Itinerary

Day 1 Saturday 8th December

Journeying to the Holy Land

We meet at Luton Airport for our non-stop flight to Tel Aviv arriving in the early evening. We will be met and transferred to our simple pilgrim hostel in Nazareth, which will be our home for the next two nights.

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Day 2, Sunday 9th December

Annunciation and Revelation

We start our pilgrimage by joining the small Anglican community in Nazareth for its Sunday Eucharist, after which we visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest Christian church in Israel, believed to have been built on the house in which the Holy Family lived. After a brief visit to Cana of Galilee, we will spend the afternoon at Mount Tabor, the traditional site of the Transfiguration, where, if the weather permits, we can enjoy the sight of the sun setting over the region.

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Day 3, Monday 10th December

Teaching and Feeding

This morning will focus on the principal sites of Jesus’ ministry around the home he made for himself by the Sea of Galilee. After commemorating the call of the first disciples in a Eucharist by the Sea itself, we will visit the excavated ruins of Capernaum, as well as sites associated with the Feeding of the 5000, the recommissioning of Peter, and the giving of the Sermon on the Mount. In the afternoon, we will visit the River Jordan, and have the opportunity to renew our baptism vows, before driving south through the West Bank towards Bethlehem, stopping on the way at Nablus, where we will visit Jacob’s Well, visited by Jesus himself as he journeyed to Jerusalem

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Day 4, Tuesday 11th December

Incarnation and abundant life

Today will give us the chance not only to see the places associated with the birth of Jesus, but to see the implications of the Incarnation as lived out by the Christians of Bethlehem. During the course of the day we will visit the Shepherds Fields and the Church of the Nativity, as well as seeing the work of two remarkable Christian institutions endeavouring to bring something of the abundant life promised in the gospel to those living under the restrictions of the Occupation. We will visit the Holy Family Hospital, which offers the only neo-natal care in the southern West Bank, and the remarkable International Center of Bethlehem, founded by the Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

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Day 5, Wednesday 12th December

Exploring our roots

In the morning we journey south from Bethlehem to Hebron, the burial place of Abraham and the patriarchs, where we will see very clearly the awful effect of the Occupation which has dramatically divided the very heart of this ancient and historic city. After lunch we visit the Israel museum, to see a model of the city from the time of Jesus and the Shrine of the Book, before visiting the village of Ein Karem, reputed to have been the home of John the Baptist, to recall Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and close the day by singing Magnificat where it was first proclaimed.

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Day 6, Thursday 13th December

Tears and Prayers

This morning begins for us at the Mount of Olives, when we will visit Bethany, and then trace our way from Bethphage, the traditional starting point of the procession of palms, to the church of the Pater Noster, where we recall Jesus’ teaching of the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples, and the church of Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over the fate of the city. Finally, we reach the Garden of Gethsemane, and the dark and brooding Church of All Nations, where we recall Jesus’ agonized prayers prior to his arrest, and reflect on the failure of his closest friends to keep awake and watch with him. After lunch we visit the ecumenical theology movement Sabeel, founded by the Anglican priest Canon Naim Ateek, to learn of its work promoting peaceful resistance to the Occupation. From here we will journey into the West Bank, to visit the tomb of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, and the only entirely Christian village of Taybeh, where we will learn of the remarkable work undertaken by the church here.

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Day 7, Friday 14th December

I do not know the man

Our day begins with a visit to the Gush Etzion settlement block between Jerusalem and Hebron, where we will be the guests of a community of settlers, who will explain their philosophy and politics to us. This will be an opportunity to learn, rather than to argue, and will give us new insight into the complex problems of the Occupation. After lunch we will explore the holy sites located on Mount Zion, where the earliest Christian community lived in the days following the resurrection. Here we will find a site commemorating both the Upper Room used for the Last Supper as well as the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and a striking abbey in honour of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. The principal focus of the morning, however, will be a visit to the church of St Peter in Gallicantu, built at the top of an ancient set of steps which leads up from the City of David to what is believed to have been the residence of the Jewish High Priest. Many believe that Jesus himself was led up these steps to his trial by the Jewish authorities after his arrest. Here we recall not only Jesus’ incarceration over the last night of his life, but also Peter’s faithless threefold denial of Jesus.

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Day 8, Saturday 15th December

Taking up the cross

If permitted, we will start our day by visiting the Temple Mount, where we can see close up (but not enter) the glorious Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. This will lead us to the remarkable church of St Anne and the Pools of Bethesda, which we will visit, before coming to the start of the Via Dolorosa. Here we will celebrate the Eucharist, and then wind our way through the narrow alleys of the Old City, following the traditional Way of the Cross, culminating in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The afternoon will be free, to give each pilgrim a chance to revisit places or explore Jerusalem at their leisure. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

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Day 9, Sunday 16th December

Resurrection

There will be an early morning opportunity to revisit the Church of the Holy Sepulchure to see it in use on Sunday morning, as the different denominations celebrate their liturgies alongside each other. Later in the morning we will visit the Anglican Cathedral to worship alongside our Palestinian sisters and brothers. After a visit to St George’s College, we will have lunch at the cathedral, before heading west from Jerusalem back towards the airport. On the way we will stop at Abu Ghosh, one of the traditional sites associated with the Emmaus story, before heading towards our flight home, and the chance to tell others what has happened to us on the road…

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