باسم الآب والإبن والروح القدس. آمين.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all for evermore. Amen.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those sho build it labour in vain" (Ps: 122:1)
" ان لم يبن الرب البيت فباطلاً يتعب البناؤون " ( مز: 1:122 )
Speech for the dedication of Ad-Dar Culture and Conference Center on Sep 1, 2003 in Bethlehem
Bishop Munib A. Younan
The Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem.
Your Beatitude,
Your Eminences, Excellences, Graces, Ladies and Gentleman,
It was last week when over two hundred thousands people met in U.S. to recall the speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior: " I have a dream …". They met to celebrate and reiterate that the dream of justice and liberation becomes true regardless of the obstacles of injustice. And as we dedicate the Ad-Dar Cultural and Conference Center, we celebrate that our dream has become a reality. But, also, we are encouraged by the construction of this auditorium, that the vision of justice will become true. We are encouraged that despite the unbearable political situation, closures, sieges, invasions, the erection of the separation wall, the spiral wall, the injustice and hatred, the dream of justice and liberation will always become true. Our dream for a two states living side by side peacefully, with justice and equity will come true. Our dream of a shared Jerusalem will come true. And when the dream of peace with justice and reconciliation comes true, our Lutheran Church will invite you to celebrate the implementation of the vision of justice and liberation that all of you helped to realize. "Unless the Lord builds just peace and reconciliation, those who build it labor in vain."
Some have asked me: Why should the Church, especially the Lutheran Church, be involved in cultural activities? My answer to them was: It seems you forget that Bethlehem is the place of the incarnation. Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, did not become incarnate in the skies, but he became incarnate in culture and if you wish, in a Palestinian culture. This very theology of incarnation calls the church to become incarnate in culture and teaches our people to admire and love their culture. Needless to say, we, Palestinian Christians, are the continuation of the biblical culture. And the more we implant ourselves and our people in their culture, the more the Palestinian Church will have future, and its influence and impact in our society. It has always been our understanding that Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Palestinian people and culture. For this reason, it is our call to serve the whole Palestinian society, regardless of gender, religious or political affiliation. It is also our responsibility to build and mould the Palestinian identity. Music, art, theology and other elements will develop a culture with freedom of opinion, freedom of religion, freedom of speech. And through this, we assist, both building a democratic modern civil society as well as a culture of peace. And this auditorium is meant for that purpose.
On behalf of our Lutheran Church (ELCJ), and also personally, we are very grateful to the Government of Finland which was so very cooperative with us and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland to construct this auditorium. Special thanks go to Her Excellency, the President of Finland Tarja Halonen, and the whole government of Finland and especially to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other related ministries. The presence of Her Excellency, Minister Paula Lehtomaki, the minister for foreign trade and development is but a tangible token of your continuous solidarity with our Church ELCJ and of the support of your government and the Finnish people for justice and peace in the Middle East.
We also express our thanks to our President, Mr. Yaser Arafat and the former Minister of Bethlehem 2000, and present Minister of planing Dr. Nabeel Kassis and the Mayor Mr. Hanna Nasser for their full support in enrolling this project to be one of the main projects of the Bethlehem 2000.
We also thanks our Pastor, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb for his creative vision and his untiring efforts to make this vision and project a reality. Thank you, Mitri and thanks to the staff of the International Center .
Thanks also go to the building committee, and especially for the honor of the service of the three successive Representatives of Finland to the PA, namely, Jarno Syrjala, Eija Rotinen, and Keijo Ruokoranta.
A special thanks to the Finnish Architect, Mr. Juha Lieviska, who succeeded in making a Finnish work of art come alive in the heart of a Palestinian context.
The auditorium looks simple but respects the environment. It looks small and impressive but it is large in its mission. If globalization will teach our world to learn the constructive elements from other cultures, then our Auditorium is but a paradigm of such globalization.
We also thank the local Architect Bassem Khoury and his staff who closely worked with the Finnish architect to translate the Finnish culture into a Palestinian context. We also thank the Al-Widad Contracting Bureau, that laid the foundation and Al-Afaq contracting office that gave it the look it has today.
And we want to assure all of you, that this work of art will not be looked at, but will have enough programms to create a culture of peace and understanding.
Above all we thank our God that He has been our help and fortress. We praise Him with the Psalmist:" Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build labor in vain". In His precious name, I dedicate this auditorium for His services in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one God.
Amen