United Methodist resolution calls for
Yom HaShoah observance
In recent years, Jewish communities have developed the custom of remembering the
Holocaust (Shoah) on the Jewish calendar at a designated time each year. This observance has
become a powerful means of educating people about this historical atrocity and sensitizing
them to present and potential violence rooted in racial hatred.
Whereas, "In the twentieth century there is particular shame in the failure of most
of the Church to challenge the policies of governments that were responsible for the
unspeakable atrocities of the Holocaust" (Building New Bridges in Hope, Book of
Resolutions 1996), and
Whereas, we are currently (May 2000) remembering the 55th anniversary of the end of World
War II,
Therefore, be it resolved that the 2000 General Conference calls The United Methodist
Church to contrition and repentance of its complicity in "the long history of
persecution of the Jewish people" and asks the General Commission on Christian Unity
and Interreligious Concerns to give special programmatic emphasis to Holocaust awareness and
to prepare resources for use in local congregations, annual conferences and their Conference
Commissions on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns or equivalent structures to
enable them to become more aware of the Holocaust and its impact, and
Therefore, be it further resolved, as a sign of our contrition and our solidarity with
the Jewish community, the General Conference urges the promotion of observance of Yom
HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, each spring in United Methodist local congregations and
urges the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, in cooperation
with other agencies of The United Methodist Church, in a time of increasing anti-Semitism,
to work both with our own denomination"s history with regard to this tragedy and find ways
to support the work against anti-Semitism in the world today and to prepare resources for
local congregations to observe Yom HaShoah.
We continue to pray for God"s grace to speak in Jesus" name against bigotry, hatred,
genocide, or other crimes against humanity whenever we encounter them.
(General Conference 2000, Cleveland, Ohio, May 2-12.) | 
