Evangelicals in Nazareth celebrate Christmas by building bridges between faiths
Some 80,000 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian spectators came to Nazareth to watch the 40th annual Christmas Parade on Saturday.
Nazareth, believed to be the childhood home of Jesus, is Israel’s largest Christian city. Taking part in the procession for the second year in a row was also the “Home of Jesus The King Church”
Established in 2009 by Pastor Saleem Shalash and his wife Nisreen, the church is one of the few evangelical congregations in Israel and the only one to take part in the Nazareth parade. Despite having a congregation of fewer than 100 worshippers, they created a strong presence at the event . The pastor explained that the parade was essential to what they felt is their mission.
“We are trying to build bridges between Christians, Jews, and Muslims and to be witnesses for Jesus in his hometown,” Pastor Shalash said. “The parade was an opportunity for us to share the gospel.”
The procession began at Mary’s Well near and continued for three hours, ending at the Churches Quarter, followed by an address by religious leaders.
Toward this end, the Pastor Shalash’s church bought and packed 3,000 gifts, and handed out the presents as they walked along the parade route. The gifts, distributed to people of all faiths, contained a toy and a bag of chocolate. Also included was a magnet with a message written in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’. The basis of Christmas is gift giving since we are celebrating when God gave the greatest gift to the world.”
The pastor was more than pleased with the results.
“To hear so many people of all faiths coming together to cheer the holiday, that is a very strong Christmas feeling,” he said, noting that there are few cities in Israel in which the three faiths coexist so strongly. “This reconciliation can only happen in Israel, the birthplace of Jesus and of Judaism.”
But Pastor Shalash felt that the greatest challenge was sharing the gospel with other Christians.
“There is a huge difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus,” he said.
He noted that his church is one of the few evangelical congregations in Israel and the only one to take part in the Nazareth parade. Christians are a minority in Israel, making up about 1.9% of Israel’s general population and 7% of Israel’s Arab population. 76% of Christians in Israel are Arab. and approximately 90% of Arab Christians belong to the Greek Catholic Church or the Greek Orthodox Church. There are relatively few Protestants living in Israel.
“When I tell Americans that I am an Arab, they assume I am a Muslim,” Pastor Shalash said. “That is totally wrong. The Book of Acts describes Arabs worshiping in Jerusalem. This was about 600 years before the birth of Mohammad. Christian Arabs came way before Islam ever existed.”
Nazareth is home to the largest Arab community in Israel and the largest Christian community. The Christian communities of Nazareth are varied and include various denominations, the most prominent among them the Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Latin Catholics, Maronites, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestants. It is believed to be Jesus’s childhood home and, indeed, the phrase “Jesus of Nazareth” appears seventeen times in English translations of the New Testament, The city is also home to the Church of Annunciation believed to stand over the spot where Mary’s house once stood. Upon its completion in 1969, it became the largest Christian church in the Middle East.
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