January 9, 2004

CHICAGO - U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif. 23rd) will travel to the Middle East with two synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Jan. 9-16. They will meet with government and religious leaders, peace activists, relief and development experts, human rights workers and others, said the Rev. Mark B. Brown, assistant director for international issues, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), the ELCA's federal public policy office in Washington, D.C.

Capps is an ELCA member and a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, an ELCA higher education institution in Tacoma, Wash. She is now serving her third full term since she was elected to succeed her late husband, U.S. Rep. Walter Capps, in 1998.

Bishops traveling with Capps are the Rev. Murray D. Finck, ELCA Pacifica Synod, Yorba Linda, Calif., and the Rev. Dean W. Nelson, ELCA Southwest California Synod, Glendale. Brown and his wife, Susanne, are also traveling with the group.

The Middle East visit will include meetings with U.S. government officials in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and international participants in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), Brown said. The EAPPI is administered by the World Council of Churches (WCC), Geneva, Switzerland. Through that program church representatives from throughout the world live in the Middle East for a short time, observing and documenting how the Israeli occupation affects Palestinians and Israelis.

This visit, which includes meetings with both Israelis and Palestinians, is part of an overall effort to give ELCA synod bishops and other leaders a chance to hear directly from people who live in the region, Brown said. To date, about 10 bishops, plus the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and his predecessors, have participated in these educational trips, Brown estimated. This is the first time a member of Congress, Capps, has been part of such a trip, Brown said.

"Her presence will help get the ELCA perspective heard on Capitol Hill," Brown said. "It also helps the Israelis and Palestinians to understand the commitment of the ELCA to supporting people who are working for peace."

LOGA is working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine), the Lutheran World Federation, the State of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other partners to facilitate the trip. A key element of the itinerary is its balance with leaders representing Israelis and Palestinians, Brown said. "What we're doing as the ELCA is exhibiting by the level of balance the commitment to hear the voices of the Israelis and Palestinians," he said. "We think this will help the people of the ELCA hear the concerns of both and it will give us an opportunity to raise concern on both sides."

The ELCA is a member of both the WCC and LWF. - Information about LOGA can be found at http://www.loga.org on the Web.

ELCA News Service