August 22, 2025
Bishop-elect Imad Haddad was in Galveston for a wedding this week and graciously agreed to meet with some of our clergy and lay leaders at First Lutheran Church. I am grateful for the hospitality of Pastor Richard Rhoades and Deacon Brandi Painter.
Bishop-elect Haddad spoke eloquently of the challenges faced by Christians in the Holy Land. In 1948, Christians made up 10% of the Holy Land. I recall on my last visit to the Holy Land, Christians made up 2% of the population. Today they make up less than 1% of the population.
Palestinian Christians have been squeezed considerably over the last 80 years, as illustrated by this well-known map:
Currently, there are many Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territory. recently the voted to annex more land in a swath that will divide the West Bank.
Many believe the two state solution is no longer an option given the facts on the ground. No, one country, with two peoples, and three religions seems to be the only way forward. This cannot be a theocracy. It must be a democracy with equal rights for all.
Bishop-elect Haddad is a Palestinian Christian who was raised in Beit Jala, currently serves a church in Amman Jordan, and as soon to become the bishop of a church that is based at Redeemer Lutheran in the Old City of Jerusalem. As a Palestinian, he is not allowed to drive in Jerusalem. It is uncertain if he will be given authorization. He has to pass through multiple checkpoints to move from church to church, in Palestine alone.
Here is a map of Israeli checkpoints in the Palestinian West Bank:
A checkpoint may take five minutes, or it may take three hours. He has his work cut out for him. His first job will be to secure and is really hard for himself, his wife, and his two daughters. Then he needs to find a pastor to replace him in Amman.
Currently there are over 10,000 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. Thousands more are in military camps. One third are in administrative detention, which means they are held without charges or trial. Church members are detained and the families often need emotional and material support.
With 20,000 children dead in Gaza, the school systems completely destroyed, cultural heritage sites gone, he fears the anger and resentment will worsen. An entire generation of children has been wiped out.
The narrative in U.S. evangelicalism that seeks to equate the covenant people of Israel in the Old Testament with the modern government of Israel is misguided and dangerous. No government is above scrutiny or error, as the prophets of the Bible attest in their critiques of their own governments and rulers.
His urgent plea was for us all to find one another’s humanity. He holds out hope for a new reality. Christians in the Holy Land will not give up. They will continue to pray and work for peace.
Thank you, Bishop-elect Haddad, for sharing the honest realities of your situation and your commitment to this work.
Bishop-elect Haddad went to seminary in Lebanon and at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina (now in Hickory, North Carolina). His doctorate is in public theology from United Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Links:
A Message from Bishop-elect Haddad to the ELCIC.
The ordination of Sally Azar, the first local Lutheran woman pastor
