Corrected Story PCUSA leaders, members of Mideast group apologize An earlier version of this story was based partially on a Presbyterian News Service story that said Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase and General Assembly Council Executive Director John Detterick had apologized for saying the comments by Ron Stone to Hezbollah were "reprehensible." The denomination's News Service said the three denominational leaders "apologized for a post-visit statement they issued denouncing the visit and calling Stone's comments 'reprehensible.'" But the text of their letter to members of the delegation to the Mideast included no such apology for their use of the term "reprehensible." The Layman Online regrets its error and has revised its story, which was originally titled "PCUSA leaders back off their earlier denouncement of pro-Hezbollah remarks." By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, December 16, 2004 Three leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have apologized for any hurt they caused when they denounced as "reprehensible" the comments made by a member of a delegation that met with Hezbollah, a radical Islamic organization that has been blamed for the murders of hundreds of Israelis and 270 Americans. Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase and John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly, used that term shortly after the 24-member Presbyterian group met in Lebanon with the Southern Lebanon "spiritual leader" of Hezbollah. One member of the delegation, Ron Stone, a retired ethics professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, told Al Jazerrah television, "As an elder of our church, I'd like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders." As a result of the meeting with Hezbollah, Israeli leaders in the Mideast refused to meet with the Presbyterian delegation. Furthermore, the meeting with Hezbollah - as well as comments by Stone and Nile Harper, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy - hatched a firestorm of protests from Jewish groups and Presbyterians who disagree with the PCUSA's call for punishing Israel because of its dealings with the Palestinians. Numerous Presbyterian and Jewish groups have issued statements urging the PCUSA to abandon the 2004 General Assembly's resolution that called for divestment of denominational funds from corporations that do business with Israel. The Presbyterian News Service reported today that Kirkpatrick, Detterick and Ufford-Chase have had follow-up discussions with members of ACSWP and have exchanged letters about the situations. Jerry Van Marter, the coordinator of the news service, reported that there have been several weeks of "intense dialogue" between the PCUSA's leaders and members of ACSWP. He did not indicate whether those meetings had been open to the denomination's staff reporters, but independent media in the denomination, including The Layman, were not invited to cover the discussions. Van Marter's account included copies of a letter written by seven elected members of ACSWP, a response letter from Kirkpatrick, Ufford-Chase and Detterick and an ACSWP summary of the Mideast trip. The two letters included apologies – of a sort. In their letter dated Dec. 1, seven elected members of the Advisory Committee acknowledged that the meeting with the "Hezbollah leadership was untimely and unwise given the larger context of religious and political tensions within our country." They acknowledged that the meeting "created great pain and difficulties for you and for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." The ACSWP letter was signed by Dianne Briscoe, Esperanza Guajardo, the Rev. Sue Dickson, the Rev. Ronald Kernaghan, the Rev. Gordon Edwards, Stone and Harper. Kirkpatrick, Ufford-Chase and Detterick responded by expressing "regret over the consequences of your meeting with the Hezbollah Party in Lebanon … We acknowledge that our [previous] letter was hurtful to you, and we are sorry for that hurt. We are eager to move on to work for the peace, unity and purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in order that we may together give faithful witness to the compassion and justice of Christ for all the peoples of the world." In their summary of the "fact-finding" mission to the Mideast, ACSWP described meetings it had with Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Egypt – "where we heard deep appreciation for the balanced policy of the Presbyterian Church (USA)." In most cases, the summary named names and places – with a smattering of references to unnamed Jewish leaders. The report seemed to suggest that those unnamed leaders agree with the PCUSA's policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, the report said that "some Jewish leaders" praised the 2004 General Assembly for calling for the "removal of The Wall … and selective, phased economic divestment" from corporations that do business with Israel. It claimed that some "Jewish Rabbis" and "Jewish Rabbis" and "Jewish religious leaders" – without specifying how many of either – attended a reception for Christians, Jews and Muslims sponsored by ASCSP. The summary issued a glowing report on the reception: "Existing partnerships were strengthened. New opportunities for collaboration were discovered. Listening and learning. Ideas for future partnerships emerged. Bridges of communication were opened." The summary included several references to the wall Israel's government is constructing to protect Jews from Palestinian suicide bombers. The ACSWP seven viewed the wall as an economic hardship for the Palestinians and a barrier to peace. They did not mention – or quote any Israeli – that suicide bombings have decreased during the construction of the wall. And their summary did not mention the meeting with Hezbollah. Presbyterian News Service coverage, text of letters, ASCWP summary of Mideast trip.

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