As missile attacks continue, Jerusalem Anglicans offer online worship, voice concern for those without bomb shelters

A June 13 photo taken from St. George’s College in Jerusalem shows St. George’s Cathedral and other nearby buildings. Photo: Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] In the wake of missile attacks that began June 13 between Israel and Iran, Anglicans in Jerusalem have provided online worship and voiced ongoing concern for employees, those without access to bomb shelters, and fellow Christians in Iran.

At St. George’s Cathedral, Archbishop Hosam Naoum presided over an online Sunday service of Holy Eucharist on June 15 without worshipers present, “due to the current situation and abiding by the regulations of the local authorities,” a Facebook post said. The service was broadcast on the cathedral’s Facebook page.

The dean of St. George’s College, the Very Rev. Richard Sewell, preached the sermon. In it he noted that war was “bringing danger and fear to many millions in our region,” while recalling that early Christians also suffered “life-threatening jeopardy.” Paul’s letter that brought “courageous and reassuring words to the Christian community in Rome” is a reminder of the “strength of the Christian faith to give steel in the face of all challenges.”

On June 16, St. George’s College offered a message on its Facebook page that described how the back-and-forth missile attacks between the two nations have affected those who work there.

Titled “a wartime message” and “written with advisable caution as required,” it notes that staff have had to use the secure basement bomb shelter on the close, both during the day and at night, several times daily since missiles began falling on June 13. The close is the property that includes the cathedral, its guest house, St. George’s College and offices of the Diocese of Jerusalem.

But before people even get to the shelter, “we can see missiles in the sky being intercepted by the defense system and we can feel/hear windows and sometimes the ground shake.”

The college said it remains worried about its staff who mostly live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where they may not have no access to bomb shelters when they are at home.

The message noted, “Iran is also part of our Anglican Province and Archbishop Hosam has jurisdiction, so we also feel great concern for civilians in Iran and especially for the vulnerable Christians there.”

“We feel for everyone who has been impacted and is in a situation of real danger. We pray for an end and a commitment to a negotiated settlement,” the statement said.

The Rev. Don Binder, an American priest who serves as canon pastor to the cathedral’s English-speaking congregation and as chaplain to the archbishop, in the early hours of June 14 posted on his Facebook page that “after the third barrage at 1 a.m., we were able to go back to bed for the night. All are safe on the St. George’s Cathedral close.”

Later that day he reported that Jerusalem’s Old City – home to the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock Islamic shrine and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – mostly was on lockdown. The only open gate allowed access to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall.

— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.