United Methodists are responding to Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth ,a statement of faith and urgent call to action from Christians in Palestine. UMKR seeks, through nonviolent means and in partnership with Palestinian Christians, freedom, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis.
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UMKR’s 10th Anniversary Celebration
Wednesday, 18 November 2020
10am PT, 1pm ET (US, Canada) / 6pm UTC / 8pm Palestine
Ten years ago, diverse United Methodists from many annual conferences discovered they weren’t alone in their desire to see their church take concrete actions to support the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom, equality and justice. In October 2010, roughly two dozen laity and clergy, most of whom had never met, gathered in Elmhurst, Illinois to plan how they would move the United Methodist Church take meaningful action that could make an impact, such as divestment from businesses that were enabling and profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
In the Kairos Palestine Document, launched less than a year before, Christians in Palestine had called out for just such actions, asking their fellow Christians in the global Church “Can you help us get our freedom back?” The word Kairos means "the right time" and implies that now is the opportune moment for change. The founders of UMKR embraced the Kairos Palestine call in their identity and purpose.
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR) has grown over the years and continues to be a strong voice in leading the denomination to put actions to its words. There have been boycotts, church divestment actions, and multiple resolutions passed in annual conferences and at General Conferences. We maintain an enormous website, an active Google Group, regular action alerts and informative newsletters. We travel, we write, we speak, we sponsor events, we lead groups to Palestine, we connect with Palestinian Christians and Muslims in our local communities, we work with other partner organization, and so much more.
It’s time to celebrate UMKR!
Join our founding members, our past co-chairs, current Steering Committee members and special guests as we join together in a brief time of worship, then reflect on our struggles, our victories, and the relationships we've established.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW.
Below that, see links shared in the Chat during the celebration.
Resources Webinar
LINKS SHARED DURING OUR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Articles by Alex Awad at UMKR’s website:
https://www.kairosresponse.org/alex_awad.html
The full video “Bethlehem” (a portion shown in the celebration):
Longer version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFAsXjqzxR8&t=12s
Shorter version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnVxykNxxiU&t=4s
The BDS Movement website:
https://bdsmovement.net
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel,
volunteer program:
https://eappi.us https://eappi.org
Holy Land Travel webinar
https://www.kairosresponse.org/webinar_8july2020_responsibletourism.html
All UMKR-MFSA 2020 webinars
https://www.kairosresponse.org/webinars.html
Our General Conference 2021 resolutions
https://www.kairosresponse.org/gc2020_resolutions_resources.html
#BoycottPillsbury Campaign
https://www.boycottpillsbury.org
UMKR Donations
https://www.kairosresponse.org/donate.html
"From the Heart" UMKR 2016 video - UMC Holy Land Missionaries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKb8SYVB8KQ&t=4s
Scroll down the page to see the video.