The pastor of a London church has launched a campaign to oppose the Palestinian Christian document accusing Israel of genocide, which the Church of England voted to recommend to its members for study earlier this week.
More than 1,900 people from different Christian denominations have so far signed a declaration denouncing the document, entitled A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide, which was issued by the Kairos Palestine movement last year and is known as Kairos II.
Kairos II brands Israel a “colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity”, describes Palestinians as the “indigenous people of this land” and calls on churches to “distinguish between dialogue with Jews and dialogue with Zionism”.
While condemning the killing of civilians by Hamas on October 7, it says the attack was “born out of decades of injustice, oppression and displacement since the Nakba of 1948”.
But the Declaration Against Kairos II – initiated by Regan King, pastor of The Angel Church, an independent evangelical congregation in Islington – denounces the document as inaccurate, one-sided and dangerous, saying it “only serves to hinder the cause of peace”.
It accuses the document of “falsely and without substantiation” accusing Israel of genocide, seeming to rationalise the “heinous crimes” of October 7 and calling for an end to the state by describing it as a “settler colonialist” project.
The declaration adds that God’s covenant with the Jewish people is “enduring and irrevocable”.
On Monday, the Church of England’s governing body, the General Synod, voted to encourage members to “engage” with Kairos II, despite warnings from the chief rabbi and a former archbishop of Canterbury that the document could harm Jewish-Christian relations. The conference of the Methodist Church recently called for the creation of study materials based on it.
In reaction to the Synod, King, who is also a presenter with the Christian channel Revelation TV, said he felt that “someone has to do something”.
He hoped the Declaration Against Kairos II would “encourage the Jewish community that there are people who will continue to stand with and to speak on the Jewish community’s behalf”.
Originally from the USA, he has lived in Britain for over 20 years and is married to a messianic Jewish woman from Jerusalem. Their children attend a Jewish primary school.
A regular visitor to Israel, he spent his sabbatical there last year. He said he found the experience of being in Ramallah, in the West Bank, two years ago “more unsettling” than a visit to Iraq during the days of Isis because of the pro-Hamas posters he saw in the Palestinian city.
“Kairos II fails to pursue reconciliation and peace and accepts no responsibility for the plethora of atrocities carried out historically against Israel by self-identifying Palestinians,” he said.
“Furthermore, the document avoids recognising or referencing the many voices of Arab-Israelis and Palestinians who have a very different perspective and do not see Israel as the root cause of Palestinian suffering.”
It was, he added, “truly grievous that the Church of England has ventured far from its rich tradition of support for the Jewish people”.
“Kairos II distorts scripture and deepens division. This Christian declaration against Kairos II is an appeal for biblical faithfulness, genuine reconciliation, and gospel hope.”
Signatories include the Reverend Tim Guttman, senior pastor of Lea Valley Church, and his wife, the Reverend Hayley Ace, spokesperson for Christians Against Antisemitism; Dr Jurgen Buehler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and the Reverend Dr Ian Paul, associate minister of a CofE church in Nottingham who spoke against the Kairos II motion at the Synod.
In a comment posted underneath his support for the declaration, Dr Paul said: "We must listen to both sides in this dispute, and also understand the history, context, and actual facts before making any statement.
"Whilst holding the government of Israel properly to account, in a time of rising antisemitism, we must stand against those who would deny Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people."
Supporters of the Synod motion have insisted that it does not mean they agree with everything in Kairos II and that the Church’s decision to “hear” it did not indicate endorsement of it.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.