The Baptist Times weekly since 1855 November 1 2007 • 80p • No 8199www.baptisttimes.co.uk

celebrate Heaven on earth is right here • p13

holiday Report back from Bulgaria • p17

martin turner debates with atheists - P5

Arsonists strike at Jerusalem Baptists

Protests over unbearable climate chaos

By DANIEL GROTE

A JERUSALEM Baptist church once burned to the ground by Jewish extremists has again been hit by arsonists, in an attack the church fears could have come from a similar group. Firebugs hit the Jerusalem Baptist Center last week, causing up to £10,000 worth of damage to the building, home to four different congregations. The church has been left badly smoke-damaged following the attack, with expensive damage to wiring and the building’s air conditioning system. In 1982, ultra-Orthodox Jews burned down the US Southern Baptist-owned building, now shared by a number of congregations, including Messianic Jews and Russian Christians. Minister the Revd Charles Kopp told The Baptist Times that an extremist attack was a possible explanation for the recent arson. ‘Every society has its extremist fanatics, and the Middle East is hardly short of them,’ he said. ‘We all still need to learn the lessons of tolerance and to accept the different among us,’ he added. Mr Kopp said that the attack had come ‘as a complete surprise’ and that the church had not received any prior threats from extremists in the local area. ‘Everyone really gets along really well here – people respect us and we have good neighbourly

connections,’ he said. He praised Jewish neighbours of the church who alerted the emergency services to the fire, as well as the rabbi of a neighbouring Jewish congregation who had offered the church use of his building. Meanwhile, the Revd Viktor Blum, pastor of the Russianspeaking congregation which meets in the church, said he was not surprised by the attack. ‘We have been receiving threats for years,’ he said, adding that leaflets had been distributed in the local area describing the congregation as a ‘dangerous threat’ bent on converting Jews to Christianity. The minister, head of a 100member congregation, has vowed not to be intimidated by the attack, pledging to continue to meet for worship as normal in the building. Israel’s foreign ministry, which has been in regular contact with the church since the attack, said that it was shocked and dismayed at the attack, and called for ‘every effort to apprehend those responsible and bring them to justice’. ‘The Foreign Ministry expresses solidarity with the members of the Baptist congregation at this painful time and its readiness to help in any way needed,’ it said in a statement. ‘The freedom of religion and worship are among the cornerstones of the State of Israel, and Israel will not allow any extremist elements to harm these freedoms.’ Although there is antagonism

between extreme orthodox Jewish groups and Christians in Israel, attacks on churches throughout the country are rare, as most congregations are located in predominantly Arab areas. Where churches are to be found in Jewish areas, however, attacks on congregations by ultra-nationalist Jewish groups are more common, according to Bader Mansour, general secretary of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel. Such ultra-Orthodox groups are angered by what they see as efforts to convert Jews to Christianity, with Messianic Jewish congregations coming under particular attack. ‘They see Messianic Jews in a very negative way – as people who have left their heritage and their history,’ said Mr Mansour. Evangelical Christian groups have also come under suspicion in the eyes of orthodox Jewish groups, who suspect them of seeking to convert Jewish people. Such tensions have been particularly evident in Jerusalem, where an annual Feast of Tabernacles parade organised by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which attracts up to 7,000 Christians from around the world, recently came under fire from Jewish leaders. A subcommittee of Israel’s top religious authority, the Chief Rabbinate, issued a ruling banning Jews from taking part in the parade, citing suspicions of missionary efforts by some of the Christian participants.

Picture: N ick Cobbing / Stop Cl im ate Chaos

Protest – Climate change campaigners made an unusual attempt to grab the Government’s attention this week

By TOM RICHES

POLAR bears were sighted on the streets of London on Monday as campaigners staged an unusual bid to grab the Government’s attention over the issue of climate change. Protestors dressed as polar bears were part of a delegation visiting Downing Street which handed over 150,000 petition cards calling for more action on climate change. The delegation was part of Stop Climate Chaos’s I-Count campaign, which gathered the signatures during a six month campaign across the country. Anita Payne, a member of Hawkshead Hill Baptist Church who has worked with Tearfund in Malawi and Liberia, was part of the delegation that called on the prime minister.

‘Poor communities around the world are already at the sharp end of climate change, with flooded homes, increasingly barren and drought-hit land,’ she said. ‘We need to be good stewards of God’s earth and good neighbours to each other, not pushing poorer people into deeper poverty but living more sustainably, for everyone’s benefit.’ The visit came as environment secretary Hilary Benn announced changes to the proposed climate change bill which would commit the Government to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. Tearfund and Christian Aid welcomed the new bill but warned that the changes it envisaged did not go far enough towards meeting the challenges ahead.