CMJ UK letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding Kairos II

Before Church of England voted on the declaration by Palestinian Christians, Rev. Aaron Eime, British trustees called synod to include Jewish believers in conversation

On July 12, 2026, the Church of England Synod voted to stand in solidarity with Palestinian Christians and ‘hear’ their voices as recorded in the Kairos Palestine declarations. 

Before the synod, CMJ UK* sent a letter to Archbishop Sarah Mullally, all bishops, and all synod delegates. CMJ UK leadership expressed that while it was important for Palestinian Christian voices to be heard, they should not be listened to in isolation. “We were surprised that papers intended to shape the Church's theological engagement with Israel and Palestine appear to have been prepared without consultation, so far as we are aware, with CMJ, Jewish believers in Jesus, Israeli Christians, Hebrew-speaking congregations, or others whose experience forms an equally important part of the Church's witness,” the letter states, calling for the Church to “reflect the breadth of faithful Christian concern on these questions.”

The letter goes on to say:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself born a Jew, looked upon Jerusalem with compassion and wept over the city. His ministry united truth with mercy and called His followers to become ministers of the gospel of peace. We believe that same spirit should guide the Church's witness today.

We therefore respectfully ask that future theological work on Israel, Palestine and the Holy Land be informed by broader consultation with Palestinian Christian leaders, Jewish believers in Jesus, Israeli Christians, representatives of the Jewish community, Anglican theologians from differing traditions, and organisations [sic] such as CMJ, whose historic vocation has been to strengthen understanding between the Church and the Jewish people.

[Read the whole letter]

CMJ stance on the Palestinian people

In 2004, during the Second Intifada, CMJ issued our Statement on the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Two articles – 14 and 10 – are relevant to this current conversation:

• CMJ affirms that God is a God of compassion. We should show that compassion to all innocent sufferers, whether Israeli or Palestinian. The Ministry recognizes that the Israelis, after 2000 years of antisemitism, face a resurgence of anti-Semitism, a military threat from various nations, Palestinian terrorism and a threat to the stability of their safe homeland through demographic factors. It also recognizes that many Palestinians have lost their ancestral homes and continue to experience military occupation. Sometimes they suffer unjustified oppression, humiliation, violence and the destruction of their homes. They also experience economic disaster and lack of infrastructure, partly through Israeli policies and partly through the failures of the Palestinian Authority. [To the last point, I would append ‘and the failures of Hamas,’ which has ruled Gaza since 2007.]
  
  
• CMJ recognizes the tragic displacement of many Palestinian people, with all its attendant pain and deprivation, which resulted from the re-establishment of the State of Israel and the subsequent attack on the new state by the surrounding countries. It also recognizes the similar displacement of Jewish people from Arab nations.

We at CMJ are heartbroken over the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians during the two-and-half-year Israel-Hamas War. And we have worked – especially through the Mercy Fund and Derech Avraham – to minister among both Jews and Arabs during this time. As article 5 of our conflict statement says,

CMJ has never limited its ministry in an exclusive way to Jewish people, nor does it wish to do so. The primary purpose of the Ministry is to share the love of Jesus with the Jewish people, but it also works for reconciliation between all people (especially between Israeli Jewish Believers and Israeli Arabs, between Israelis and Palestinians; Jewish people and Gentiles) because that is a demand which comes from the heart of the Gospel, for God loves all people equally. This means that he loves the Israelis and the Palestinians equally. God’s purpose in creating one new man out of Jew and Gentile is part of his greater purpose through Christ to reconcile to himself all things (Eph 2:15-16; Col 1:20).

Mercy Fund

Christ Church's Mercy Fund is a team of Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, seeking the practical welfare of the peoples in the land, people of all faiths, nationalities, and ethnicities by strengthening individuals, families and communities through professional and holistic assistance.

The Mercy Fund ministers through two projects:

• Program for Equity: Legal, Economic & Social (PELES). PELES's aim is to level the path to justice for those who do not have equal access to public services and bureaucratic procedures, nor the means to exhaust their rights, due to low income and/or personal/national crisis, especially for those who “fall between the cracks,” and to complement the Governmental or Non-Governmental aid agencies. 
  
  Socio-legal aid is the incorporation of legal aid and social work, where lawyers and community workers provide integrated services to the disadvantaged, enhancing justice accessibility, social functioning and interventions, in order to improve people's lives. 
  
  Given the constant increase in the cost of living, and the ongoing armed conflict, many in the land become less and less privileged and live under the poverty line. PELES provides essential humanitarian aid in a personal way, ensuring the dignity of the beneficiaries, while also enabling relational care and the possibility to look for tools to help the beneficiaries rise above the poverty line through available resources. Offering services to individuals and families.
  
  
• Development, Education, Reconciliation, Empowerment, Culture, Healing (DERECH). DERECH's aim is to make a way to strengthen minority groups in the land and equip community members and leaders with helpful knowledge and tools for their development, integration in society, and cultural preservation.
  
  DERECH encourages community engagement through supporting initiatives led by members of the community themselves, assisting them with resources-networking, coaching and training for leaders & organizations. DERECH also creates opportunities for partnerships between different groups and initiatives, intentionally encouraging reconciliation through practical action.
  
  DERECH empowers women, men, youth and children through language lessons, workshops, vocational trainings, and self-help groups. It promotes awareness and education in areas of civil rights, domestic violence, sexual harassment, professional ethics, among other topics. through lectures and written/audio materials. Offering services to the community

Contact mercyfund@cmj-israel.org  for up to date reports on the work of the Mercy Fund.

Derech Avraham

Derech Avraham (Abraham’s Journey) brings Muslim background believers in Jesus, Messianic Jews , Middle-Eastern Christians and internationals working on the ground in the Middle East together for the specific purpose of encouraging believing communities beyond the strategy of survival and the nationalist church mentality to a view of the region that reflects the Isaiah 19 Highway and the Kingdom of God.

The goal is to facilitate a reunion of Isaac & Ishmael – the nations of the Middle East – that will build a highway to bless the nations.

Read more at derechavraham.org.

* The Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People has been an Anglican organization nearly from its start in 1809. CMJ USA is an affiliate ministry of the Anglican Church in North America, which is not under the authority of the Church of England but is part of the broader Anglican world. CMJ UK continues to be an official ministry of the Church of England. Many of our clergy across 11 countries are ordained within some Anglican expression.