INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS

E-Bulletin # 12

News about the 2009 ICCJ International conference in Berlin

A Time for Recommitment

Jewish-Christian dialogue, 70 years after the beginning of WWII and the Holocaust

In this e-bulletin:

Berlin conference: A Time for Recommitment

Upcoming Events

ICCJ, the International Council of Christians and Jews:

a global network that

• builds Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Christian-Muslim understanding;
• brings the religious and moral principles of these traditions to bear upon the problems of interfaith, inter-racial and international relations;
• strives to eradicate prejudice, discrimination and their consequences;
• promotes attitudes of tolerance and mutual respect.

Berlin conference: A Time for Recommitment

On Sunday, July 5. 2009, the annual conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews will be opened in Berlin with a special event: the presentation and the signing of a new ICCJ document: “A Time for Recommitment: Building the New Relationship between Jews and Christians”.

The new document opens with the ‘Twelve Points of Berlin’, A Call to Christian and Jewish Communities Worldwide. The Twelve Points are followed by a longer narrative: The Story of the Transformation of a Relationship. Key note speeches held at a preparatory conference at Fribourg University last year will complete the document.

During the opening session of the conference as many ICCJ member organisations as possible will sign the Twelve Points of Berlin, turning these calls to the Christian and the Jewish communities world wide into a programmatic document, which can serve as a starting point and standard for their programs and activities in the years to come. No doubt these Twelve Points will mark a new start in Jewish-Christian dialogue. It is time for recommitment!

A lot of special guests will attend the opening of the conference. Among them the German Minister of the Interior, Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble.

Registration form and program outline can be found at: http://www.iccj.org/en/?item=436

Short overview of the conference program

The conference venue will be the Berlin Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the co-host of this year’s ICCJ conference (photo left: plenary hall). There was no doubt in the ICCJ Executive Board on holding the 2009 annual conference in Berlin, 70 years after the start of World War II and the Holocaust. If, as a result of a process of re-assessment of the dialogue, a new direction can be given to Jewish-Christian encounter, then this should emanate from Berlin.

Monday

At the hotel ‘Berlin, Berlin’ denominational morning prayers will be held, as usual during ICCJ conferences. But all conference participants will start the day together with a short meditative moment before coming together in a plenary session with the key note speakers. The Christian key note will be followed by a Jewish response and vice versa. On Monday morning, after the key note and in the afternoon two rounds of workshops will complete the first full conference day. In the evening, participants will have some free time to visit Berlin.

Tuesday

Tuesday, July 7, will be a special day, marking the 60-th anniversary of the German member of the ICCJ, the Deutsche Koordinierungsrat which will be celebrated in the evening at the Französische Dom, a special venue in Berlin. Guest of honour will be Dr. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor.

But before this event takes place, the day will start as it should: with a meditative moment and a key note speech. Lunch will be served on boats, during an outing on the Spree River, giving the participants the opportunity to see the city of Berlin from quite a different angle. After a break back at the hotel, busses will bring all participants to the Französische Dom. A special dinner will be part of the festivities that evening.

Wednesday

The last full conference day opens with a plenary session, introduced by a Jewish-Christian-Muslim panel. A round of workshops will follow, discussing the political, social and ecological issues brought forward by the Twelve Points of Berlin.
During the afternoon the conference participants will be once again back in the city centre of Berlin, visiting the Holocaust Memorial near the Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Museum. A closing ceremony and dinner at the hotel will conclude a special 2009 ICCJ conference.

Annual General Meeting

On Thursday July 9 at 09.00 hrs the ICCJ Annual General Meeting will take place at the Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Official delegates and other participants in the AGM are requested to fill in the special part of the registration form.

JOIN US IN BERLIN - IT IS TIME FOR RECOMMITMENT

Upcoming events

May 26-28, 2009. Conference in Arad, Romania, to strengthen the ICCJ member organisations in Central and Eastern Europe and to explore the possible foundation of an ICCJ member organisation in Romania
July 5-8, 2009. ICCJ Conference in Berlin, Germany. The project on ‘re-assessment of Jewish-Christian dialogue and its future’ will be central during the 2009 annual conference.
July 9, 2009. ICCJ Annual membership meeting in Berlin, Germany