Phone: +972-(0)2-626-6800 Fax: +972-(0)2-628-5764 Address: Muristan Road P.O. Box 14076 Jerusalem 91140 via Israel
Campus | Worship & Activities | Groups & Programs | Congregational Profile History | Ecumenism Ev. Luth. School of Hope | Future | Contact
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah was founded in 1954, in response to the stated need of refugees from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Spirit of Ecumenism is very much alive here in Ramallah, where Christians from Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical churches celebrate the same church calendar together by using the Orthodox Easter calendar and the Western Christmas calendar.
The ongoing illegal Israeli occupation remains a central reality affecting daily life for the church. The ever- and yet never-changing political realities like movement restrictions and ever-growing settlements inhibit Palestinians from living normal lives. With the increasing isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, the Qalandia checkpoint has become more like an international border through which only the most privileged Palestinians can pass through - and then only on foot with proper permits.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope and the Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope are located near each other on two pieces of property in a residential section of Ramallah.
The Lutheran church building has three levels, the top level being the sanctuary, narthex and pastor’s office. The middle level has a large parish hall with a stage, along with several classrooms and a kitchen. The lower level houses three kindergarten classes. Built into a hill, the church sanctuary is entered from the street. Outside stairs take the visitor down to the large playground and the door into the parish hall. A few more outside stairs bring the visitor down to the kindergarten playground and entry doors.
The Rev. Saliba Rishmawi was installed as the current pastor of the Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah in March 2010.
The Rev. Ramez Ansara previously served as pastor of Hope. Pastor Ansara was born and raised in Ramallah. He received his theological training at the Lutheran Seminary in Tanzania, Africa, called Makumira University College. Classes at this seminary are taught primarily in English, but Swahili is the language of the people. Pastor Ansara can speak Swahili, and spent time with the Tanzanian people as well as studying at the seminary.
The Rev. Dr. Munib A. Younan, current Bishop fo the ELCJHL also previously served as pastor of the Ramallah congregation prior to being called to serve as Bishop, as well as during his first years as Bishop.
Worship services are held each Sunday morning at 10:30 am, with Sunday School at 9:30 am in the parish hall. Even during times of curfew imposed by the Israeli military, the church bells of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope have continued to ring out, announcing worship and people come to pray.
A curfew is the total closure of a town, a time when people are forbidden by the Israeli soldiers to leave their homes. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope long ago decided to hold worship services regardless of a curfew. People leave their homes to sing, pray, hear God’s Word and partake of the Sacraments in the church.
In addition to regular worship services, the Lutheran Church of Hope has many activities for children and youth, including a young adult group, weekly Bible Studies in homes, and women’s gatherings to build awareness of attitudes toward women in the church and the society.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope provides a summer school for children, a youth program that involves young people with other local and international Christians. For one month during the summer the children enjoy a daily Summer Camp held on the church property. In July 2003 sixty children learned Bible lessons and songs, in addition to special off-site trips and swimming days. Often volunteers come from partner congregations in other countries to assist with the yearly Summer Camp.
More than ninety young people participate in youth activities. The “juniors” are from 13-18 years of age; the “seniors” from 18-30 years. Pastor Rishmawi is leader of both groups and also serves as Youth Pastor for the ELCJHL as a whole. Bible studies, guest speakers, exchange visits with neighboring church youth groups and various volunteer activities take place with both age groups. Additionally, the young people participate in local youth retreats and also in overseas trips and retreats.
The Sunday School program includes about sixty children. On a Sunday morning the children first come together to pray and to sing. After, the children they are divided into classes by age where they hear Bible stories and enjoy art, crafts, discussions and storytelling.
The women of the church meet weekly for study and activities. A unique project of the women’s group is the traditional Palestinian embroidery work they sew for greeting cards, bookmarks, eyeglass cases, tissue boxes and also pictures and designs on fabric intended for framing. Knitted items for babies are also made. An attractive cupboard in the narthex of the church holds the items that are offered for sale. Occasionally orders for the embroidery work are shipped overseas, at the request of individuals or other church groups.
A community service project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah, the Meals on Wheels Program has been serving the Ramallah area since 1995. Currently more than 60 elderly people in Ramallah are being served. Twice a week the Meals on Wheels workers deliver hot meals. And besides meals, members of the program can utilize other services, such as transportation to and from medical appointments; pick-up and delivery of pharmacy prescriptions; delivery of staple foodstuffs such as rice, coffee, fresh fruit and vegetables; and help with light housekeeping and laundry.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope also provides “friendly visitors” to come to the homes of the people in the program. Occasionally the people in the program are transported to a luncheon and program at the church parish hall or another location in Ramallah.
The Meals on Wheels Program is supported by gifts and donations from various church groups and individuals, including the World Hunger Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission; and The Presbyterian Church, USA.
The city of Ramallah is a “twin town” with Al-Bireh, located about ten miles north of the heart of Jerusalem. Ramallah was primarily a Christian town before the influx of Palestinian refugees during the 1948 and 1967 wars. The historical tradition says that two brothers of the same Christian family founded the twin towns in about 1550 AD. The brother who stayed in the Ramallah area had seven sons who had many children. This created several families or clans of people who were all related.
Today Ramallah is a center for government and business in the Palestinian society. Many diplomatic offices and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also are found in Ramallah.
Ramallah is in the West Bank, right at the northern edge of the Israeli-declared boundaries of Larger Jerusalem. There are at least five military checkpoints which close in the city. The Qalandia checkpoint connecting Ramallah with Jerusalem and the Surda checkpoint connecting Ramallah with many villages, including Bir Zeit and the university, are the largest and busiest ones. The Palestinian people living in Ramallah must have an Israeli-issued permit to leave through a checkpoint, and most people do not have such a permit. There are many restrictions imposed that make permits very difficult to obtain.
As many have said, “Ramallah is like a big jail.” By this they mean that their life is circumscribed by the town’s borders that are guarded by Israeli soldiers, military vehicles and equipment and fences. At times the borders are sealed completely, by orders of the Israeli military, allowing no entrance or exit.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah was founded in 1954. Graduates of the Schneller Lutheran School and of the Lutheran School of Talitha Kumi who resided in Ramallah requested that a Lutheran church be established there. Also living in Ramallah were Lutherans who had taken refuge there after the war in 1948-49. Thirty-eight families were charter members of the congregation. The specific request for a Lutheran church in Ramallah was made of the heads of the church in Jerusalem. The Rev. Daoud Haddad, pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem (later to become the first Bishop of the ELCJHL), came for two years to conduct worship services on Sunday afternoons. These services were held first in the Ramallah Quaker meeting house, and then in St. Andrew Episcopal Church. When the Rev. Bassem Nijim was called to serve the new Lutheran congregation in 1956, a house was rented to be a center for religious services and parish activities. The congregation was already raising money to build a new church building and a parsonage. The hope for a Lutheran school was also primary in the minds of the people.
Land was purchased and the parsonage was built in 1961. The cornerstone for the church building was laid in 1961 and the building was completed and dedicated in 1963. Pastor Nijim and the congregation were determined to establish a school to be connected to the Lutheran Church of Hope. In 1965 a kindergarten was started with ten students and two teachers. Each year after that classes were added. By 1975 a two-story school building had been constructed on a piece of land adjacent to the church. Children from kindergarten through grade nine were being taught. A third story was added in 1982, expanding the school to K-12 grades. More recently in 2001, a partial fourth story has been built on the school, housing a computer laboratory, a small performance hall and classrooms for music and art.
Pastor Nijim died in 1983, leaving a legacy of congregational and educational work in the Lutheran Church in Ramallah. His two daughters continue to live in the Ramallah and Jerusalem area. His wife and two sons are in California, USA.
The next pastor to serve the Lutheran Church of Hope was the Rev. Munib Younan, who today is the Bishop of the ELCJHL. He was the pastor in Ramallah from 1984 until his consecration as bishop in 1998. The Rev. Ramez Ansara was the next pastor, having been ordained in the Lutheran Church of Hope by Bishop Younan in 1999. Rev. Saliba Rishmawi was installed as pastor in March 2010.
Today the Lutheran Church of Hope congregation has about ninety-two Palestinian families (about 430 baptized members), nearly all of whom are refugees. Only two women in the congregation are descendants of the original founders of Ramallah; the others have come to Ramallah as refugees during the last fifty-five years (most after the 1948-49 war), primarily from Jaffa, Ramle and Lod, towns now inside the state of Israel. They have established themselves in businesses and homes in the Ramallah area but remember their towns of origin.
It is worth noting that more than 1,500 Lutherans from the Ramallah area have emigrated over the years. Most are now living in the United States and Canada.
In 1995 the joint Lutheran-Anglican scouting program was established, enabling young people to grow in an ecumenical environment. The Lutheran-Anglican relationship is particularly strong and meaningful. The two congregations worship together at least ten times each year: Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, several times during Lent and all worship services during Holy Week.
Over the years more and more ecumenical relationships have been established in Ramallah. Today the five major Christian churches are joined in an ecumenical fellowship in which they partner in worship, education, community projects and social activities. The pastors and priests in the ecumenical grouping meet together often. Included in the ecumenical fellowship in Ramallah are the Greek Orthodox Church (Transfiguration of the Lord); the Roman Catholic Church (Holy Family); the Episcopal Evangelical Arab Church (St. Andrew’s); the Greek Catholic (Melkite) Church (Annunciation); and the the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Hope).
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope also has important partnerships with the Grefson congregation in Oslo, Norway; with the Johannes Kirchengemeinde in Berlin; and with another German congregations in the Karlshorst parish, as well as many other contacts with other congregations in Europe and the United States. In addition to these connections, there are mutual efforts being made to establish partnerships with other churches around the world, especially in the USA and Tanzania.
Today the Lutheran School has more than 400 students enrolled, from kindergarten through grade twelve. The headmaster is Mr. Michael Abu-Ghazaleh; the deputy principal is Ms. Suheila Mreibe.
The Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope is well-known in Ramallah for its emphasis on the basic subjects as well as opportunities in the arts, music, computer science and business. Students learn English and German, in addition to their own Arabic language.
The school was hard hit during the Spring 2002 invasion of Israeli troops into Ramallah. Curfews were imposed during which all people had to remain at home, so no school classes could be held. During one of those curfews, a group of Israeli soldiers broke down doors to enter the empty school and did much vandalism during several hours. Neighbors could hear glass and wood breaking in the school and telephoned the pastor to keep him updated. No one could go out to inquire or protest. The curfew continued for a few more days, but as soon as it was lifted the pastor, headmaster, staff and church members hurried to the school with cameras to record the damage and begin the clean up operation. Students and families assisted with the repairs and cleaning so that classes could resume as soon as possible. In fact, within a week the students were back in school.
The Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope has continued to be a place of safety and security for the children. During the very difficult months of Spring 2002, when Israeli army incursions and patrols along with extended daily curfews were imposed, the children longed to be in school and expressed their joy at being in class and among teachers and friends when they could return.
A visit with the congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope will continue to reveal future hopes and dreams for congregation, school, and community. Recently, the cornerstone for a new school building for the Evangelical Lutehran School of Hope was laid, which, when finished, will be able to serve more than three times Hope's current capacity. The Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope is also an active participate in the new ELCJHL Libraries Project: Opening a World of Possibilities, which is working to grow vibrant English-language language libraries in each of the four ELCJHL Schools. And plans for a combined community and health and wellness center are also in development.
Rev. Saliba Rishmawi
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope
P.O.Box 162
Ramallah, Palestine
via Israel
Phone: +972-(0)2-298-8543
Cell: +972-(0)59-894-0072
Email: