Jerusalem Church Targeted by Arsonists

Jerusalem Church Targeted by Arsonists
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Police are searching for the arsonists who set fire to a church in Jerusalem on Tuesday. This is the same church that was targeted by Jewish religious extremists 25 years ago, and some members of the congregation think history may be repeating itself.

The Anti-Defamation League in Jerusalem strongly condemned the arson attack as an "apparent hate crime."

"We urged authorities to do everything in their power to protect all religious sites and see that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice," said Jerusalem spokesman, Arieh O'Sullivan in a statement.

Three fires were set inside the sanctuary of The Baptist House in central Jerusalem, burning furniture and leaving mostly smoke damage. Untouched by the fire was a large banner hung in the sanctuary declaring God's promise to give "beauty for ashes."

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said only that police are "looking in all directions for suspects."

Two English-speaking Christian congregations and two Messianic Jewish congregations (one Hebrew speaking and one Russian speaking) share the building, with about 500 congregants altogether, said Joseph Broom, the business manager for the Baptist Convention in Israel which owns the building.

Since the church's new sanctuary opened in 1992, there have been a few minor incidents of vandalism but otherwise the church has "very good relations" with the community, Broom said.

However, Messianic Jewish congregations have had some trouble. (Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. They are sometimes rejected and persecuted and viewed as traitors by other Jews.)

Pastor Victor Blum said anonymous threats have been directed at the Russian-speaking Messianic congregation "for many years." Leaflets printed in Russian and Hebrew showing Blum's picture and that of his wife and several congregants were distributed in the neighborhood, warning Israelis of this "dangerous sect" that is converting Jews to Christianity, Blum said.

Several years ago, a teenage boy from Blum's congregation was stabbed while distributing fliers inviting Israelis to see a movie about Jesus, he said. Then as now, Blum said, the attack only encouraged the congregation to continue meeting and to pray for those who carried out the attack as a sign that they have not been crushed by it.

Ofer Amitai, pastor of the Hebrew-speaking Messianic Jewish congregation, said if Tuesday's attack was arson, "then it's like spiritual terrorism and it's not going to work. Our victory over this is to keep going," he said.

Help from the neighbors

Charles Kopp, pastor of one of the English-speaking Baptist congregations, sees a "silver lining" in the fire. The church would receive a facelift, he said, and the church is getting a lot of support from its neighbors.

"Even the next-door-neighbor synagogue has offered their help and support," said Kopp.

Gideon Mamroth is from that synagogue. "It hurts me," he said of the fire. "It's very bad that this happened." He said he is not bothered by the presence of Messianic Jewish congregations at the church.