Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing

UUCWC Rev. Charles Stephens returned April 1 from a peacemaking mission to Israel and Palestine. Rev. Stephens was one of 20 Philadelphia-area religious and spiritual leaders invited to take part in the Delaware Valley Interfaith Delegation to Israel/Palestine, a group of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and UU clergy and lay leaders trained in compassionate listening.

During an extraordinary 9 day journey to Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tekoa, Al Arroub, Beit Jala, Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, and Neve Shalom-Wahat as-Salaam, the delegation listened to politicians, peacemakers, academics, settlers, refugees, religious and secular leaders, as well as victims of the conflict. Their mission upon returning: to tell what they heard.

At his May 25 and June 1, 2008, sermons, Rev. Stephens told stories of passion, pain, persistence, possibilities, and peace that he encountered during his mission. The trip was conducted under the auspices of the Seattle-based Compassionate Listening Project, which teaches that “An enemy is someone whose story has not been heard.”

Crossing Borders: An Interfaith Visit to Israel and Palestine