His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Patriarch of Jerusalem, will be the guest of honor at a banquet sponsored by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation and the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia on June 15, 2001.
His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Patriarch of Jerusalem, will be the guest of honor at a banquet sponsored by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation and the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia on June 15, 2001. Patriarch Sabbah will speak to an ecumenical audience on “Jerusalem, The Mother Church of Christianity.” The Archbishop of Atlanta, John Donoghue, will participate in the ecumenical program and will speak on his perspective of the important issues concerning the Christians in the Holy Land. The Rev. Dr. Victor Pentz, Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, will also be a featured speaker. Dr. Pentz is an Advisory Board Member of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation. He has been a supporter of the long struggle to bring peace and justice to the Holy Land and has been instrumental in organizing and promoting HCEF’s mission in Atlanta.
The banquet will celebrate the central role of Jerusalem and the continued relevance of that city to Christian Americans. Patriarch Sabbah is visiting the United States from the Holy Land to address the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. In his address to the HCEF banquet audience, he will highlight the central role that the Church of Jerusalem played in the early development of Christianity beginning with the Pentecost. He will also review the current political developments in the Holy Land that affect the native Christians and the Mother Church of Jerusalem. The visit by the Patriarch is intended to reinvigorate American Christian efforts to maintain a Christian presence in the land of Jesus Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. The Patriarch will highlight the plight of Christians in the Holy Land and encourage Christians, churches and concerned organizations to join the Holy Land Christian Support Network and thereby provide hope and support to Holy Land Christians and their churches.
Christians are now marginalized to the point that Christian culture and economic vitality are no longer possible. Regardless of recent events, it is our hope that peace will visit the land where the three Abrahamic religions find their spiritual foundations.
Rateb Rabie, KHS, HCEF President said, “HCEF was founded to increase awareness among Americans of the urgent needs of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, to enrich the lives of Americans through contacts with Palestinians, and to develop and fund programs that will encourage and assist Arab Christian to remain in their homeland”.
HCEF sponsored two National Conferences and is planning the Third National Conference for October 19, 20 which will be held at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. HCEF committees are present in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, Houston, TX, Atlanta, GA and Detroit, MI. The Detroit Committee sponsored its first HCEF Symposium and Banquet on March 31, 2001 in that city.
The banquet will be held at the Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30305. A reception will be held at 6 pm and the banquet will begin at 7 pm Local registration information can be obtained by calling Claire Camann, 404 842 5890. For more information about this event, call the Rev. Becky Burton at 404-842-2182.
-30-* The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation is a tax exempt, non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of Christians in the Holy Land by developing bonds of solidarity with Christians in the United States. HCEF, PO Box 6687, Silver Spring, MD 20906.Toll free (866) 871-4233, Fax toll free (866) 871-4234. . Email: News@hcef.org
