Day 1      Monday 18 January

TRAVEL TO THE HOLY LAND

We gather at Sacramento Airport to fly to Amman via Washington and London.

Day 2      Tuesday 19 January

AMMAN - MADABA

On arrival in Amman, we will be met by our guide and driven the short distance to our hotel in the town of Madaba for overnight stay.

Day 3      Wednesday 20 January

MADABA - MT NEBO - BAPTISM SITE

After breakfast we stroll across to St George’s orthodox church to view a beautiful 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land which is preserved in the floor of the church. We then drive to Mount Nebo and stand where Moses stood and surveyed the Promised Land and where we hope to celebrate the Eucharist. After a break for lunch we drive down to the River Jordan to visit the site of Jesus’ baptism at Bethany beyond the Jordan returning to Madaba in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight.

Day 4      Thursday 21 January

JERASH - GALILEE

Leaving Madaba after breakfast we drive to the Graeco-Roman city of Jerash to explore one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world, with its paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hill-top temples, spectacular theatres, public squares, plazas, baths and fountains. After lunch we continue to the Sheikh Hussein Bridge to cross over the River Jordan into Israel and on to our hotel on the shores of Lake Galilee. Dinner and overnight by Galilee.

Day 5      Friday 22 January

MT TABOR, NAZARETH & CANA

After a Eucharist on Mount Tabor, which commemorates the Transfiguration of Jesus before Peter, James and John, we will continue to Cana, the site of Jesus’ first sign, then on to Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, to visit the Church of the Annunciation and the Old Synagogue-Church. We also hope to visit the local Anglican School and break for lunch at St Margaret’s Anglican Hostel. Return to our lakeside hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6      Saturday, 23 January

JESUS’ GALILEAN MINISTRY

We start our day with a celebration of the Eucharist by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, before visiting the Church of the Loaves and Fishes, the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter and the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We will then drive to the ancient fishing village of Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry. We will also visit Kursi, associated with the story of the Gadarene swine, go out on the lake in a boat, and view the recently discovered First Century fishing boat housed in a museum at Nof Ginosar. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 7      Sunday, 24 January

JERICHO, BETHANY & BETHLEHEM

After breakfast we will return to Nazareth for Sunday Eucharist with the local Anglican community. After lunch in Nazareth we will leave Galilee and drive south along the Jordan Valley to the oasis city of Jericho. Here we view the Mount of Temptation, and break for coffee and a chance to purchase local products such as glass from Hebron and Dead Sea cosmetics. On leaving Jericho we drive through the Judean Wilderness to Bethany, before driving around Jerusalem to Bethlehem. We will see the stark reality of the vast wall being built around the West Bank both in Bethany and around Bethlehem, passing through it to reach our hotel located on Manger Square. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day 8      Monday, 25 January

BETHLEHEM

This morning we begin with a visit to the Basilica of the Nativity and the Shepherds Fields. We will also visit the Holy Family Maternity Hospital, to learn about its vital work in and around the municipality, before arriving at the International Center of Bethlehem, where we hope to meet the Lutheran Pastor, the Revd Mitri Raheb, author of Bethlehem Besieged (a deeply moving account of the sufferings caused by the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem in 2002), and to see the pioneering work undertaken here in the fields of culture and healing. Dinner with and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day 9      Tuesday, 26 January

MOUNT OF OLIVES & ICAHD VISIT

After breakfast we will drive back through the wall and proceed to Bethphage, the start of the traditional Palm Sunday procession on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. From there we will continue to the Pater Noster Convent, before walking down the Mount of Olives to visit the Church of Dominus Flevit, which commemorates the site where Jesus wept over the destruction of Jerusalem, the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane. In the afternoon, after a break for lunch we will be privileged to be given a tour of Jerusalem and the surrounding region by the Israeli Committee against House Demolition, founded by Nobel laureate Professor Jeff Halper. This will allow us to hear a liberal Jewish perspective on the ‘facts on the ground’. During this tour, we will learn more about the nature of the Occupation in economic terms, as well as seeing inside a Jewish settlement, and visiting a Palestinian village where many houses are under the threat of demolition. We return to our Jerusalem hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 10      Wednesday, 27 January

MOUNT ZION - MUSEUM

This morning we will visit the Archaeological Park around the edge of the Western Wall and the ancient City of David, before ascending to Mount Zion to see the traditional site of the Room of the Last Supper, the beautiful Abbey of the Dormition, and the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, where we will celebrate the Eucharist. There we will view the recently excavated Roman pathway and steps that lead up from the Old City. Break for lunch and in the afternoon we visit the Israel Museum, where have a chance to see the model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ, the Shrine of the Book (which recounts the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls), and other antiquities that have been collected. Finally we drive to St George’s Anglican Cathedral for evening prayers and a chance to meet fellow Anglicans at the Mother Church of the Diocese of Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 11      Thursday 28 January

VIA DOLOROSA - YAD VASHEM - SABEEL

We will begin the day at the beautiful Crusader Church of St. Anne overlooking the Pools of Bethesda, before visiting the Convent of the Sisters of Zion built on the foundations of the Antonia Fortress, the Roman Garrison of Jerusalem. After a celebration of the Eucharist we visit the recently-excavated first century stone pavement (Gabbatha in the gospels) to follow the Way of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary enshrined within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the afternoon we will visit the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial museum. In the evening, we will meet members of Sabeel, an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Christian Palestinians. It also works to promote an accurate international awareness of the Palestinian Christians plight. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 12      Friday 29 January

EMMAUS ABU GOSH

This morning we will journey seven miles west from Jerusalem to Abu Gosh - a possible site of Emmaus, where we will end the pilgrimage with a celebration of the Eucharist. Returning to Jerusalem, there will be free time to explore the Old City and/or revisit favorite sites. Lunch will not be provided today. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 13      Saturday 30 January

OUR JOURNEY HOME

After an early breakfast we leave Jerusalem and proceed to Tel Aviv Airport for our return flight to Sacramento via London and Washington.