I’ve been in Melbourne today to join Rev Dr Olav Tveit, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, in launching the website Living Stones: The Uniting Church and Palestine. 

If you follow my blog you might remember that this has been something of a journey. There were a few reflecting on the experience of leading a group of Uniting Church ministers to a conference in Jerusalem and a solidarity visit in Palestine: Monuments and living stones, Holy rocks and living stones, We are all Gaza, and Still processing the Palestinian experience. I blogged from last year’s 14th Assembly on the Proposal on Palestine, and also from the NCCA Forum in June this year on Australian churches remembering Palestine. I made some more personal connections with reflections on what it means to live on stolen land in The mission of the land. And, no doubt, I’ll have more to say out loud as time goes on.

It was a good day today. A milestone for the work of the 14th Assembly. But the struggle still has a long way to go. So have a look at the website. Sign on for further information. And pray this with me (from the downloadable brochure on the site):

God of grace and reconciliation, pour your power upon all your people in the Holy Land: Jews, Muslims and Christians, Palestinians and Israelis.

Let hatred be turned into love, fear to trust, despair to hope, oppression to freedom,occupation to liberation, that conflict, violence and suffering may be replaced by peace and justice for all.

AMEN.