Program Director for Sumud: Justice in Palestine and Israel

Description

This posting will close August 14, 2026, at 11:00 pm central time.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 3 million members in more than 8,600 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God’s work. Our hands.,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world.

The ELCA’s roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther. The Lutheran Center (national office) is located in Chicago, Illinois. A staff of approximately 400, under the leadership of the Presiding Bishop, serve as administrators, advisors, conveners, partners, and resource people for the ELCA and its ministries. Staff lead the work of national, domestic, and global ministries and programs including Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA World Hunger, Service & Justice, Christian Community and Leadership, and Innovation.

We are also home to five of our separately incorporated ministries:
The Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA, Women of the ELCA, Lutheran Men in Mission, the ELCA Foundation and the ELCA Federal Credit Union.

Through the Service and Justice unit, the ELCA Churchwide Organization (CWO) shall foster and facilitate this church’s engagement in service with and among communities and promote efforts to call and act for justice. The work of ELCA Service and Justice includes engaging in mission, service, and justice in accompaniment with churches and organizations in other countries. The Service and Justice unit serves as a channel through which churches in other countries engage in mission to this church and society.

Sumud: for justice in Palestine and Israel is an initiative of the ELCA that replaces the prior ELCA campaign known as Peace Not Walls. Sumud is an Arabic word meaning “steadfastness.” This work focuses on building ELCA engagement to support accompaniment, awareness-raising, and advocacy in relation to Palestine and Israel, with a focus on engagement that is
1) holistic (across expressions of the church, and bringing together many approaches and kinds of engagement),
2) intersectional (connected to similar issues of justice in U.S. and other communities such as gender and environmental justice, etc.), and
3) guided by longstanding relationships with Palestinian partners as the experts on the ground. The program director will lead the work of Sumud in engagement and awareness-raising and will collaborate with relevant ELCA colleagues on advocacy support, through the specific responsibilities outlined below. The work of Sumud continues to be grounded in the ELCA’s accompaniment of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

This is a full-time, regular, exempt, Chicago-based/hybrid position. This position has responsibilities that will require being in the office a minimum of 2 days each week and more as needed, keeping regular weekday business hours for meetings and collaborative work, as well as some domestic and international travel to represent Sumud at events, conferences, and partner visits.

Candidates for this position must reside within the fifty United States or the District of Columbia and be authorized to work lawfully in the United States. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.

Other duties as assigned.

• Directs the Sumud: for justice in Palestine and Israel initiative; creates and implements a strategic plan that includes clear articulation of its mission, vision, values and goals; a yearly calendar of events and resources; and a communications strategy for online and in-person information sharing and network building, all grounded in and guided by accompaniment of Palestinian communities.
• Leads effective, strategic engagement across expressions and institutions of the ELCA…