Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth: Four-Week Congregational Study Plan

Kairos Palestine is the Christian Palestinian’s word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. Its importance stems from the sincere expression of Palestinian Christian concerns for their people and their view of the moment of history they are living through. It is deeply committed to Jesus’ way of love and nonviolence even in the face of entrenched injustice. It seeks to be prophetic in addressing things as they are, without equivocation. It is a contemporary, ecumenical confession of faith and call to action. Its tone and its theology echo similar Christian manifestos written in times of crisis, e.g., at the rise of Nazism (Barmen Declaration, 1934), during the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.A. (Letter from the Birmingham Jail, 1963), and amidst the struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa (Kairos Document, 1985). This appeal was drafted and endorsed by a broad coalition of Palestinian Christian leaders–Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and evangelical.

This lesson plan is organized around three major sections of Kairos Palestine:

• Week One, Faith, Hope, and Love (sections 2, 3, 4 and 10);
• Week Two, the effects on Palestinians of Israeli military occupation (section 1);
• Week Three, the call to action addressed to various groups (sections 5-9).
• Week Four opens conversation about specific actions and invites prayers for peace.

(4 sessions)