ARCHDIOCESE — Father Rob Waller, the pastor of St. Andrew Church in Milford, has been selected to receive the 2007 Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Award. This award is made to individuals who have shown extraordinary commitment to peace, justice and well-being for the Christians of the Holy Land.

The award will be presented to Father Waller at a banquet held in conjunction with the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s Ninth International Conference, which will be held on Oct. 26 and 27 at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. The theme of the conference is "Walking the Path of Peace." The Award Banquet will take place Oct. 26.

With the strong encouragement of Father Waller, St. Andrew’s has spearheaded a Holy Land Outreach Committee to serve all of the Christian churches in the Greater Cincinnati area. That initiative has raised funds which now support more than 300 students in Christian Schools in the Holy Land. In addition, the joint effort has led to the sale of more than $40,000 worth of religious gift items made by Holy Land artisans, providing significant economic support to a cottage industry that has fallen on hard times.

Father Waller was a principal organizer of the HCEF’s Children’s Peace Program, which places Christian eighth-grade students from Palestine in Christian schools in the United States. He has also planned and led pilgrimages to the Holy Land’s Christian shrines, institutions and families — the "living stones" of the first Christian church.