Day 1      Tuesday, 5 October

TRAVEL TO THE HOLY LAND

We gather at London Heathrow to join a morning flight to Tel Aviv. On arrival we will be met and driven to Galilee to our hotel by the lake. Overnight by the Sea of Galilee.

Day 2      Wednesday, 6 October

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. In Nazareth we will have an opportunity to meet with local Christians in the community. We will break for lunch at St Margaret’s Hostel. Dinner and overnight by the Sea of Galilee.

Day 3      Thursday, 7 October

JESUS’ GALILEAN MINISTRY

We start our day at Tabgha, the Church of the Loaves and Fishes for a celebration of the Eucharist beside the Lake then we proceed to the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter and onward to the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Later we drive to the ancient fishing village of Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry. We sail a short distance on the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum to Nof Ginosar, to see the First Century fishing boat where we break for lunch. In the afternoon we will drive around to Kursi and visit the site of the miracle of the Gaderene swine, before returning to our hotel by Galilee for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4      Friday, 8 October

BETHLEHEM

After an early breakfast we visit the modern Baptismal site at Yardenit, where we will have the opportunity of renewing our Baptism Vows. We then leave Galilee and drive south along the Jordan Valley to the oasis city of Jericho. Here we view the Mount of Temptation and the excavations of ancient city walls before breaking for coffee and shopping. Late morning we leave Jericho and drive up through the hills of the Judean Wilderness to visit Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and where we will break for a late lunch. In the afternoon we continue towards the summit of the Mount of Olives and we will have the opportunity of seeing the stark reality of the vast wall being built around the West Bank. We will then proceed through the wall into Bethlehem and to our hotel adjacent to the Church of the Nativity. Dinner and overnight stay in Bethlehem.

Day 5      Saturday, 9 October

BETHLEHEM

This morning we begin with a visit to the Basilica of the Nativity and the Shepherds Fields where we will celebrate the Eucharist. We then visit the Holy Family Maternity Hospital to learn of the vital work it does in and around the municipality. Then we walk to the Lutheran Christmas Church where the Pastor is the Revd Mitri Raheb, author of Bethlehem Besieged (a deeply moving account of the sufferings caused by the Israel invasion of Bethlehem in 2002), we will take lunch here and also see the remarkable work undertaken in the educational centre attached to the church. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day 6      Sunday, 10 October

SUNDAY SERVICES - EIN KAREM

This morning we join members of the local community for the Eucharist at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral. After lunch we visit the model of Jerusalem as it was in the time of Jesus and then we drive to Ein Karem to visit the traditional home of John the Baptist where we will bring the day to a close with Evening Prayer. Dinner and overnight stay at our hotel within walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Day 7      Monday, 11 October

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

After breakfast we will drive around the old walled city and proceed on foot to the Temple Mount, the site of the Temple of Solomon where we will see the only remnant, the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and also see the Dome of the Rock which now stands on the mount. After a break for lunch we drive 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. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 8      Tuesday, 12 October

MT ZION - DEAD SEA - QUMRAN

This morning we visit Mount Zion to see the traditional site of the Room of the Last Super, the beautiful Abbey of the Dormition, and the Church of St. Peter in Galicantu, for a Eucharist. There we will view the recently excavated Roman pathway and steps that lead up from the Old City. Late morning we leave Jerusalem and drive east for a tour of the Dead Sea basin. Driving down the Old Roman Road we stop in Wadi Kelt, for an amazing view of St. George's Monastery, which clings precariously to the valley wall. We then proceed to the shores of the Dead Sea where we break for lunch and an opportunity to bathe in its unique mineral laden waters. Finally we visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947, excavations uncovered the nearby Essene Monastery, where the Scrolls may have originated. We return to Jerusalem during the afternoon. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 9      Wednesday, 13 October

THE VIA DOLOROSA

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. The rest of the afternoon will be free for shopping or for visiting sites of special interest. Farewell dinner and our final overnight in in the Holy Land.

Day 10      Thursday, 14 October

OUR JOURNEY HOME

After breakfast we leave Jerusalem and visit Abu Gosh, a possible site of Emmaus to celebrate a final Eucharist, before heading on to Tel Aviv Airport for lunch and our afternoon return flight to London Heathrow)