Rev. Steven Naim Khoury is a Christian Arab pastor and author. He is the pastor of The First Baptist Church in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

and Calvary Church in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Khoury is the president of the "Holy Land Missions" organization.

Biography

Steven Naim Khoury was born in Jerusalem. His father, Dr. Naim Khoury, is the founding pastor of First Baptist Church in

. Khoury grew up in Bethlehem and attended Baptist Bible College in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estima ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in pastoral ministry and theology.

Career

Khoury is the president of "Holy Land Missions", a non-profit organization which was established in 1979 by his family. The organization provides health and financial aid to needy families in the region and supports the largest

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

Arab ministries in the Holy Land. Steven Khoury is the pastor of The First Baptist Church in

which was established by his father, Dr. Naim Khoury. He is also the pastor of Calvary Church in

. As a Christian pastor he has faced persecution, including being attacked for his beliefs. His uncle was murdered, his father was shot at on multiple occasions and his religious establishments have been firebombed and defaced. In the late 2000s, following a meeting with

David Nekrutman David Nekrutman ( he, דוד נקרוטמן; born 28 November 1973) is an American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish theologian, writer, director, columnist, public speaker, and pro-Israel activist. He is a prominent figure and pioneer in the world of Jew ...

of the

Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation The Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation or CJCUC is an educational institution at which Christians who tour Israel can study the Hebrew Bible with Orthodox rabbis and learn about the Hebraic roots of Christianity. The ce ...

(CJCUC), the two decided work together to help the disadvantaged and persecuted Christian community living in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas. Initially, it was facilitated by the two through the center via a food voucher program and was later instituted through the center's "

Blessing Bethlehem Blessing Bethlehem is a charity fundraising initiative with the purpose of helping the persecuted Christians living in the city of Bethlehem and its surrounding areas. It was launched in September 2016 by the Center for Jewish-Christian Understand ...

" aid organization which was established in 2016. In 2012, Khoury was informed by Palestinian Authority officials that his church, The First Baptist Church in Bethlehem, lacked the authority to function as a religious institution under PA jurisdiction. In July 2014, the congregation of Calvary Baptist Church, which Khoury ministers, was evicted out of their building in the

Shuafat Shuafat ( ar, شعفاط '), also ''Shu'fat'' and ''Sha'fat'', is a mostly Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, forming part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem–Ramallah road about three miles north of the Ol ...

area of Eastern Jerusalem after Islamists threatened their landlord. This eviction came eight years after Khoury's organization "Holy Land Missions" was forced to close another church in

Beit Hanina Beit Hanina ( ar, بيت حنينا , he, בית חנינא) is an Arab Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is on the road to Ramallah, eight kilometers north of central Jerusalem, at an elevation of 780 meters above sea level. Bei ...

in 2006. In January 2020, Khoury called out for peace following U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

's "

Deal of the Century ''Deal of the Century'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by William Friedkin and starring Chevy Chase, Gregory Hines, and Sigourney Weaver. The film follows the adventures of several arms dealers that compete to sell weapons to a South A ...

", this in contrast to the Palestinian Authority which called out for mass demonstrations and violence.

Works

* Diplomatic Christianity (2008) – * In the Backyard of Jesus (2012) –

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khoury, Steven Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christian clergy Palestinian Christian pacifists Baptist Bible College (Missouri) alumni Israeli Arab Christians Israeli Baptists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people