Will you join us to listen to the voices from the land of the birth of Jesus?
Palestinian Christians trace their roots to the first Christmas. Kairos is the Greek word that means “a decisive moment for action.” Kairos Palestine II – A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide is a contemporary, ecumenical confession of faith and call to action, written by the Palestinian Christian Ecumenical Initiative, released in November 2025 and follows the first Kairos document, released in 2009, A Moment of Truth: A Word of Faith, Hope and Love from the heart of Palestinian Suffering (A copy of the original text is here).
This five week NDPC Adult Formation class will use the new congregational study guide for Kairos II, developed by three Christian organizations, The Palestine Justice Network (PJN) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), and Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA). This resource invites congregations into a sacred dialogue with the Kairos Palestine II document—a living confession born from the heart of Palestinian Christian suffering. We aim to rediscover what it means to pledge our faith in Christ and to boldly renounce the sin and evil alive in our world today.
The study sessions ground the confession in current realities in Gaza, the West Bank, and within the wider Palestinian diaspora, where church leaders describe an ongoing time of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement. The guide situates the new Kairos Palestine text within the long arc of ecumenical concern for Palestine/Israel and invites congregations to receive it as a cry to the global church for help and hope.
The teaching team consists of: NDPC member Becky Evans, who experienced powerful first hand witness by Palestinian Christians in a small group trip sponsored by the Atlanta Presbytery, to the Holy Land in 2008, NDPC Pastor Mary Anona Stoops, and Dr. Edward Phillips and Sara Webb Phillips.
Ed Phillips is an ordained UMC pastor and Associate Professor of Historical Theology and Christian Worship, Emeritus, at Candler School of Theology. He currently serves as Theologian in Residence at Eastside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Sara Webb Phillips is also an ordained UMC pastor, having served numerous churches and campuses across six states. Retired, she works on Palestinian liberation internationally, and Decatur Beacon Hill/Muscogee land acknowledgement locally. She serves on the national board of United Methodist Kairos Response, working for divestment of UMC funds from Israel.
Sara and Ed have served on delegations to the West Bank, Palestine with the support of Sabeel Palestinian Liberation Theology Center in East Jerusalem. Together they work for social and economic justice for Palestinians, for an end to the military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, and for the flourishing of Christian communities in the land where Jesus was born.