The Holy Land Committee (HLC) shares enormous gratitude with our many generous and empathic fellow parishioners during the most difficult year faced by Israel-Palestine since our committee's founding in 2014. With your generous support, we’ve provided financial support to those in need well beyond what we had planned for this year. We distributed that generosity across multiple charitable organizations providing a variety of services, especially humanitarian needs for food and medicine, mental health, and education. We’ve also engaged in interfaith discussions, community healing, advocacy work, and listening sessions.
There is so much to do—the need is overwhelming—and we cherish your support
[Photo credit: AFEDJ.org]
Last October, in 2023, we wrote letters to our Congressional representatives calling for U.S. aid to Israel and Palestine to adhere to human rights requirements. Early this year we began a series of healing events, including an Evensong and a Multifaith Vigil, open to the public—and a New Story Leadership peace plan presentation—all with fundraising components. Beneficiaries included American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ), which also received Easter offerings, United Palestinian Appeal’s scholarship program (Iqraa), and New Story Leadership (NSL), all of whom we’ve long supported. And because of the dire needs in Gaza and for the mental health of both Israelis and Palestinians, we raised funds to support Doctors Without Borders (MSF), World Central Kitchen (WCK), and Rozana’s Binational School of Psychotherapy (BiNat’l). For those wishing to contribute to any of these:
- St. John's Breeze (choose Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Crisis)
- (AFEDJ)
- NSL
- UPA-Iqraa
During the summer, we hosted the Jewish Islamic Dialogue Society (JIDS) for very meaningful non-crisis spiritual discussion, and we hosted the Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), the Rev. Dr. Mae Cannon, to discuss Christian principles and the Gaza crisis. This fall, we resumed our advocacy work, sending letters to our Congressional representatives calling for conditionality of military aid to Israel in accordance with the Episcopal Church’s (TEC) resolutions passed in June at General Convention. On December 8, we’ll host Eileen Spencer of AFEDJ to kick off their Bearing Witness curriculum for an educational series we’ll host next March. To learn more:
Meanwhile, within the HLC throughout 2024, to better understand the worsening Gaza crisis and how we could better help, we hosted multiple speakers in workshop format to share views and discussion. Discussants included Loai Ahmed, a former NSL delegate and friend of HLC Co-Chair Nancy Adams, with family still in Gaza; Mai Abdul Rahman, the founder of Americans for Palestinian Orphans (A4PO); Ramsey Hanhan, an Iqraa runner and author of Fugitive Dreams, and Archbishop Paul Feheley, TEC’s Middle East Partnership Officer. To contribute and/or learn more:
St. John’s, we thank you warmly for every manifestation of support—every kind word makes a difference!
For links to view any of our events that were recorded, and for any questions about the HLC—our work and how you can be more involved—please contact Nancy Adams or Kirk Campbell.
- Kirk Campbell and Nancy Adams, Co-chairs, St. John's Holy Land Committee
Questions or comments?
Complete this form to connect with HLC's Co-Chairs, parishioners Nancy Adams and Kirk Campbell.