Saturday, May 30, 1998

Evangelical megachurch apologizes after offending Jews

By Carol M. Ostrom / The Seattle Times

SEATTLE -- The elders of Overlake Christian Church have apologized to the area's Jewish community for a statement warning against gossip and hearsay.

The warning referred to rumors swirling around allegations of sexual misconduct made against the Rev. Bob Moorehead, the church's senior pastor, who resigned May 17 while denying any wrongdoing.

The church's original statement, which a number of Jewish people said they found offensive, included this:

"Gossip and hearsay can never be used to determine guilt or innocence. This is of course what the Jews did to Jesus. Please do not be a purveyor of gossip or hearsay."

The statement was printed in the Redmond, Wash., church's bulletin on April 5 and posted on the Overlake Web page until last week.

Last week, the church posted an apology on the Web page:

"The elders of Overlake Christian Church wish to extend a heartfelt apology to the Jewish community for any pain or hurt a statement recently posted on our Web site may have caused," the statement read. "We in no way meant any disrespect to the Jewish people or the Jewish community."

Some of those who complained about the statement said they were particularly sensitive to such comments because language has been used in the past to foster hatred and genocide of the Jewish people.

"That a relatively sophisticated group of suburban church elders in the late 20th century should, 2,000 years later, be referring to what was basically an interdenominational struggle between groups of Jewish believers as a persecution of Jesus by 'the Jews' tells me we haven't come far enough in our efforts to think clearly and avoid cultural stereotyping," wrote Mark Dalton, who complained to The Seattle Times after reading about the Web page reference in a recent article.

" 'The Jews' were not then, are not now, and have never been a monolithic group of believers, as witness the current diversity of belief and opinion in Israel."

Dalton also noted, "This kind of holding up of 'the Jews' as an example of un-Christian behavior can, and has led repeatedly to more radical beliefs and scapegoating activities over the last two millennia."

Overlake's elders addressed the issue of language in their statement:

"It has been 2,000 years since Jesus was persecuted and died on the cross. In those 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been relentlessly persecuted for their faith. They have suffered unconscionable crimes. One of the reasons has been misuse -- both intended and unintended -- of language. We fear we may have unintentionally sent the wrong message.

"We, as Christians agree with scripture that God loves the Jews 'with an everlasting love' (Jeremiah 31:3) and that you are 'the apple of his eye.' (Zechariah 2:8). Once again, we apologize to anyone who was offended by the statement that was made."

Elders of the most-attended church in Washington state have commissioned a private investigation of the allegations against Moorehead, made by a number of men who say the pastor fondled them, sometimes before baptisms or weddings. The elders have promised to make public a report on that investigation this week.

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(c) 1998, The Seattle Times.

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