The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan is result of the attempt to reform the Oriental Churches . Exactly as the attempt of Luther to reform the roman Catholic Church in Europe resulted in the establishment of a new church, here too the outcome of the Protestant Missions in Palestine was not the reformation of the Oriental Churches but the formation of a new one.

The Lutheran Reformation emerged from a European , Roman Catholic Context, and remained contained for along period within the Boundaries of western Europe

However, the existence of the Oriental Churches was well known to the reformers. Their existence supported and strengthened Martin Luther’s conviction that the Roman Catholic Church was not the sole representative of the Christian faith as these Oriental churches are at least as old.

Contact between the newly established German Lutheran Church and the Oriental Churches , particularly the Greek Orthodox Church , began in 1559. This first contact took place when the Patriarch of Constantinople, Joasaph II., seeking

further information about the Reformation , sent his deacon Demetrios Mysos, to Wittenberg. In Wittenberg Demetrios met with phillip Melanchthon , a close associate of Martin Luther who gave him a Greek translation of his Confessio Augustana , the summary of the Lutheran theology. No response, however came from Constantinopel.(2)

A second contact to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Jeremias II. , was initiated approximately fourteen years later by two theologians from Tuebingen, Martin Crusius and Jacob Andrea resulting in a deep dialogue. Dialogue discontinued in 1581, when the Patriarch wrote that that discussions concerning dogmas are

Further contacts did not take place again until the beginning of the 19^th century after Napoleon’s invasion in 1799. These contacts emerged from the new context of European penetration of the Middle East. Simultaneously the new context was marked by a strong religious Awakening resulting in worldwide mission work. Although the mission work was directed towards the conversion of “heathens”, soon some mission societies decided to start work in the Middle East, a region where only followers of the three monotheistic religions were to be found.

In 1808 the London Missionary Society sent a missionary to Malta, in order “to reawaken the pure religion in the Greek Orthodox Church.”4 In the same year the London Jews Society was established to relieve “the temporal distress of the Jews and the promotion of their welfare.” 5 Several years later the American Board of Commissioners for foreign Missions decided to begin mission work in Palestine, and in 1819 sent their first two missionaries. 6 One aim of these missionaries was the revival of the Oriental Churches. Until the end of the 1820’s “little or nothing has been attempted in Jerusalem; the visits of all the missionaries have been for short periods, “7 as foreigners were forbidden by the Ottoman Empire to own land or even to reside in Jerusalem. In 1824 an Ottoman Firman prohibited the import and circulation of bibles and Psalms printed in Europe because they “instigated unrest and unnecessary disputes.” 8

The year 1831 is of great importance to the history of Protestant missions in Palestine. In this year Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali, invaded Palestine. This began a new era of secularism and nationalism in the history of Palestine. The mission work benefited from these dramatic changes. In 1832 Ibrahim declared that “Muslims and Christians are all our subjects. The question of religion has no connection with political considerations. (In religious matters) every individual must be left alone. The believer to practice his Islam and the Christian his Christianity. But no one to have authority over the other…..”9 Under these circumstances mission work was tolerated. “The Christian missionary enjoys perfect liberty to carry on his operation under the Egyptian Government, more so indeed than under the British government at Malta or India. “ 10

It was then in late 1833 that Nicholayson, missionary sent by the London Jews Society, was able for the first time to rent a house in Jerusalem. He did not perform services only in Hebrew but also in Arabic. In 1839 he wrote: “Some native Christians, both of the Latin and Greek Church, being regular attendants at the Arabic service are anxious to fully join our Church….I have hitherto succeeded in putting them off, and shall endeavor to do so till we get perfectly organized and have a location of our own.” 11 In 1838, the same year of the establishment of an English Consulate in Jerusalem, Nicholayson purchased two plots Episcopal authority.“12 On 10 February, 1840, he laid the cornerstone for a church, interestingly enough not in the Jewish Quarter but in the Armenian Quarter.

Soon thereafter the rule of Ibrahim Pasha came to an end, when the European powers assisted the Ottoman Empire to regain control of Palestine. Due to the European assistance, the Ottoman rulers were receptive to reforms in the fields of politics, society, and releigion.13 The presence of Europeans, including their missionaries, was permitted.

There were various perspectives on the European presence in Palestine after reestablishment of the Ottoman rule. One particularly important for the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the new plan put forth by the King of Prussia, Friedriech Wilhelm IV. The King was very well informed about the work of the missionary Nicoholayson, about the building of the Christ Church, and about the desire of some Palestinian Christians to join Protestantism. At the same time he was aware of the difficulty facing these Christians, as Protestantism was not officially recognized in the Ottoman Millet-System. 15 This system was not individually oriented but rather community oriented. “It was based on the concept that law personal rather than territorial, and that religion rather than either domicile or political allegiance determined the law under which an individual lived.” 16 As long as Protestantism was an unrecognized community, conversion into this community was almost impossible. The king’s goal was “to obtain for Protestants already settled in Turkey, whether foreigners or Ottoman subjects, ‘securities and protection similar to those which Christians of other denominations enjoy’.” 17 He desired securing the recognition of Protestantism in the Ottoman Empire as a millet, and he was convinced that only through a united Protestant church would this recognition be possible. 18 At the same time he was subtly attempting to establish a German Protestant Bishopic in Bethlehem. 19 toward these goals he sent his delegate, Bunsen, to London to ask the Anglican Church to establish a Bishopic in Jerusalem in which the United (Lutheran

Reformed) Prussia Church would participate. On July 19, 1841, an agreement was reached, and it was signed on December 7, 1841. It was agreed upon to send a Bishop to Jerusalem, who shall be nominated alternatively by the crowns of Engalnd and Prussia. Two days later the “Statement of Proceeding” fro this agreement was published, stating the duties of the Bishop:

Comparing the Prussian King’s instructions to Bunsen and the “statement of Proceeding”, a slight change versus converting Jews.

For fulfilling the mission as laid out in the “Statement of Proceedings”, a converted Jew was considered the most capable. Therefore, Professor Dr. Michael Salomon Alexander 21 was chosen as the first Anglican bishop sent to Jerusalem in January 21, 1842.

Bishop Alexandar earnestly endeavored to meet the obligations of the “Statement of Proceedings”. He concentrated on converting Jews, and was eager to maintain good relations with the Oriental churches, therefore, when some Greek Orthodox Christians from Hasbay, Lebonan in 1844 asked to join the Anglican Church, he refused them. This refusal was not understood by the Prussian King, who asked his delegate to negotiate this matter with the Head of the Anglican Church. 22 For several reasons this

Negotiation never took place, and on November 26, 1845 Bishop Alexander died. The Prussian King nominated Samuel Gobat to succeed him.

IV. Samuel Gobat and the Establishment of the First Arab Protestant Congregations23

Without the work of Bishop Gobat there would be today no Arab Protestant congregations in Palestine. For he was the one to shift the emphasis from converting Jews to the reformation of the Oriental Churches. It was as if Bishop Gobat was predestined for the work among these churches. Even before being appointed Bishop of Jerusalem, he had concentrated his efforts in this area: As a missionary of the English Church Missionary Society, he started his work revising Arabic missionary brochures, as he has mastered the Arabic language; in 1827 he witnessed the establishment of the first Arabic, Protestant congregation in Beirut; from 1829 until 1838 he worked as a missionary in Abessinien and there he had already developed the concept of reforming the Oriental Churches. 24 The question can be raised as to whether the Prussian King appointed Gobat as Bishop due to his convictions and missionary work.

Soon after enetering Jerusalem on December 30, 1846, Bishop Gobat started circulating bibles among members of the Oriental Churches. This circulation introduced individual reading as well as bible study, new methods in the Oriental Churches as the bible was mainly the book of the Liturgy. Since most people were illiterate at that time, he had first to open schools. These schools were called “Bible Schools”, since the Bible was the main tool for teaching. 25 During his time as Bishop in Jerusalem, Bishop Gobat was able to establish 25 Protestant schools in Palestine. Two of which are Lutheran schools today. 26

Attacked by High Church oriented groups in England for his concept of reformation of the Oriental Churches, Bishop Gobat threatened to resign if the Archbishop of Canterbury would not clarify the policy of how the Bishop in Jerusalem is to handle the members of the Oriental Church wishing to join the Anglican Church. On October 16, 1850, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prussian delegate, Bunsen, undersigned such an official policy. This policy distinguishes proselytism and Christian witness: “The difference is great between an aggressive system of

Polemical efforts to detach the members of a communion from it, and a calm exposition of Scriptural truth and quiet exhibition of Scriptural discipline. Duty requires the latter; and where it has pleased God to give his blessing to it, and the mind has become emancipated form the fetters of a corrupt faith, there we have no right to turn our backs upon the liberated captive, and bid him return to his slavery, or seek aid elsewhere. It is desirable nevertheless wherever a sufficient number of individuals may have left the Greek Church to form a separate distinct reformed congregation of the Greek Church, not as a congregation of the Church of England, and to assist them in the compilation and use of such a Liturgy best suit their circumstances, and to left it be understood that if Ministers in English Orders minister among them it is to prevent their entire destitution, but that if any of their own Priests should become of like mind with themselves, their ministrations would be made available.” 27 In the same year a Firman by the Turkish Sultan “granting protection to Protestants, being Turkish subject.”28 As a result of these two documents Bishop Gobat was able to freely allow his vision of establishing in Palestine a “Protestant National Church”. 29 By the time of his death in 1879, Bishop Gobat was able to establish twelve protestant congregations in the Holy Land. 30

In addition to building schools and establishing congregations, Bishop Gobat also was the one to request from various German mission societies to come and start working in Palestine. In order to coordinate work between the German and the English missionary societies, Bishop Gobat worked out a gentleman’s agreement between the two. In this agreement northern Palestine was declared the mission field for the English missionaries while southern Palestine was for the Germans. 31 Due to this division Lutheran congregations are today found mainly south of Jerusalem, while the Anglican congregations lie in the North. The work of three German societies, which began under Bishop Gobat, was crucial to the establishment of the Lutheran Church.

In 1850 and after an epidemic attacked Jerusalem. Bishop Gobat asked Theodor Fliedner, the director of the Kaiserwerth Deaconesses’ House to send deaconesses to begin work in Jerusalem. On May 4, 1851, two deaconesses dedicated the first Protestant hospital. On the same day two other deaconesses opened a girl’s school, which was called Talitha Kumi. In this name the concept of the deaconesses was clear, the awakening of the Arab woman. 32

Schneller came to Palestine in 1854 sent by the Basel Mission to direct the Basel Brother House in Jerusalem. However, several years later Schneller left his directorship and began work on his own vision. Witnessing the massacre of Christians in Syria in 1860, he felt the need to care for children orphaned from the massacre; His goal was to have an institution where poor orphans would be able to develop into productive members of society as well as active church members. For the realization of this goal he emphasized the Christian education and vocational training. “Ora et labora” was his motto. 33

In 1860 Bishop Gobat asked the Jerusalem Foundation, a foundation establishment in Berlin in 1852, to take care of the Arab Protestant congregations in southern Palestine. 34 while the English Church Missionary Society concerned itself with those in northern Palestine. The Jerusalem Foundation took over the congregations and schools of Bethlehem in 1860, and found new in Beit Jala in 1879 35, in Hebron in 1884 36, in Beit Sahour in 1900 37, and in Jerusalem in 1903. 38

In 1879 Bishop Gobat died and was succeeded by Jospeh Barclay, a former London Jews Society missionary. He was appointed by queen Victoria and sought to reorientate the work of the Jerusalem Bishopic from the reformation of Eastern Christians to the conversion of Jews and extending to mission among Muslims. 39

However, Bishop Barclay died soon thereafter in October 1881. The Germans did not feel the need to continue the joint Bishopic. After the creation of Germany by Bismarck in 1871, the Germans, having more power, did not wish to continue as subordinates to England, especially, as the German mission work in Palestine was flourishing and even surpassing the English. On November 3 1886, the joint Bishopic ended. The Jerusalem Bishopic continued exclusively for the English missions, while the Germans missions continued without an umbrella of authority. 40 The Kaiser’s previous idea to create an exclusively German Bishopic in Bethlehem was ignored and instead the pastor of the German congregation in Jerusalem was promoted to propst. 41 As propst he was responsible for coordinating the work between the various German mission societies.

After Germany’s defeat in the Frist World War, the German mission work in Palestine experienced a setback. At the same time the sudden interning of the German missionaries from Palestine, caused an awakening within the Arab Protestant congregations. The need for indigenization became apparent43; the quest toward a Christian Palestinian identity and Protestant unity among the different Arab Protestant congregations began, however, it was interrupted by the Second World War.

The Second World War was a devastating blow tot eh German Protestant Mission Work in Palestine. The German mission societies were suffering grave financial difficulties. In addition, most of their property in Palestine was placed under British custodianship. The conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews escalated to war in 1948, having catastrophic affects on the work of the Arab Protestant congregations: Sixty – five percent of all German mission institutions were located in what came to be the State of Israel. The institutions of Schneller and Kaiserwerth lost almost all their property when these institutions were confiscated after the Holocaust as land of the enemy. 45 Later some compensation was paid by Israel to these institutions enabling Schneller to begin new work in Jordan and Lebanon 46, while Kaiserwerth decided to found a new Talitha Kumi in the West Bank 47. On the other hand, many Arab Protestants lost all their property and became refugees.

In this situation the National Lutheran Council in the United States and through its “Commission on Younger Churches and Orphaned Missions” (CYCOM) decided to send Dr. Edwin Moll to Palestine. He was to study the situation of the German mission work and to offer the assistance of the National Lutheran Council. An emergency budget from CYCOM was placed at his disposal. Later he became representative of the newly established Lutheran World Federation in 1947. Under Dr. Moll’s leadership restructuring and recognizing of all the German mission and congregation work in Palestine occurred. 48

Already at the beginning of 1947, Dr. Moll established a “Provisional Committee of the Palestinian Evangelical Lutheran Church.” Two new ideas were emphasized by Dr. Moll: the Lutheran heritage and the establishment of a unified Lutheran church. The three German institutions working in Palestine were not of a pure Lutheran background but of a unified Lutheran – Reformed background. Due to the influence of the Lutheran World Federation aspect became dominant. For almost one hundred years different Protestant congregations from a German background existed side-by- side. Dr. Moll desired to unify these

Another result of Dr. Moll’s work was the opening of the Augusta Victoria hospital in Jerusalem with the aid of the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian Refugees in the Near East). An emergency relief program was initiated providing food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. “Next only to the Government and UNRWA, the Lutheran World Federation (Near East Branch) became the third largest employer in the Hashmite Kingdom of Jordan. In the total operation 400 people were employed. “ 50

With the help of the Lutheran World Federation and the different German mission institutions a process of consultation and organization began resulting in the establishment of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, which was officially recognized by the Jordanian government in May 1959. According to the constitution of the newly formed church, the different congregations would elect church elders, who would then elect representatives for the Synod (the legislative body). The Synod members would elect the members for the Church Council (the executive body). The Synod was headed by a president and the Church Council by a spiritual leader. While the president since the beginning had always been an Arab, the spiritual leader was until 1979 the German Propst.51 In 1979 the first Arab bishop was elected to succeed the German propst. 52 Today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan is an independent Arab Palestinian church consisting of six congregations, five of whom are in the Occupied Territories (Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Jerusalem and Ramallah) and one in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

The work of the Lutheran Church in Palestine was a distinguished one, since it was not connected with or interested in the traditional Holy sites of Palestine. Rather the Lutheran Church has invested in five main area:

It is very interesting to note that the first task of the Protestant Missionaries who came to Palestine was not to build Churches, but to establish schools. And so, the school work proceeded the church work, and the church work was nothing but an outgrowth of the Educational work and not the other way around. Ducation and spreading knowledge have been top priorities of the Lutheran Church from the beginning.

The fact is related to the Lutheran heritage, which underlines the importance of the Holy Scripture, enhances its knowledge encourages its reading and mebraces its practicing in the daily life. Today the Evangelical Lutheran Church operates 5 schools with approximately 3000 pupils in five cities in the Occupied Territories. Indeed the educational Christian work in Palestine is very much needed today.

One look at the political landscape of the Middle East will be sufficient to show that it lacks any sign of logic. The policy of Israel, as well as most of the Arab states, often appears to be irrational, incalculable, and incomprehensible. Yet, religion too often appears to be naïve, fundamentalistic, and ambiguous. Due to these factors and now with the beginning of the Palestinian autonomy knowledge, training and education are important for the future Palestinian society in general, as well as for the Christian community in particular. Education is essential for the region as well as for the building up wealthy and sane society.53

From the beginning the Protestant work in Palestine has focused on the social work dealing with orphans, socially marginalized poor, sick and refugees. It was as if the Church was feeling that her mission was nothing but an echo of the mission of her Lord, who was sent to bring good news to the poor to proclaim release to the ‘captives and recovery of sight to the humanitarian dimension, the Lutheran Church as well as other Churches in Palestine and other social institutions.

Welfare services, however, are not enough. Committed Christians realize today that poverty and oppression are not accidental but are rather the result of a repressive policy to increase the wealth and powers of one’s self, at the expense of

the other. Therefore, it is very important for the Church today to work for social justice and to engage herself in building up a healthy and well-developed infra-structure in Palestine. 54

No one denies, as a matter of fact, that the Lutheran experience has focused on the right understanding of the Holy Scripture. For this reason preaching, Bible studies, and Exgesis have been crucial elements in the Lutheran experience.

So far, churches in the Middle East were either just recalling the theologies of the Church Fathers, or importing Western theology. The church was (and this is part of the Palestinian reality) a consuming Church. It is time to develop a Palestinian Christian Theology, which reflects our situation and deals with the problems of the Christian communities today. In fact Christianity is not an eternal law, but rather a gospel of God, who incarnated in Christ in a certain space and a certain time. To develop such an incarnated contextualized theology has no choice but to be ecumenical to face the problems in the region which challenge all the Churches, without exception. 55

Developing a contextualized Palestinian Christian theology is a great necessity not only for the local Church, but also for the Universal Chruch. It is not a secret that many Western Christians, especially Protestants, are misusing the bible to fit into their ideology.

The uncritical and a historical equating of today’s state of Israel with Biblical Israel, the theologian’s shock and guilt over the holocaust, and Israel’s victorious over the Arab states altogether has led many Western theologians to mythologize the State of Israel. The other side of this mythologization is the demonization of the Palestinian people. 56 The local Palestinian Church has a mission to the Universal Church, in underlining the Justice of God as the hermenutical key in reading and interpreting the Bible, thus, becoming the voice of the voiceless.

Christians in Palestine are living a multi-cultural and multi – religious context. They are living as a minority among two other majorities (Islam and Judaism). The Christian Church must redefine the concepts of religion giving it new content, since the role of religion is often either ignored and underestimated, or politicized. Religion, if correctly understood, is a positive relationship between God and human beings simultaneously forming the basis for all relationships of one human being to another and to the environment. 57

In this regard, the position of human beings in religion has to be clarified. A theology of creation can be very important for us in Palestine, where three religions and two nations have to exist. Such a theology holds that every human being, no matter what his religion or nationality, therefore, means simply to be a true human being. Dialogue among all people of goodwill is essential to constitute and development in the region. 58

This was but an attempt to summarize the past and the present of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, describing 150 years of history in Palestine.