Disciples and UCC leaders join in a letter to Pres. Biden urging a cease fire and demilitarization of the crisis in the Middle East

The Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, are among 22 church-based denominational leaders in a letter to President Biden. The letter was coordinated by Churches for Middle East Peace, of which the Disciples and UCC are founding members.

The leaders write, “The time for a comprehensive ceasefire is now. Every day of continued violence not only increases the death toll in Gaza and the cost to civilians but also fosters further hatred toward Israel and the United States and irreparably damages the moral standing of the United States in the broader Middle East.” Several signatories of the letter, including Rev. Hord Owens, were in Washington, DC where they delivered the letter during meetings with staff at the State Department Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and with Ambassador Rashad Hussain, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on Tuesday, Feb. 13. A full copy of the letter is below.