Episcopal Press and News
Episcopalians Support Middle East Ministry
Diocesan Press Service. February 25, 1969 [74-13]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Middle East is a major world "hot spot" today, as well as being the cradle of Christianity. For both of these reasons the area is of special concern to Christians.
Each year, on Good Friday, Episcopalians are asked to make a special offering for the work of the Church in the Middle East. Through this offering they support the work of the Jerusalem Archbishopric, a jurisdiction which includes both Israel and her Arab neighbors, extending from the Persian Gulf to the Turkish border.
Its five Dioceses are Jerusalem; Egypt and Libya; Iran; Jordan, Lebanon and Syria; and The Sudan.
Last year Episcopalians contributed $67,917.13 to the Good Friday Offering.
In compliance with a resolution passed in 1967 by the General Convention, $15,000 of this amount was sent to the Jerusalem and the East Mission. This British missionary society works specifically in the Archbishopric, and the money contributed to it, along with $2, 900 specifically for the Archbishopric, goes to support the overall work in the Middle East.
The Diocese of Iran received $10, 000 from the Offering, $5, 000 to support the Diocesan school program and $5,000 to support missionary and service efforts of the Diocese.
The Diocese of the Sudan received $10,000. Due to the unstable situation in the Sudan, many priests in the southern part of the country have had to flee their homes and are now refugees. The money contributed from the Good Friday Offering will be used to aid these homeless clergymen.
A grant of $5, 000 to the Diocese of Jordan helps that Diocese in coping with a bank account freeze instituted after the six-day war in 1967 and still in effect, making it difficult to pay clergy salaries, to obtain school fees, etc.
The Rev. Canon John Zimmerman, who represents the Episcopal Church on the staff of the Archbishop in Jerusalem, is also supported from the Offering. During 1968 the amount allocated for this purpose was $9,960.27.
St. George's College, a central Anglican college being established in Jerusalem, received $2,912 for a lecture room.
Ecumenically, the Offering enables the Episcopal Church to assist in the work of the Orthodox and Eastern Churches in the Middle East. Social and educational projects of these Churches were aided with a grant of $5, 000. This money went, in part, to a Greek Orthodox and to an Armenian Orthodox seminary in Lebanon.
The construction of a new Coptic Cathedral in Cairo was helped with a contribution of $500 and work among students of all Christian Churches aided with a grant of $1,500 toward the support of Gabriel Habib, a Greek Orthodox layman who serves as representative in the Near East of the World Student Christian Federation and of the Youth Department of the World Council of Churches.