First Christian Palestinian woman ordained in the Holy Land
THE Rda. Sally Azar became the first Palestinian Christian woman to be ordained in the Holy Land on Sunday, during a service at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City. Ms. Azar will serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan. She was born and raised in Jerusalem, and earned a BA in theology from the Near Eastern School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2019. Last year, she completed an MA in International Theology at Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen. and Hermannsburg, Germany. She also served at Evangelische Johanneskirche Frohnau, in Germany, and is involved in the international Lutheran community, serving as a board member of the Lutheran World Federation and on the board of directors of ACT Alliance. In a congratulatory letter, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Professor Dr. Jerry Pillay, said: “We rejoice with the Lutheran Church and with the people of the Middle East and the Holy Land in particular at this important consecration. of your spiritual and ecclesial leadership”.
USA cries after three mass shootings
The US Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rev. John Harvey Taylor, has asked for prayers and support for the people of Monterey Park, California, where 11 people were shot to death Saturday during Lunar New Year holiday celebrations. The suspect, Huu Can Tran, 72, reportedly opened 42 rounds of fire at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where he once taught; he then shot and killed himself after fleeing the scene in his truck. “Let us pray that, by the grace and wisdom of our God in Christ, we can rededicate ourselves to advocating for meaningful steps to reduce the risk of gun violence,” Bishop Taylor wrote in a Facebook post. “Measures that would help a little, saving a few lives, would be priceless gifts to every family spared the burden of grief.” Just a few days later, on Tuesday, there was another mass shooting in the coastal city of Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, where a man shot dead seven former co-workers. The suspect, Chunli Zhao, 66, was arrested after driving to a police station. Last week, six people, including a teenage mother and a baby, were killed at a property in Goshen, central California.
