Churches for a Middle East Peace to Host 2008 Conference

Former Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI) addresses the 2007 CMEP conference.
Photo: Annie Lynsen

March 10, 2008

This is a crucial year for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Negotiations toward a viable two-state solution are more vital than ever, yet grave obstacles are continually placed in the way of progress.

In this volatile context, Churches for a Middle East Peace (CMEP), a Church World Service partner organization, will host a peace advocacy conference entitled "Calming the Storm: Middle East Peacemaking in a Turbulent Time,” April 20-22, 2008. The conference will be held in Washington, D.C., at the Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue, NE, and at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation.

People of faith from churches throughout the United States will be coming to Washington for this timely event. The conference will focus on opportunities for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking in the context of the broader regional dynamics and current Bush administration efforts. The program will begin on Sunday evening and conclude with meetings with Congressional offices on Tuesday.

The Sunday night opening plenary will feature Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Warren Clark, CMEP’s new Executive Director; and Maureen Shea, chair of CMEP’s Board of Directors and Director of the Washington Office of the Episcopal Church.

Distinguished religious leaders and policy experts will address plenary and workshop sessions on the topics of Regional Conflicts, Challenges and Solutions; Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking and the U.S. Role; Palestinian Christians; Israeli Political Dynamics; Sharing Jerusalem; Syria-Israeli Relations and the U.S. Role; Iran; Peacemaking by U.S. Evangelicals; Inter-religious Initiatives; a humanitarian update; grassroots organizing and legislative issues.

On Monday evening (April 21) there will be a special session for denominational gatherings. Tuesday, April 22 will be Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, in which conference participants will meet with their members of Congress and/or their staff aides.

Churches for Middle East Peace is a coalition of 21 public policy offices of national churches and agencies -- Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. Church World Service is a CMEP member organization and works closely with CMEP toward just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. CWS and CMEP advocate for the vision of a region where two viable states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side within secure and recognized borders, and the sharing of an undivided Jerusalem by the two peoples -- Israelis and Palestinians -- and by the three religious communities that call it sacred.

Registration and detailed information on the “Calming the Storm: Middle East Peacemaking in a Turbulent Time” conference is available at www.cmep.org/2008_conference/2008_conference_mainpage.htm .