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Sixteen prominent US Christian leaders will soon complete an intensive 13-month educational program on Judaism, as part of the Christian Leadership Initiative , a partnership of AJC and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel.

The final 10-day segment of the CLI program will begin July 14 in Jerusalem, and study will focus on Jewish models of community. The program begins and ends with seminars in Israel.

In between the two summer seminars, participants, representing diverse denominations in Christianity, engage in monthly distance-learning sessions, in which they study classical and modern Jewish texts with leading Israeli and North American Jewish scholars.

“CLI provides an open space for Christian leadership to experience and study Judaism and Israel from a Jewish perspective, fostering a unique process to secure positive interreligious relations,” said Rabbi Noam Marans , AJC’s director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. “Christian understanding of Judaism is advanced by CLI, as fellows apply this experience to the education of Christian leaders.”

“In the past year we have gone through a lot together,” said Dr. Marcie Lenk , Shalom Hartman Institute’s Director of Christian Leadership Programs. “There is a trust between us that opens opportunities to discuss difficult issues, hear each other, and learn from each other.”

With generous support from the Allen H. & Selma W. Berkman Charitable Trust, CLI has been educating top leadership of Christian seminaries, denominations and theological schools since 2008. The 60 CLI alumni come together for periodic symposia to deepen their knowledge of contemporary Jewish thought.

Summer 2015 participants constitute the fourth cohort of CLI fellows. Participants include:

• Dr. Bogdan G. Bucur, Associate Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
• Dr. Michael J. Chan, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
• Dr. Andrew R. Davis, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Chestnut Hill, MA
• Rev. Dr. Katie Day, The Charles A. Scheiren Professor, Church and Society, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
• Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director, Massachusetts Council of Churches
• Rev. Dr. David Garber, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta, GA
• Dr. Tommy Givens, Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA
• Rev. Dr. Wallace S. Hartsfield, II, Professor, Fred. E. Young Chair of Hebrew Bible, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO
• Dr. Sally Holt, Professor of Religion, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
• Rev. Dr. Debora Jackson, Executive Director, The Ministers Council – American Baptist Church USA
• Rev. Belva Brown Jordan, Associate Dean of Curriculum and Assessment, Associate Professor of the Practice of Ministry, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA
• Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Associate Professor of Church History, Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX
• Dr. F. Javier Orozco, Executive Director of Intercultural and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of St. Louis
• Dr. Brian Rainey, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ
• Rev. Dr. Javier A. Viera, Dean and Professor of Ecumenical and Pastoral Theology, Drew University Theological School, Madison, NJ
• Rev. Dr. Frank M. Yamada, President and Cyrus McCormick Professor of Bible and Culture, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL