Speaking at the Church of England General Synod this month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally said:
“The situation in Israel and Palestine is gravely serious. Last month I made my pilgrimage with my dear brother, Archbishop Hosam, across the Diocese of Jerusalem. The fear was palpable among everyone we met, Palestinian and Israeli. From Gaza to the north of Israel, from southern Lebanon to the West Bank, people across the region are traumatised by ongoing conflicts.
“In the West Bank, I saw how settlements are expanding at unprecedented rates. Thousands of Palestinians are being forced from their land. Christian villages such as Taybeh are on the brink of disappearing – ground down by settler violence, and social, economic and political hopelessness.
“Put simply: Palestine, which the British government recognised last year, is disappearing.
“The threat to Palestinian Christians in particular – whose numbers are becoming ever smaller – is existential. Against this desperate backdrop, we are called to a new and active solidarity. We must not ignore the urgency of this moment, she said.
The Church of England Synod discussed a motion which laments the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives and seeks peace and security for all the peoples of the Holy Land.
The motion was amended, changing a proposed call to “receive” the Kairos Palestine declarations – statements produced by Palestinian Christians – to a call to “hear” them as “heartfelt expressions” of their experiences.
Much of the debate focussed on terms in the Kairos Palestine declarations written between 2009 and 2025 which have been criticised by some Jewish leaders in the UK.
Supporting the amended wording, the Archbishop of Canterbury told Synod that hearing the “heartfelt expressions of the lived experience of Palestinian Christians” in the documents does not mean agreeing with everything in them.
“The urgency of the situation in the Holy Land demands that we have difficult conversations,” she said.
“We must listen to things that are hard to hear, and take the risk of engaging across divides.
“I also hear the concerns of the Chief Rabbi, the Co-Leads of Progressive Judaism, and the Board of Deputies, and I thank them for their honesty.
“More than ever we need critical and respectful dialogue – one that includes the voices of Palestinian Christians, as well as our Jewish and Muslim friends”, she said.
Methodist Conference hears the voice of Palestinian Christians
The Methodist Conference too is listening to the voice of Christians in Palestine in receiving the Kairos II document. This is an update on the first Kairos document regarding the effect on Palestinian Christians of the occupation of Palestine that was first published in 2009 and called for Christians worldwide to respond with faith, hope and love.
Kairos II responds to the events in Gaza after 7 October 2023 and was launched in November 2025 as A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide. Developed collaboratively, it renews the call for justice and an urgent, global Christian response.
A Notice of Motion was passed by the Conference, asking for study on Kairos II by the churches. It also asked for the President of the Conference to write to the UK Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary and the governing bodies of other jurisdictions in which the Methodist Church of Great Britain has a presence, urging them to uphold international law.
It called on all members to take the actions to listen, learn, live, and act in ways that support justice, human dignity, and freedom for all who call the Holy Land home.
Read more details from Church of England Synod and Methodist Conference.