburg Confession’ with an elaborative survey, Bishop Younan made a great contribution to the theology of the Christian faith in the Holy Land and worldwide.  He has written for global audiences on the issues facing Palestinian Christians, bringing their suffering into the full view of the global church.  And, his support of the Lutheran diocesan schools, hospitals, and churches nourishes the indigenous Christians in their efforts to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Bishop Younan has also been a great advocate for and leader of both ecumenical and interfaith dialogue as concrete means of moving toward a just peace in the Holy Land.  Among other honors, Bishop Younan received the Finnish Peace Price in 2001 from the Finnish Christian Peace Movement.

***********************************************************************

The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Inc. (HCEF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that provides succor to the Christians of the Holy Land who live in Christian communities dating back in time to those who first heard Jesus Christ preach his gospel.  HCEF sponsors programs that support children’s education, create housing, and provide work programs for community development and indigenous handicrafts.  HCEF Pilgrimages enable Western Christians to develop bonds of solidarity with their Christian brothers and sisters living in the Holy Land.  Contact: Julie James  (301) 951-9400
juliejames@hcef.org