Two PC(USA) leaders speak at Understanding Christian Zionism conference in Jordan

LOUISVILLE — Two members of the PC(USA)’s national staff were among those to speak last week at the International Consultation on Understanding Christian Zionism and Its Effects on Christians in the Middle East.

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The conference, which concluded Monday, was held at the Baptism Site in Bethany Beyond the Jordan, an archeological World Heritage Site in Jordan on the east bank of the Jordan River, which is reputed to be the place where John baptized Jesus.

The conference is under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, Chief Advisor to His Majesty (Abdullah II of Jordan) for Religious and Cultural Affairs and the Personal Envoy; Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem; and the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan.

Sara Lisherness, Deputy Executive Director for Mission Programs in the Interim Unified Agency, and Luciano Kovacs, World Mission’s Area Coordinator of the Middle East Europe Office, were both invited to address conference-goers.

Lisherness was invited to bring greetings before the conference’s closing dinner.
Kovacs called his talk “Confronting Christian Zionism: A Commitment of the PC(USA).”
“I want to acknowledge and commend the untiring work of our Palestinian partners to educate and help mobilize our constituents,” Kovacs said.

Kovacs noted that “On Confessing Our Complicity in Christian Zionism,” approved by the 226th General Assembly (2024), “came exactly 20 years after the first overture on this topic became official policy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

“Our stance was strengthened by the passage of the new resolution, which not only refutes Christian Zionism as a viable theology, but confesses complicity with it,” Kovacs said. The most recent overture calls for a study document that will, in part, look at “the growing understanding of settler colonialism with reference to the Doctrine of Discovery — rather than a conflict and occupation — showing how mainline Christians and those in other faiths are complicit, though unaware of connections with Christian Zionism.”

In 2016, the 222nd General Assembly called on the church to confess its complicity and repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery. The more recent creation of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms is significant because “the work of repair is preceded by acknowledging one’s complicity, and, in this case, of the religious tradition involved,” Kovacs said. “Our past endeavors have dehumanized people, whether African Americans, Indigenous people or other marginalized communities.”

Grassroots engagement in the work of repair is crucial, Kovacs said. “Grassroots engagement will continue to be important in the next couple of years as the implementation of the renewed policy on Christian Zionism” unfolds. The 2024 overture “calls for education across the board to clarify the distinction between the State of Israel and biblical Israel, which is too often conflated, as well as in liturgies, hymns and prayers.” 

A PC(USA) working group was established last year, Kovacs noted, “with the purpose of promoting education across the church on this topic.” Webinars featuring the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb and the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac helped participants focus on questions including, “Are we a church that cares for the poor and the oppressed, or are we an ‘empire church,’” Kovacs said.

“As in many similar justice-seeking processes, the biggest challenge is how such work promotes change for the people who are affected by oppressive ideologies and theologies,” Kovacs said. “Over the last 20 years, the PC(USA) has seen radical changes in its policies, but mainline and U.S. evangelical Christianity have often upheld the Christian Zionist discourse in both its theological and political views.”

Kovacs quoted the Rev. Marietta Macy, a co-moderator of the Palestine Justice Network of the PC(USA): “We need to do systemic unpacking and untangling of theology that keeps people hungry and imprisoned. Christian Zionism is a theology that does that. It closes down and divides us from each other and from opening our hearts in an expansive theological way that recognizes the Divine and all of Creation.”

Kovacs said the PC(USA) “is committed to doing this work in solidarity with our Palestinian partners and in cooperation with those who are together in the struggle. Being here this week is a witness to that responsibility.” The PC(USA) has an online resource that offers arguments debunking Christian Zionism, lists ways Presbyterians and others can inform themselves and engage in advocacy efforts and act for justice in the region, Kovacs notes.

“Together with Palestinian partners, PC(USA) will work with global institutions such as the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Council for World Mission to plan two global conferences,” Kovacs said — one in Indonesia and the other on the African continent. “We are encouraged and galvanized,” he said, “that our highest governing body has approved funding for these events.”

According to Kovacs, future work confronting and fighting Christian Zionism will include:
•    Strengthening ecumenical work to confront Christian Zionism in the U.S. and globally
•    Engaging more fully with young adults who “are eager to be on the forefront of the struggle for Palestinian justice”
•    Planning joint “come and see visits” with global partners whose members have not experienced trips to Palestine
•    Engaging Palestinian artists with artists “in our contexts”
•    Continuing to provide space “in our midst to allow the voice of our Palestinian partners to be amplified in our churches and society.”

According to a conference news release, academic experts and global religious leaders from 17 countries participated in the conference, in addition to the heads of churches from Jerusalem and Jordan. The gathering was organized under the auspices of local churches, emphasizing the importance of listening to Middle Eastern Christians rather than merely discussing them.