The Messiah’s message has been twisted beyond recognition

From The Star-

The first time I visited Bethlehem I thought I was going to die. Leaving the town where Jesus was born to re-enter Israel, I waited at the security checkpoint for the bored-looking soldier to check me through. In front of me was an elderly Palestinian man with his young grandson. There was a problem with their papers and the grandfather noisily tried to explain the situation. He then motioned to the child at his side, who lifted up his shirt to reveal a package clumsily taped to his belly. This was at the height of the time of suicide bombings and all I could think was that this was such a surreal way and place to die.

The appendage was actually a colostomy bag, and the boy had an urgent appointment at an Israeli hospital. He was allowed through, and taken to be cared for and looked after.

An hour later I sat in my Jerusalem hotel room and suddenly burst into tears. Not out of fear, I think, but out of despair. Salt-stained, sorrow-stained, pain-stained despair that in Bethlehem, where I believe that the great conduit of grace came into this world, so much suffering and confusion could still breathe and flourish. And not only in Bethlehem of course, but throughout the entire world; and the shadows of cruelty and suffering often appear not to be diminishing but positively growing in their clawing darkness.

More here-

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/12/23/the-messiahs-message-has-been-twisted-beyond-recognition-coren.html

Diocese of Bethlehem issues call for election of next bishop

From ENS-

When you gave me the honor of serving as your bishop provisional in March 2014, I pledged to spend several years working with you to discern the Diocese of Bethlehem’s common mission and update and streamline financial, governance and administrative practices. With thanksgiving for your remarkable progress in assuring a faithful future for the diocese, today I am calling for the election of the ninth bishop of Bethlehem.

In consultation with the Rt. Rev. Clay Matthews, the Episcopal Church’s bishop for pastoral development, and Judy Stark, a consultant recommended by his office who is a daughter of the Diocese of Bethlehem, the Standing Committee will soon seek members for a search committee to discern a slate of nominees for bishop. In time, the Standing Committee will also name a transitions committee to oversee the new bishop’s consecration and welcome to the diocese. Although the final calendar for the search process will be determined by the Standing Committee, I anticipate that we will elect the ninth bishop of Bethlehem in the spring of 2018 and consecrate and seat that person in the fall of that year.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/01/06/diocese-of-bethlehem-issues-call-for-election-of-next-bishop/

The Christian family refusing to give up its Bethlehem hill farm

From The BBC-

A Palestinian Christian family that preaches non-violence from a farm in the West Bank is battling to hold on to land it has owned for 98 years. Now surrounded by Israeli settlements, the family is a living example of the idea of peaceful resistance.

On his farm outside Bethlehem, Daher Nassar is picking apples from the ruins of the orchard he planted at least eight years ago. The fruit is scattered across ground freshly opened and imprinted with the tracks of a bulldozer. At the field's edge, branches reach out from inside a mound of earth, the bark stripped and mangled, unripe almonds still clinging to the trees.

More here-

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27883685

Pope to visit a land of disappearing Christians

From Reuters-

 When Pope Francis visits the birthplace of Jesus next week, he will address a dwindling population of faithful whose exodus from the Holy Land could turn the shrines of Christendom into museum pieces.

While ever growing numbers of Christian tourists pour into Bethlehem and the adjacent Jerusalem to visit the plethora of sites associated with Jesus, many Palestinian Christians hope to join a legion of relatives who have already moved out.

Christian communities have been in relative decline across the Middle East for generations, with the recent Arab revolts and the rise of radical Islam only accelerating the process.

More here-

http://www.trust.org/item/20140522065906-qd7yd

Bethlehem wall is erected in Piccadilly

From Church Times-

IN THE pouring rain at six p.m. on Tuesday night, in the heart of London, workmen in hard hats, elevated eight metres above the ground, were not quite finished. Nevertheless, just the top of the tower of St James's, Piccadilly, remained visible, the rest of Sir Christopher Wren's church obscured by a thick grey wall, topped with barbed wire. Floodlights powered by a generator struggled in the wind and rain.

Despite the conditions, more than a hundred people were present to witness the unveiling of Wall, a replica of the separation barrier constructed in Bethlehem. The installation is part of a 12-day festival at the church - Bethlehem Unwrapped - designed to celebrate Bethlehem through art, music, food and debate.

Members of the public are invited to write prayers and messages of hope on the wall. Inside the church is an exhibition of art by children living in Bethlehem, entitled All They Paint is the Wall. On Tuesday night, their pictures were projected on to Wall, bearing witness to the collection's title, a quote from one of the children's teachers at Dar Al-Kalima Lutheran school.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/20-december/news/uk/bethlehem-wall-is-erected-in-piccadilly

Grace Episcopal Church offers 'Warmth in the Night'

From The Diocese of Bethlehem-

If you are down and out — as so many seem to be lately — Grace Episcopal Church wants to help.

Now in its second year, the parish is offering ‘Warmth in the Night’ to those in need in the community.

Though the church does open its doors and offer a warm place to sleep during this (normally) cold season, Father Edward Erb says that is just the tip of iceberg.

“What we’re offering here is really more of a ‘ministry of hospitality,’” Erb said in an interview Friday. “We measure our success less in terms of how many people are staying here overnight and more through how we can help people in other ways.”

As an example of this, Erb points to a young couple his parish recently helped by getting them bus fare back to their family in Pittsburgh when the job the husband had come to town for fell through.

There are many other examples.

In one, Erb says last year a woman who had been sleeping in an ATM booth for four days came to the shelter with her contact lenses crusted onto her corneas. Fortunately, with two eye doctors in the parish, Erb says the woman was able to have the problem dealt with and one of the doctors was able to set her up with a sample package of disposable contacts.

More here-

http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x2044982993/Grace-Episcopal-Church-offers-Warmth-in-the-Night

Clergymen clash at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity

So much for "Heavenly Peace"-

The annual cleaning of one of Christianity's holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.
The ancient church, built over the traditional site of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations -- Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox.

Wednesday's fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with the sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.

The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms.
Palestinian security forces rushed in to break up the melee, and no serious injuries were reported. A Palestinian police spokesman would not immediately comment.


Read more:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/world/clergymen-clash-at-bethlehem-s-church-of-the-nativity/article_fa2dfd5b-0097-5a01-a29b-1b2c353c2e32.html

Fresh mood in Bethlehem, but little joy

From The Church Times-

AT THE first Christmas in Bethlehem since the start of the Arab Spring, Palestinians are welcoming the new mood in the region — although without being able to point to specific signs that the revolutionary atmosphere is helping their cause.

A number of dark clouds still hang over the Holy Land, in the form of significant obstacles in the way of the Palestinians’ dream of statehood, and continuing tensions within the community.
On the positive side, inter­national attention was refocused for a time away from the Arab Spring earlier this year, when the Palestinian leadership lodged a demand with the UN Security Council for international recognition of statehood. While this route will be blocked, the Palestinians achieved a break­through by being awarded full membership of UNESCO.

But these diplomatic gains have come at a price. Israel has responded by putting new energy into the West Bank settlement expansion programme. So, as the Palestinian Prime Minister Salem Fayyad was turning on the lights of a Christmas tree outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem earlier this month, the Israeli government was approving the construction of 40 new settlement units at Efrat, just to the south of the town.

At the tree-lighting ceremony, Mr Fayyad said that Christmas brought the attention of the world to Bethlehem for a brief moment each year. He might have gone on to say that this applies to the Holy Land and Palestine as a whole. In this year of the Arab Spring, as never before, all eyes have been fixed on developments in the wider Middle East.

More here-

http://churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=122262