| Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Leader | Sani Ibrahim Azar |
| Associations | LWF,Middle East Council of Churches,WCC |
| Region | Jordan,Palestinian Authority |
| Origin | 1959 Jordan |
| Congregations | 6 |
| Members | 2,500 |
| Primary schools | 4 |
| Official website | http://www.elcjhl.org/ |
TheEvangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) is aLutherandenomination that has congregations inJordan and thePalestinian Authority. First recognized as an autonomous religious community byKing Hussein in 1959,[1] the church currently has 2,500 members[2] in six congregations.
The currentbishop isSani Ibrahim Azar,[3] who was elected in 2017 and consecrated as bishop on 14 January 2018. The bishop emeritus,Munib Younan, retains an official role. Younan is the former president of theLutheran World Federation (2010–2017),[4] and remains a member of the ELCJHL Council.[5]
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land has its origins in the arrival ofGerman andEnglishProtestantmissionaries toJerusalem in the mid 19th century.[1] Protestant missions had begun in the early 19th century, but Protestant Christians had no legal protection in theOttoman Empire, unlike theRoman Catholics andGreek Orthodox, who were legallyprotected by treaty.[6] In 1840, theKing of Prussia,Frederick William IV sent his diplomat,Christian von Bunsen to present a proposal toQueen Victoria of theUnited Kingdom for the establishment of a joint Protestantbishopric under the protection of both Prussia and the United Kingdom.[7]
An agreement was reached to establish a joint bishopric of theAnglicanChurch of England and theEvangelical Church in Prussia, comprisingLutheran,Calvinist andunited Protestant congregations, known as theAnglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem and this was facilitated by the passing of theBishops in Foreign Countries Act 1841.[6] The first Bishop was a Jewish convert,Michael Solomon Alexander, who arrived in 1842.
In 1851,Theodor Fliedner was invited to bring four deaconesses to begin a hospital and the first formal school for girls in theLevant, Talitha Kumi, was set up in Jerusalem. In 1860, Johann Ludwig Schneller set up theSyrian Orphanage in Jerusalem for children who were made homeless or orphaned bycivil war in the region.[1]
A provisional chapel for the use of the Prussian Protestants was erected in 1871 on land granted bySultan Abdülaziz in theMuristan area of Jerusalem.[6] Due to political and theological differences, the joint bishopric was finally abolished in 1886 and the Evangelical mission continued work independently of the Anglicans.[6] Lutherans focused primarily onsocial work and education while the Anglicans focused onevangelism.[1]
In 1898, the newly constructedChurch of the Redeemer was officiated byKaiser Wilhelm II and served as the headquarters of the Evangelical mission.
After the Second World War theWorld Lutheran Federation (WLF) took care of the remnants of the German-initiated Evangelical missions, combining Lutheran, Calvinist and united Protestant efforts. Due to the influence of the WLF the Lutheran aspect prevailed.[8] In 1947, the Lutheran mission was granted autonomy from theProtestant Church in Germany and in 1959 was recognised as an autonomous religious community byKing Hussein ofJordan. The church was then officially named theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ). The ELCJ had by then grown beyond Jerusalem and had set up congregations inRamallah andAmman to serve Lutheran Palestinians who were refugees of theArab–Israeli conflict.[1]
In 1974, the ELCJ joined the WLF and in 1979 the first Palestinian bishop, Daoud Haddad, was elected to lead the church. In 2005, the Synod of the ELCJ decided to rename the church to theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land to more accurately reflect the work and ministry of the church that spans Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.[1]
Sally Azar was ordained on 22 January 2023 by the church,[9] in a ceremony at theChurch of the Redeemer inJerusalem, making her the first female Palestinian pastor in theHoly Land.[10][11]
The ELCJHL holdsepiscopal polity. The Bishop leads the central church structures and is the chief pastor. Bishops are consecrated within the historicApostolic succession.
At present, there are 6 congregations of the ELCJHL:[12]
The ELCJHL runs fourprimary schools and other educational projects that serve the broader educational needs of the Palestinian people as a whole. The four primary schools are:
The ELCJHL also actively supports theNear East School of Theology inBeirut,Lebanon.
The ELCJHL participates actively inecumenical relationships through:[13]
The ELCJHL also works in partnership with:[14]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)