ELCJHL News pre-2003

Women of the ELCJHL Encounters on 'Reconciliation'

JERUSALEM, April 14, 2000 - Two one-day encounters took place in the Redeemer Church on the subject of "Reconciliation," one on 19 November 1999 and the other on 14 April 2000. Both programs were launched with brief worship services that were followed by sessions that included expositions and logical disputations on this highly-discussed subject. Women's physical and mental health issues were explored with the help of professionals in the field of spirituality, psychology and psychiatry. The leaders were Dr. Amal Merizian Khazen, head of the Nazareth Hospital Nursing School, and Dr. Vivica Hazboun who manages the Family and Child Counseling Center in Bethlehem.

Guideline questions for the two encounters were as follows:

• Where do we stand vis-à-vis reconciliation at the threshold of the third millennium?
• Before dwelling in general epithets and maxims like "reconciliation," "peace-making" "conviviality," "dialogue", and so on, are women at peace with themselves and with their immediate communities?
• How does the church relate to women's mental, spiritual, and physical health needs?
• How does the environment affect the well-being of women?
• What does it mean to reconcile with oneself and the "Other"?

Women of the ELCJHL Report of Activities, 1999-2000

Domestic Violence

Our women's committee chose "violence" as a main theme for the year 1999 and held a conference on domestic violence in Haifa 21-23 June. The conference was sponsored by the Department for Mission and Development, Women in Church and Society, Lutheran World Federation.

Stemming from a pressing need for investigation and education, the subject of domestic violence emerged in the light of increasing incidents of abuse and violence reported in the media and narrated by individual women. The 1999 programs included one-day encounters, women's activities in the congregations, and the three day summer conference.

Eighty-five women participated in the conference in Haifa. Seventy-three were Lutherans representing all of the congregations in the ELCJHL. The others represented Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Episcopal Churches from Haifa.

The guest speakers included a woman lawyer, Ms. Halima Abu Sulb, who is a Muslim. She is a feminist suffragist and works at the Women's Center for social and legal counseling in Jerusalem. The other guest speaker was Ms. Rana Salfity, a Christian, who is a social worker who works in the counseling and rehabilitation field with battered women. A full report of the conference is available.