"As funding from its member denominations continues to decline, the National Council of Churches (NCC) is increasingly relying on support from liberal foundations and polemical direct mail campaigns," Mark Tooley writes at the Web site of the American Spectator (www.spectator.org).

"A recent fundraising letter from NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar blasts 'Jerry Falwell and his friends,' 'hard-right fundamentalists,' libertarians, President Bush, Rush Limbaugh, the Heritage Foundation, and the organization for which I work (the Institute on Religion and Democracy)," Mr. Tooley said.

"Preoccupied with its political purposes, Edgar's letter never once mentions what is officially still the NCC's purpose: to foster ecumenical unity within America's churches. Talking too much about Christianity might sound too 'fundamentalist.'

"So, seemingly writing for a largely secular audience, who are expected to react viscerally to the mere mention of names like Falwell and Limbaugh and Bush, Edgar hacks away at hard-core political themes. In so doing, he seems to want to confirm the worst allegations of the NCC's critics: that the NCC has ceased to be a church organization and has instead become a political lobby of the Left. Indeed, to remove all doubt, Edgar mentions that the NCC works closely with the far-left MoveOn.org, which, though unmentioned by Edgar in his letter, also has provided funding to the NCC."

UPDATE: READ THE TZIPPY COHEN SPEECH THAT WAS BLOCKED BY DOC PRESIDENT HOBGOOD

Now that the Disciples of Christ have passed a resolution condemning the security wall in Israel, a total of three denominations have passed anti-Israel resolutions - and all three were either crafted or influenced by one family - the Makari's. Peter Makari, the Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board, concocted the last minute UCC divestment resolution over the objections of the committee studying the issue as well as architecting the Disciples of Christ (DOC) wall resolution. His father, Victor Makari, the Presbyterian Church (USA) regional liaison for the Middle East and Europe, was influential in promoting the Presbyterian divestment resolution - which has received significant opposition from the rank and file of the Presbyterian Church.

The Wiesenthal Center today expressed it's outrage over the DOC wall resolution. From the World Jewish Congress:

 “The resolution is an abomination,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “It demands that Israel take action that would put millions of its citizens in immediate harm’s way in the never-ending campaign of Palestinian suicide terror.”

“No other nation would ever be asked to do the same and as a result, this politically-driven resolution is functionally antisemitic,” Cooper added.

“It is especially outrageous that Disciple President Hobgood has seen to it that a young survivor of a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, Tzippi Cohen, was barred from speaking to all of the delegates at the General Assembly prior to vote.” I have no doubt that had the delegates seen the human face of the victims of Palestinian terrorism, the outcome could have been much different,” Cooper added.

MORE: DOC RESOLUTION CRAFTED BY PETER MAKARI FROM THE UCC GLOBAL MINISTRIES

According to a letter sent by Disciples of Christ General Minister and President Dr. William Chris Hobgood to Jewish groups, Peter Makari (Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board which is a joint ministry of the UCC and DOC) is the architect of the DOC "Tear Down the Wall" resolution. Makari was also responsible for the substitute resolution on divestment that that the UCC approved over the objection of the committee that was charged with discerning the resolution.

The UCC is offering its financial and technical support for Church World Services’ “Dear Sudan” campaign, a growing interfaith effort to increase awareness of the inhumane conditions faced by Sudanese refugees and to raise resources to support humanitarian relief.

The expanding movement – dubbed “Dear Sudan” by Church World Service – asks each local community in the United States – through ecumenical, interfaith cooperation – to sign a “Dear Sudan” letter that recognizes the suffering of Sudanese refugees. In so doing, communities make a commitment to raise enough money to feed for one day the number of refugees equivalent to that community’s population.

Jewish groups were sucker punched last week when the United Church of Christ (UCC) abandoned a carefully crafted compromise and instead voted to support “divestment” from Israel.

defies logic and turns fairness on its ear.

Leaders of the divesting churches — including the UCC and the Presbyterian Church (USA) — insist they have nothing against Jews or Israel, but their willingness to be guided by forces that are implacably opposed not just to Israeli policies but to the Jewish state itself, and which seek to use animus against Jews as a tool in that effort, suggest otherwise.

• “...there will be thorough review of the process leading to the action taken by parliamentary experts to determine if this is a legal resolution.”

• “Why did the UCC spend more than $1,000.00 to bring me to Atlanta and totally disregard my efforts.” 

• “Further, we were never informed of the recommended substitution in advance of the debate until we

• Did John Deckenback (pictured left), Central Atlantic Conference Minister, Peter Makari, Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board, and Curtis Rueter, chair of the Wider Church Ministries board of directors, purposely draft and propose the resolution on the floor of General Synod because they knew there would be no Jewish voice heard on the issue?

• What Collegium member helped sabotage the General Synod process by being present during the drafting of the substitute resolution?

• Will Conference Ministers respond appropriately?

MIDDLEBROOK, Va. -- A small fire and anti-gay graffiti were found Saturday at a church belonging to the United Church of Christ, a denomination that endorsed same-sex marriage last week.

The exterior of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ also included a message that United Church of Christ members were sinners.

A member of the congregation discovered the graffiti when he stopped by to mow the grass. He found a small fire within the sanctuary. The fire was put out in a few minutes, Lt. Tim McCray said.

A Virginia State Police fire investigator was on the scene Saturday afternoon but declined to comment.

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, said the entire 1.3-million-member denomination would be offering prayers of support for St. John's Reformed UCC and its pastor, the Rev. Dorcus J. Lohr.

"My heart goes out to the people of St. John's UCC in Middlebrook," Thomas said. "The violation of sacred space is traumatic for a congregation, particularly when a message of hate targets a church's efforts to reach out in the spirit of Christ's love to all people."

"I knew that the decision of our General Synod on July 4 to affirm marriage equality for same-gender couples would be controversial both within and beyond the church," he said. "It saddens me to realize that, for a few, disagreement has moved to acts of violence."

"The whole United Church of Christ will surround St. John's and its pastor in prayer as they gather for worship this weekend and as they seek healing from this assault," he said.

Dear Rev. Thomas:

On June 29, prior to the recent United Church of Christ General Synod, I wrote you to ask that you lead in the rejection of the divestment and Tear Down the Wall resolutions being proposed. Sadly—for Jews, Christians and all concerned with peace in the Middle East—the UCC passed a resolution approving divestment as a means of economic leverage as well as the Tear Down the Wall resolution, which is deeply flawed by historical, legal and moral inaccuracies. These resolutions are destructive and do nothing to help settle the conflict in Middle East, which is a moral, religious and human tragedy for all affected. On political and humanitarian levels they will do nothing whatsoever to help relieve the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians, but they have already created much justified frustration and anger throughout the Jewish community.

I cannot overstate the negative consequences of these resolutions within the Jewish community, and the need for repair and healing.

The Jewish community’s cooperative work with the United Church of Christ on the important issues of peace and justice have been compromised by these resolutions. We also understand that within the polity of the UCC you are empowered to accept or reject resolutions of the General Synod. In the interest of maintaining the cooperative relationship that our two communities have enjoyed and in the interest of bringing our communities closer together to promote a practical and meaningful resolution to the crisis in the Middle East, we vigorously urge you to personally distance yourself and the leadership of the denomination from these harmful resolutions.

You have the institutional and moral ability to repair the damage done to Jewish-Christian relations, and we recommend that you to do so publicly and unequivocally.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With prayers for peace,

Neil B. Goldstein
Executive Director

NEW YORK, July 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Based on reports from the United Church of Christ news service, while the UCC resolution on economic leverage in the Middle East contains positive ideas, the American Jewish Congress finds unacceptable the resolution's inclusion of divestment as a course of action. "Investment is constructive and creates hope, while divestment from one side is destructive and unjustifiable," said Neil B. Goldstein, AJCongress executive director. "We urge the UCC to choose the responsible path."

Dr. Eugene Korn, AJCongress director of Jewish Affairs, commented "The UCC opted for positive and constructive use of economic leverage as a first option. This will help Jewish- Christian relations and aid Israelis and Palestinians working for peace. But if UCC decides to divest from companies doing business with Israel, it will lose its moral credibility and harm chances for peace. In the end, the call for divestment is rhetoric to weaken Israel and strengthen the extremists and the rejectionists."

The AJCongress condemns the second UCC resolution regarding Israel's defensive barrier. Goldstein continued, "'The Tear Down the Wall' resolution is deeply flawed in law, facts and moral logic. It fails completely to acknowledge that the separation barrier is a legitimate defense against Palestinian terrorists who continue to try to murder innocent Israeli civilians. The barrier should be removed only after the Palestinian Authority apprehends the terrorists in its midst, dismantles the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure, and signs a peace agreement with Israel. There can be no peace before responsible Palestinians take these steps."

The divestment vote came a day after a Mideast committee approved a compromise that rejected outright divestment and instead urged church bodies to use a variety of “tools of economic leverage to promote and support peace in the Middle East.”

But on Tuesday, several UCC leaders introduced a substitute measure, which was quickly passed.

Despite a surge of anger and dismay, Jewish interfaith leaders were laboring to put a positive spin on the final resolution.

“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we’re pleased it does not call for a boycott,” said David Elcott, interreligious director for the American Jewish Committee, who attended the meetings in Atlanta. “Our concern was that they would support a resolution isolating Israel, which is what the Presbyterians have done. They didn’t do that.”

But other Jewish leaders said the vote struck to the heart of interfaith dialogue with groups such as the UCC.

“We were heartened by the work of the committee, which seemed to reflect the things that we have been hearing from UCC members in the pew,” said Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, interfaith director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But the revised resolution, which received less than an hour of debate, not only speaks about resorting to divestment, but makes the occupation an analogue to violence.”

That, combined with the shift to harsher language on Israel’s separation barrier, left Jewish groups “to wonder about the intention of the leaders who substituted these versions of the resolutions at the last minute,” he said. 

Today is a sad day in the history of the United Church of Christ. Today, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has voted in support of divestment over the wishes of the committee assigned to discern the issue. The committee, which spent hours reviewing three different resolutions, drafted their own resolution titled "Resolution concerning use of economic leverage in promoting peace in the Middle-east" and clearly and intentionally removed any reference to the term 'divestment'. Members of the United Church of Christ National Office drafted an alternative resolution overnight without the input of the committee studying the issue and without consulting the Pension Boards whose funds this issue concerns. Specifically, Curtis Rueter, chair of the Wider Church Ministries board of directors, with assistance from Peter Makari, Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board, presented the General Synod with the last minute resolution that was voted on with less than an hour of discussion on the floor of the General Synod.

With this action, the United Church of Christ has effectively placed a wedge between itself and the Jewish community. The process of developing the divestment proposal essentially hijacked the discernment process and was done with the noted objection from committee members. The simple fact that National Office staff manufactured the resolution reflects a lack of leadership of John Thomas who refused to speak directly to the issue of divestment before General Synod and ignoring the concerns raised by our Jewish brothers and sisters.

On a personal level, I want to apologize to our Jewish brothers and sisters who will be most affected by this resolution. It is my hope that the UCC will understand the pain that it has caused and change direction.

James Hutchins

jutchins_ucc@yahoo.com

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Wiesenthal Center opened the press conference with a direct plea, urging Synod members to vote down Resolutions promoting divestment from Israel and especially what he called the egregious resolution demanding Israel tear down its security fence. Rabbi Cooper expressed his belief that these resolutions do not represent the beliefs of most UCC members.

According to the Rabbi, some of the resolutions language and references to apartheid were particularly disturbing in light of recent events in Europe among those the Jewish community has considered it traditional allies. The Rabbi related his visit to the Durban Conference only days before the 9-11 attacks in the US during which he heard an "onslaught of anti-Semitism and an effort to demonize Israel and the Jewish state" within Europe and human rights organizations.

In his belief, it was only the events of 9-11 that served to delay a similar process from taking place here in the US.
Now, in light of a spate of calls for divestment among mainline Protestant churches, that concern has returned.

The messages of divestment from Israel and the removal of the security fence are the wrong message at the wrong time, the Rabbi concluded. They will not bring a Palestinian State closer, and their passage will only serve to empower those who want to see an end to the State of Israel.