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 Together with the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) observes Jerusalem and Holy Land Sunday annually on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. 

This Sunday, June 1 is an opportunity to lift up our partner churches in the region—The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.

“These are our partner churches. That means we have an ongoing relationship with them and a commitment to walk with them in times of joy and in times of adversity,” said ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson.

Bishop Johnson encourages churches and individuals to remain involved leading up to and after Jerusalem and the Holy Land Sunday. She invites the following three meaningful ways to do this:

1/ “Prayer is always No. 1,” she shared. “And that’s the main reason why we have this Sunday; it is an encouragement for people to pray for peace in Gaza, peace in the Holy Land. We want to pray for the Christian presence to be maintained because unfortunately with the difficult times, Christians are immigrating away from the Holy Land, and soon there will not be a very strong Christian presence there.

2/ No. 2 is to remain particularly observant of the news, so you can always direct what your prayers are for.

3/ and No. 3, be sure to watch for the letters that are being written by myself and other church leaders to advocate with our government to seek peace in Gaza. These are all things that I ask the ELCIC to consider doing for our partners in the ELCJHL.” 

You can read the full article on Jerusalem and Holy Land Sunday on the ELCIC website here.