Local church celebrates 50th anniversary

Smiles filled the United Presbyterian Church in Bloomington Sunday for a celebration of its 50th anniversary, as children ran around and loyal church members sought out an invaluable message from the church's national leader.\nThe weekend festivities, at 1701 East Second St., included the music of Salaam and the Annual Ethnic Food Fair, as well as a regular worship on Sunday morning. \nModerator Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, the leader of The Presbyterian Church (USA), was helping to celebrate the Church's anniversary with a speech to the congregation.\n"It's a diverse church. We have a lot of students, a lot of Koreans," said Souheil Haddad, who came to listen to Abu-Akel speak and is a 10-year member of the Church. \nAlthough he primarily works as a moderator for the Church, he said most people ask him questions about his views on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict over the ownership of Jerusalem, since he is a Palestinian-American.\nAbu-Akel said that the Palestinians and the Israelis must pursue peace through mutual respect by forgiving what the other did wrong.\nHe said that the two groups need to practice peace, co-existence and justice to end the dispute. Abu-Akel said changes need to be made to the current situation in Jerusalem.\n"The United Presbyterian Church focuses on the end of the Israeli occupation," Abu-Akel said. "We need to create the Palestinian State."\nSolutions to this ongoing clash should come from changes in the foundation of the two groups, Abu-Akel said.\nHe emphasized that Palestinian children must learn to live in a more stable environment.\n"If a kindergarten is closed, a high school is closed, a university is closed and your dad is dead, you're not going to function," Abu-Akel said.\nAbu-Akel also said Palestine has been under Israeli occupation for 35 years; the unemployment rate is over 65 percent; and people under the age of 30 account for more than 60 percent of the total population in West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.\nAbu-Akel stands behind his Palestinian-American ethnicity and debates passionately about global issues concerning Palestine, but he said he values impartiality.\n"We need to say on record we're against terrorism, regardless of who does it," he said. "If a Palestinian kills a boy, call him a terrorist. I believe this with all my heart."\nSolutions do not only come within the contended territories. The United States, with the most political authority in the world, must contribute to the fullest extent in order to promote peace in the Middle East, Abu-Akel said. \nHe also said the general public must obtain an unbiased conception about ethnic minorities.\n"National Public Radio introduced me to the nation as a Muslim minister because the name is Arabic," Abu-Akel said, recalling his experience at an annual Martin Luther King, Jr. event in January in Atlanta, Ga.\n"Not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs," he said. \nHe said there are 250 million Arabs in 22 Arab states, 15 million Arab Christians since the time of Jesus and one billion Muslims.\nAbu-Akel gave another example of social bias.\n"The media, say CNN, show a young guy with a gun, but 97 percent of the citizens are civilians," he said.\nAbu-Akel's message moved the audience as they lined the sanctuary to greet him after he finished speaking.\n"I was very impressed with not only his knowledge, but with his attitude that doesn't condemn one over the other," said Rev. Rob Lourimer, a retired minister of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church. "The idea of reconciliation and forgiveness is a path to peace." \nAbu-Akel immigrated to the United States in 1967 as a college student in Southeastern College in Lakeland, Fla. After receiving an M. Div. degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, he joined the PC of Greater Atlanta as a minister in 1978. \nAbu-Akel was named Moderator for 2002-2003 at the 214th General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio on June 15, 2002.