Lutherans ordain first Palestinian woman pastor in Holy Land

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Lutheran church ceremony in Jerusalem has ordained what will be the first Palestinian female pastor in the Holy Land. Sally Azar will head the English-speaking congregation at the Old City of Jerusalem’s Church of the Redeemer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land said Sunday. Her ordination was held before a packed crowd inside the church. The church said that she was the first Palestinian woman to be ordained and to serve as a pastor in the Holy Land. The West Bank and Gaza Strip were home to around 47,000 Christians as of 2017, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Most Palestinian Christians belong to denominations that do not allow female clergy.