This Jerusalem church is fighting for religious reconciliation

• Author: PAUL CALVERT
• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Born in Farnborough, England, but brought up in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Lanarkshire, McCulloch says that the job "leapt out" at him "despite its complexities." Married with three children, he says he was drawn to the diversity of the congregation, which includes Palestinians and Israelis, expat Scots, pilgrims and international staff from NGOs – and the many partners that the Church of Scotland works with across Israel and the Palestinian territories. Many of them, like himself, are engaged in issues of religious reconciliation and social justice across the divides of the conflicted Holy Land. I interviewed him at the church.

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When was this church established here in Jerusalem?

The church where we are sitting now, St. Andrews Jerusalem, was established during the British mandate. As you know, during the First World War, there were British regiments who were fighting the Ottomans. In 1917, General Allenby, depending on your point of view, "liberated" the city from Ottoman rule. The church was built between 1927 and 1929. It opened its doors in 1930. It was built as a memorial church for the members of the Scottish regiments who had fallen in the Great War.

Did Gen. Allenby actually come here to the church?

I believe he did. In fact, Allenby laid the first stone of the church.

Has this church been used as something else as well in the past?

The church has always been used as a church. The guest house was originally built with the view to being a theological seminary, a place where I suppose candidates for the ministry could come out and train. But it never really got off the ground and so it has always been run as some kind of hospitality venue.

Do you have other churches here in the Holy Land?

Yes, we have St. Andrews Tiberias on the shores of the Galilee.

You seem to have a very rich heritage here in the Holy Land?

The Church of Scotland really had a presence in the Holy Land since the 19th century with different missions. We had the school in Jaffa, which was set up in the late 19th century as a girls' school. What is now the Scots Hotel on the shores of Galilee was a hospital from the 19th century. So yeah, there has been a presence of the Church of Scotland since the 19th century here.

You have a beautiful location here. Tell us a little bit about where you overlook and have you found some archaeology on this site?

The location is stunning. We overlook the Old City, have wonderful views across to the Old City and directly below us is the Hinnom Valley – the Gehenna Valley, which is where we originally get the word "hell" from. That was of course the place Canaanite religions used to sacrifice and burn the city rubbish, but they also used it to sacrifice children to the god of fire, to the god of Molech. That valley is between the church and the Old City, and also that is where...