Christmas is a time when we think about the land of the Bible. We hear readings and sing carols that name Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem. These are places that are familiar to billions of Christians, whether they have visited them or not. But we should not romanticise them - and especially not this Christmas.Last week, leaders of churches in Jerusalem raised an unprecedented and urgent alarm call. In a joint statement, they said Christians throughout the Holy Land have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups.In a joint statement they described “countless incidents” of physical and verbal assaults against priests and other clergy, and attacks on Christian churches. They spoke of holy sites regularly vandalized and desecrated, and ongoing intimidation of local Christians as they go about their worship and daily lives.The Romanian Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem was vandalized during Lent in March this year, the fourth attack on that holy place in a single month. During Advent last December, someone lit a fire in the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsamene, the place where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified. Usually a place of pilgrimage for Christians from around the world, it’s thought the vandal took advantage of the lack of visitors due to the pandemic.These tactics are being used by such radical groups “in a systematic attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land”, the Jerusalem church leaders said in their statement. It is for this reason that when you speak with Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem today you will often hear this cry: “In fifteen years’ time, there’ll be none of us left!”This crisis takes place against a century-long decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land. In 1922, at the end of the Ottoman Era, Christians in the Holy Land were estimated to number 73,000; about 10% of the population. In 2019, Christians constituted less than 2% of the population of the Holy Land: a massive drop in just 100 years.In Israel, there is some increase in the overall numbers of Christians. The imminent reopening of St Peter’s Anglican Church in Jaffa, which has been closed for over 70 years, is encouraging.But in East Jerusalem, the central place for pilgrimage and the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - where Christ is believed to have been crucified - there is steady decline. Church leaders believe that there are now fewer than 2,000 Christians left in the Old City of Jerusalem.This is the land that 2.5 billion Christians worldwide recognise as the birthplace of the church. Yet Christians, who have been a continuous presence there for over 2,000 years, are too often obscured and even forgotten beneath the competing perceptions of the geopolitics of the Middle East. The Christian presence punches above the weight of its numbers.A recent study by the University of Birmingham estimates that the tourism industry generated by the Christian heritage of the Holy Land brings over $3 billion into the region’s economy. The Palestinian Christian population is a highly educated population that contributes beyond its numbers to high-tech industries, hospitals and church-based schools. Christians are good news for the region!Christians in Israel enjoy democratic and religious freedoms that are a beacon in the region. But the escalation of physical and verbal abuse of Christian clergy, and vandalism of holy sites by fringe, radical groups, are a concerted attempt to intimidate and drive them away.Meanwhile the growth of settler communities, and travel restrictions brought about by the Separation Wall, have deepened the isolation of Christian villages and curtailed economic and social possibilities. All of these factors have contributed to a steady stream of Palestinian Christians leaving the Holy Land to seek lives and livelihoods elsewhere - a historic tragedy unfolding in real time.It does not have to be this way. This trend can be reversed - but action must be taken fast. We encourage governments and authorities in the region to listen to church leaders in their midst: To engage in the practical conversations that will lead to vital Christian culture and heritage being guarded and sustained. The time for action is now!Over the Advent period, it’s tempting to be seduced by cosy visions of the Christmas story - twinkling stars, exotic visitors, a painless birth of a baby who doesn’t cry. The reality would have been much different: this is a story of God’s embrace of humanity in all its messiness.The first Christmas tells us of God coming into our world among ordinary lives of human struggle. It foregrounds a refugee family, against the backdrop of a genocide of infants. There’s not much about lullabies and cuddly farm animals.So let’s get real this Christmas. When we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, or “Once in Royal David’s City”, let’s hear the voice of the church of the Holy Land - and thank them for their gift to all of us. Let’s pray for their flourishing and their future: a future intertwined with the future prosperity and common good of all communities.Woven through the first Christian story is a message of hope and of good news for all people - a small light that can never be put out. Whatever your religion or belief, may you know the peace and joy of the Christ-child this Christmas. <em>The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury</em><em>The Most Revd Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem </em>
When I was a boy at Christmas, my dad used to love telling me a great story about Father Christmas. He’d say that he had a hole in his sack of presents and Smarties leaked out so you could tell where he had been around the house. On Christmas morning, I’d wake up giddy with excitement to not just a stocking at the end of my bed, but also a Smartie trail to follow. I’ve carried on this tradition with my own kids. And they will pass it on to theirs.However, there is another, even more exciting trail to follow. It also begins with a story.Just like all the great stories we love to share during this festive season, often around the dinner with our families, it is the truly life-changing story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The gift of God come down to earth.I’ve even had a go at writing my own version of this Christmas story. It’s called The Sleepy Shepherd. It’s about a shepherd who misses the story, but finds out years later what it was all about.For me the greatest joy of Christmas is sharing and hearing afresh the greatest story ever told. When we discover this story, we find that we are no longer able to think about God in the same way. God is no longer distant or separate. God is the down-to-earth God; the God with a human face. Christ is the beginning and the end of Christmas (there is a clue in the title!) and this gives substance to all the other things I love, such as the eating and drinking, the silly party games and the good company of those I love, and even all the other things I do around Christmas, such as visiting hospitals and prisons or simply decorating the Christmas tree or sending cards to those I won’t see but still love dearly.The end of the story isn’t actually the manger in Bethlehem. It is the hope that this child brings to the world.The story of the last couple of years has been incredibly difficult. It’s left many feeling of us feeling deeply uncertain, even hopeless. We want to hear a message telling us Covid is over. We want to gather freely with our friends and families. But we are not there yet.However, this Christmas hope does change things. It helps us see beyond ourselves. It shines out in the extraordinary goodness that I’ve seen in people this year, often ordinary people doing extraordinary things to love and support their neighbours.I love Christmas because it tells me that the world is more beautiful and more meaningful than I realised. It shows me I am loved. It shows me that there is hope.Mary says yes to God, and the world is changed. I love Christmas because it is my chance to say yes as well; to begin to build a better world.The master storyteller Charles Dickens - whose book A Christmas Carol millions will read and watch in various forms over this festive period - once wrote a book to fire up his own children’s imaginations about the story of Jesus Christ.In <em>The Life of Our Lord</em> he writes that ‘everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable.’It’s my prayer that everyone takes the opportunity this Christmas to explore and discover the gift of Jesus for themselves. The share it with others.May He bring you light and hope now and in the years to come.Happy Christmas!
Tonight (Monday) we're holding our final Advent course meeting at the home of Pam and David Walker, Chennels Cottage, The Green, Dunsfold at 7pm. if you can't be there you can join via this Zoom link::https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85491764781?pwd=WEtYcE12YmtFM0k3UzBtd1lLd1pwZz09
Our joint parish Holy Communion service on Sunday (December 19th) is at St Peter's Church, Hascombe at 10am.If you can't get there in person here's the Zoom link so you can join the service remotely:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81471245062?pwd=MVpjTmF2Nlo5bzhVL1RRTFBiY2VVZz09
