In January 2013 the Honoraria Fund provided nine scholarships for students from Beit Sahour to go to Bethlehem University.  This is an annual part of our Tree of Life ministry. We are grateful to both the Mission Board of the Old Lyme Congregational Church and to individuals who have made generous contributions to the Tree of Life Honoraria Fund. Without this generosity, these scholarships would not be possible!

Consider a contribution to our Tree of Life Honoraria Fund, a fund that we use to support those organizations in the occupied territories and Israel that are working toward a just and peaceful future for us all. We like to think of these organizations as “parables of hope” and in our annual Tree of Life journeys we’ve had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the excellent work that they do.  Read the rest of this entry »

Closing remarks by David W. Good | Old Lyme Tree of Life Conference – November 4, 2012

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of this church’s engagement on this issue, a journey that began shortly after the tragedy of 9/11.

After that fateful Tuesday morning one of our church’s governing boards met, and we asked ourselves how we should respond, and one of things we resolved was that we needed to redouble our efforts to strengthen our interfaith community, to be not only in ecumenical relationship with other Christian traditions and denominations, but also we felt we needed to deepen our relationship with those of other faith identities. Little did we know then that one really cannot have an authentic – an authentic conversation — with our Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbors without ultimately coming to the tough and oftentimes painful issue of Israel and Palestine. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the statement offered by Tamer H. N. Alshouri of Beit Sahour in the Occupied Territory of Palestine. Tamer was one of our Bridges of Hope musicians who performed at the 2011 Tree of Life Conference.

The aim of the occupier, generally, is to confiscate the land, the natural resources and to abolish the language and culture of the occupied people.  Coming from one of the longest occupations in the history, I’ve seen that culture is the only means to keep people together and to resist the occupier with non-violent means.  This is our form of resistance—choosing to hold onto our culture through art, food, history, literature and music.

Today we are gathered here, and we thank you for welcoming us to share our culture through our music. Read the rest of this entry »

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001 our church’s Board of Deacons met, and we asked ourselves how we should respond. One of the things we resolved was that we needed to redouble our efforts to strengthen our interfaith community. Little did we know then that discussions with our Jewish and Muslim neighbors would lead us right into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, taking us on nine annual “Tree of Life Journeys”to Israel and the occupied territories in which over 200 have participated. These journeys, in turn, have led to five annual interfaith conferences in which we have tried to amplify the voices of conscience of Israelis and Palestinians— Jews, Christians and Muslims— who have been working for a just and peaceful resolution to what they often refer to as “the American-Israeli occupation.

Reverend David W. Good of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme in Connecticut shares the church’s experiences in the June/July 2011 issue of “The Link,” a newsletter published by Americans for Middle East Understanding, Inc. Click here to read the complete article: TheLink_vol44_issue3_2011