ELCJHL News March - April 2010

Talitha Kumi choir announces the Resurrection on German TV

by Bernhard Scheurenbrand

For months, the evangelical German community in Jerusalem prepared for its Easter service, made special because of the 100th anniversary of the Augusta Victoria complex. The service was to be held on campus at Ascension Church and broadcast on the German television station ZDF. Organizers agreed from the first that the choir of Talitha Kumi School would enrich the service with two songs. Talitha Kumi School maintains a close connection with its German roots through its main sponsor, Berliner Missionswerk.

So everyone was organizing and practicing hard. But fearful questions remained: Will the 22 students get a permit to cross the checkpoint that day? Will the soldiers honor the permits?

A lot of people spoke up for us, so we get those permits in the end. We drove to Jerusalem for the final rehearsal on Saturday. Until we passed the checkpoint, the atmosphere was stressed. But everything went well and we drove singing, clapping and smiling to the Mount of Olives.

The next day, Easter Sunday, we were lucky and again allowed to travel to Jerusalem, to participate in a wonderful service. After the service ended and the cameras were turned off, the choir got spontaneous applause for minutes and a lot of positive feedback from the audience as well as people back in Germany.

Among the many in Ascension Church that day was a special guest, His Royal Highness, Georg Friedrich Ferdinand. He is the Prince of Prussia and the great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm, the Prussian king who provided funding for building Augusta Victoria 100 years ago.

After the service the prince went to the playground, where the students were relaxing. He thanked them for their participation in the service and their great musical performance.

We are happy that the message of the Resurrection of the Lord was spread through the voices of our students – this time to millions of people.

Since March 2009, Bernhard Scheurenbrand has worked as Talitha Kumi School’s administrative director, a position created and financed by the Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst. A member of the Lutheran church in Reutlingen, Germany, Scheurenbrand also served as administrative director of the Jerusalem Foundation in 1990-1993.

ELCJHL congregations celebrate host of Holy Week activities

Holy Week concluded for ELCJHL congregations with festive services on Easter morning. Pictured at left is the sunrise service of the English-speaking congregation.

Click here for Bishop Younan's Easter message in: English   Spanish

Photo galleries: Palm Sunday procession  Good Friday   Easter sunrise service   Easter Arabic-English service 

ELCJHL, Church of Scotland affirm, formalize partnership

Churches cooperate in order to strengthen evangelical Christian witness, not their institutions. Our interdependence as churches is a source of strength. This was part of the message of ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan gave at the March 24, 2010, partnership service. There, Younan and the Rt. Rev. William Hewitt, moderator of the Church of Scotland, signed an agreement formalizing the relationship between the ELCJHL and the Church of Scotland. St. Andrew’s Church in West Jerusalem hosted the afternoon event.

In the photo, ELCJHL Rev. Ibrahim Azar, Bishop Younan and Rev. Hewitt look on as Rev. George Shand, minister of St. Andrew's, signs the document.

Click here for the press release on the event.

ELCJHL celebrates a new pastor for Ramallah

Rev. Saliba Rishmawi was installed as pastor of the ELCJHL Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah, West Bank, on Sunday, March 14, 2010. Many clergy, ELCJHL members and friends, as well as local dignitaries, attended the festive event. Pictured here is Rev. Rishmawi (center) with ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan on his left and Bishop Martin Lind of the Diocese of Linköping, Church of Sweden, on his right, during the installation service.

EEC director showcases Palestinian birds

There was a large crowd on hand to help Simon Awad (at left), executive director of the ELCJHL Environmental Education Center, launch his new book on Palestinian birds on March 10, 2010, at the Lutheran School of Beit Sahour.

You can learn more about the EEC at their website at www.eecp.org.

Mitri Raheb in the US speaking about the Palestinian occupation

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb (shown right), ELCJHL pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine, is in the United States this week speaking at a host of venues about conditions in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Raheb was scheduled to speak at several Minnesota churches, as well as at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg College, an ELCA college in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

You can access the audio and video of the chapel service at which he preached at the ELCA Luther Seminary on March 4 by clicking here.