UCC PIN Steering Committee Transitions and Introductions

With the turn of the year, UCC PIN’s steering committee said good-bye to four members who rotated off the committee – Eric Fistler, Jeff McElwee, Shari Prestemon, and Tala Raheb – with gratitude for their contributions to PIN’s work and for their impassioned and steadfast commitment to justice in Palestine and Israel. Special thanks to Eric for his generous leadership and skillful co-facilitation of PIN’s inaugural Solidarity Circle in 2023. And blessings to Shari as she steps into her new ministry as Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries.

UCC PIN is delighted to welcome three new members to our steering committee: the Rev. Linda Noonan, the Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals, and Abd Alsalam Manasra. Since 2020, in our effort to be accountable in an immediate way to the ‘cry for hope’ of our Palestinians partners, UCC PIN has dedicated one of our steering committee positions for a Palestinian. Abd follows Tala Raheb in that position.

Linda Noonan



The Rev. Linda Noonan is a pastor, activist, and scholar. Ordained in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, she holds standing in the United Church of Christ and currently serves as Designated Pastor of St. Paul’s UCC in Exton, Pennsylvania. She is an adjunct faculty member of United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia where she teaches faith-based community organizing, social change, and ritual. She writes Bible commentary for the Liturgy that Matters project of Enfleshed and has recently returned from the West Bank of Palestine in which she worked with Community Peacemaker Teams in Hebron. On the Editorial Board of the new journal, Community Organizing, she is also completing her PhD at United Lutheran Seminary in interfaith, race-centered community organizing. 

Sara Ofner-Seals

Sara Ofner-Seals currently serves as the associate pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church, UCC, in Fort Wayne, IN. Before arriving in Indiana, she served UCC congregations in New London, CT and Norwich, CT. In addition to her pastoral work, she served as the communications manager and volunteer coordinator at the New London Homeless Hospitality Center from 2017-2021 and was the director of the New London Urban Outreach Project from 2018-2020. Before becoming a pastor, Sara received a Bachelor of Music degree from Millikin University and a Master of Music degree from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. After completing her studies in music, she went on to receive her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 2010 and was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 2012.

Sara has been an active supporter of the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace since arriving in Fort Wayne in September of 2021. She became particularly passionate about Palestinian justice and solidarity work after traveling to the West Bank with Dr. Michael Spath this past June. 

Abd Alsalam Manasra

Abd Alsalam Manasra was born in Nazareth, Israel and grew up in a Sufi Muslim family. Abd is the third generation of peacemakers and Sufi sheikh. His grandfather was a sheikh of the Sufi QADIRI order in the Holy Land; displaced from his village of Ain Dor in 1948, he was one of the Muslim leaders who started a peace movement and dialogue between the nations in the Holy Land. Abd’s father, a well-known peacemaker internationally and in the Holy Land, is the international director of the Abrahamic Reunion. His peacemaking family’s mission is to build bridges and encourage the basics for understanding and respecting different religions, nations, and races, accepting all as human beings -- Muslims, Jews, Christians, Droz, Samaritans, and all in the holy land. 

Abd participates in a number of organizations and international programs, such as Kaiciid and Religions for Peace and The Parliament of the World's Religions. Since 2018, Abd has been the program director of the Abrahamic Reunion in the Holy Land since 2018, creating programs for women, clergy, family, and youth. Living now in Florida, Abd is married and has four children.