Area Leaders Join Jewish Opposition To Church's Votes

The statement by Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Presbyterians' top official, that the General Assembly does not equate Israel's treatment of Palestinians with South Africa during apartheid has done little to quell the outcry. (Bruce Parker -- AP)

Andrews, whose church has shared worship space with Bethesda Jewish Congregation for 40 years, said she also shared the concern of Jewish leaders that messianic congregations such as Avodat Yisrael lure non-practicing or unsuspecting Jews with familiar symbols and rites of worship, then subtly convert them with a Christian message woven through their liturgy.

"There's a difference between evangelism and proselytizing," Andrews said.

The leader of the congregation, Andrew Sparks, 34, who said he attended an Orthodox synagogue as a child and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church three years ago, maintained that Avodat Yisrael does not proselytize and instead offers a welcoming place for other Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible.

Sparks said he believes a person can remain Jewish -- and dress and worship like a Jew -- and believe in Jesus. He said many Jews have done so while believing in other messiah figures: Bar Kochba, in the second century; Shabbetai Zvi, in the 17th century; and Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, in the 20th century.

But his congregation, he said, does not belong to Jews for Jesus or subscribe to its methods of evangelism. "We don't engage in proselytization," he said. "We welcome people to come and worship with us, but we don't go on the streets or door-to-door or send out mailings to the Jewish community."

Last week, Sparks sided with Jewish leaders in condemning the divestment resolution.

"As the only Messianic Jewish community in relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA), Congregation Avodat Yisrael urges the denomination to pursue justice for both Palestinians and Jews and to abandon policies that target one party in the conflict," Sparks wrote in a lengthy statement on the congregation's Web site.

Avodat Yisrael is "saddened by the implications for Jewish-Christian relations," he wrote, adding that the use of economic sanctions "invites comparison between Israel and South Africa," despite the assurance of Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Presbyterians' top official, in an online statement July 20 that "the assembly has not asserted any moral equivalency" between the two countries.

But William Somplatsky-Jarman, a national Presbyterian Church (USA) staff member who works with a committee that monitors corporate behavior, said the church is following the same procedure it has used on numerous occasions to bring pressure to bear on corporations involved in activities of which it disapproves.

When instructed to investigate a particular situation, he said, such as the General Assembly's call for divestment in Israel, the 12-person Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee goes through a list of hundreds of corporations in its $7 billion investment portfolio to determine whether any might be involved.

Those companies most involved are asked to change their policies and, if they do not or cannot, the name goes on a potential divestment list that must be approved by the General Assembly, he said.

The church helped spearhead the anti-apartheid effort, which spread to other denominations and which included some Jewish groups. The Presbyterian Church divested itself of interests in Chevron, Texaco, Mobil, General Motors, Ford and Control Data Corp., among other companies, Somplatsky-Jarman said. The church has ongoing policies against purchasing tobacco and alcohol stock, along with certain military products, such as land mines and nuclear armaments.

Its last divestment resolution came four years ago when it unloaded stock of an oil company operating in Sudan, he said.

Regarding Israel, he said, the committee plans to look at U.S. companies most directly involved in supporting Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in Gaza and supplying military and security support for Israeli forces.