Maryland Clergy Initiative heads to Israel with Interfaith Group of Leading Clergy
Maryland Clergy Initiative heads to Israel with Interfaith Group of Leading Clergy. The Maryland Clergy Initiative, co-sponsored by the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies and the Baltimore Jewish Council, is a year-long study and travel program. We began in April 2010, will travel to the Middle East November 14-22, 2010, and then after our return will have additional meetings through the Spring 2011. The program brings together a remarkable and diverse group of Jewish and Christian clergy and scholars. We explore the challenges of religious and ethnic diversity in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and compare and contrast these dynamics with some of the core difficulties confronting the United States. We are convinced that the adjudication of conflicts in the Middle East has enormous bearing on the struggles within our society, within our interfaith community, within our denominations, and within our own congregations. By learning together with other clergy and scholars, we intend to forge a coalition of religious leaders who can address pressing national and international issues.
The primary goals of the program are to:
• Develop an interfaith clergy community to take an active role in bringing their congregations into working partnerships with their religious and ethnic neighbors.
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Educate clergy about the religious and political issues relevant to the contemporary Middle East, most especially the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
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Create a forum that brings new understandings and challenges to our respective religious communities, equips participants to appreciate divergent points of view, and helps us work together in and beyond Greater Baltimore.
Follow along with the group's travels through daily updates on the MCI Blog!