18.11.2016
Growth in Christian Discipleship, Witness and Ministry in Dioceses of Jerusalem – Archbishop Reports from Synod in Jordan
As part of the Partnership between the Diocese of Jerusalem and the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, I was invited to attend and to participate in the Annual Diocesan Synod (Majma) of the Diocese of Jerusalem in Amman, Jordan. This was a significant honour and I was the recipient of the friendship and respect that are the hallmarks of the Anglican tradition worldwide. It was particularly important in that we in Dublin and Glendalough, in the year of Dublin and Glendalough 800, are soon to receive Archbishop Suheil Dawani later this month. His diocese carries pastoral responsibility for Israel–Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – a geography that not only encompasses some of the most strife–torn and refugee–sensitive areas of the world but much of the total and historic Holy Land.
The Synod was preceded by the ordination of two priests, Faris Naum and Jamil Khader, on Monday November 13th in The Schneller School, Amman. A third priest, David Roche (with Irish connections and antecedents and also a CMS Mission Partner) is to be ordained in Beirut on Saturday November 19th. The ordination of three priests, together with a strong ministry of empowerment by women of women across the diocese, speaks of a vibrant and dynamic church presence. The Synod exuded a spirit of confidence in the presence of God in the Holy Spirit.
If Galilee and Jerusalem are seen as the place of Jesus Christ, Trans–Jordan is seen as the place of John the Baptizer, the eschatological cousin of Jesus, particularly Bethany. It was fitting that the Scriptural reflections on both days of the Synod focused on the John of Jordan and of international Christianity. John is also deemed important in Islam as a prophet. The Anglican Diocese is in the process of developing the concept of a pilgrim church by the banks of the River Jordan where other traditions of world Christianity are also developing pilgrim churches. This is an exciting and strategic aspect of diocesan life and one in which we in Dublin and Glendalough could do well to take an active interest as fellow–pilgrims of the present and the future.
The Mayor of Amman, a Muslim, spoke of John and reminded us that we were in the land of John the Baptizer. He spoke with tender feeling of his father who, as a member of the Police Force since the 1930s, regularly guarded the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem on Christmas Eve; and his son, the mayor of today, sang in the school choir and was invited to sing in St George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem. He described his son, when he himself was confronted aggressively by members of his own tradition about this, as being able to be part of the warmth while he himself had found himself hearing the singing of Christian hymns in Bethlehem out in the winter cold. It was a poignant picture encapsulating twin insights in his address: those who are on the outside can be on the inside; and Jordan aspires to be a mosaic of Christians and Muslims living together.
Greetings were brought from the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem, Theophilus iii, who spoke of the initiation of the international dialogue between Anglicans and Orthodox at local level in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Speaking of The Church Fathers, he acknowledged a widely respected patristic scholarship of Anglican theologians and pastors who have significantly contributed to the Christian heritage in their work on The Fathers. He went on, and rightly, to connect such scholarly witness with ‘our common Christian martyria as we face the forces of darkness,’ speaking poignantly of ‘The Church Fathers as great teachers to us in times of apostasy, uncertainty, persecution.’ Greetings were presented by Mrs Catherine Chapman from the diocese of Ottowa, Church of Canada. We learned that the Church of Canada observes Jerusalem Sunday annually on the Sunday between Ascension Day and Pentecost as a reminder of solidarity with the Living Stones by God appointed of The Land of The Holy One. Mr Endicott Peabody from the Friends of The Holy Land, and a Select Vestry Member of a parish in Phoenix, Arizona, brought greetings from The Friends. He expressed the desire that friendship and partnership remain the reciprocal basis of the relationship between the Diocese and the Friends going forward into the future.
In his address to Majma, Archbishop Suheil Dawani highlighted growth and development in Christian discipleship, witness and ministry in the region. This manifests itself in places that are familiar and well known to members of the Church of Ireland – parish, educational and healthcare institutions. He set this in the context of the building of new churches; in the restoration to active use of churches which had languished in decay since 1948; and in the context of the relationship of friendship and partnership with the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, during which time he publicly gave thanks for the generosity of the people of our dioceses in relation to the Al Ahli Hospital, Gaza City and our funding of the refurbishment of the on–call facilities for nurses and doctors and the future installation of solar panels for the provision of energy for Al Ahli. Al Ahli takes its place in the life of the diocese with St Luke’s Hospital Nablus which has generously been supported by the diocese of Clogher, Zebabde Hospital and The Princess Basma Centre in Jerusalem. The Women’s Network has decided to dedicate itself to the growth and development of these healthcare centres among its other visionary priorities. I could not but find myself asking the question: When will the Church of Ireland build a new church – and where?
The Synod dealt with the Reports of finance and diocesan property, but within a framework of growth and witness. People offering specialist ministries in healthcare, education and the empowerment of women and youth were given scope to express the contribution that had been made to the life of the diocese over the year past as well as voicing hopes and strategies for the future. The thread throughout was the corporate desire to embody the Biblical text in its context. The vision was that the church has a prophetic voice and that people will know the church by the grace and the goodness emanating from her institutions and her people.
My presence at The Synod of Amman was preceded by a visit to the Holy Land Institute for Deaf and Dumb Children in Salt and to The Wilderness of John. Brother Andrew left me with the conundrum of how, as Anglicans, we are to hold together – not in tension but in unity – our witness to refugees and to people with disabilities. My time concluded with a visit to Madaba where the recognition of the ministry of John the Baptizer is honoured by Greek Orthodox and Latin Catholic as a focus of pilgrimage (drastically cut by the rise of ISIS to 10% of its former number of pilgrims). It left me pondering the questions raised profoundly and simply in The Prayer Our Lord taught his disciples: as it is on earth, so it is in heaven … It left me clearer than ever that church–grumbling is a self–indulgence and that the walk of witness is where our Partnership with the Diocese of Jerusalem will take us under God. Every member of the Synod received a Come&C bookmark with the Five Marks of Mission and the Diocesan Prayer.
Michael Jackson, archbishop
November 17th 2016