A
Christian Pilgrimage to
Jerusalem and Beyond
Itinerary:
A St. George’s College Jerusalem
Special Program
“WE SHALL GO UP WITH JOY..”
Wednesday March 26—Thursday April 3, 2008
This Program Schedule is a guideline.
It is subject to
change without notice,
in accordance with
local conditions and needs.
Aims of the Special Program
To experience and explore, as pilgrims, the biblical land and the roots
of our faith, and to read our sacred scriptures in context;
To encounter Jesus in the places where he lived and practiced his ministry;
To visit shrines holy to three Abrahamic Traditions, and especially to
see Jerusalem as a mosaic of interfaith diversity;
To hear the contemporary voices of Israelis and Palestinians in their political,
religious and cultural realities, and to stand in solidarity with all those
who pray and work for justice and peace in the midst of conflict;
To reflect together on all these insights and begin to find ways to apply
them upon our return to our home communities.
Special Program College Staff
Dr.
Stephen W. Need, Dean of the College
Dr. Henry
R. Carse, Director of Special Programs
Group Leaders and Pastoral Team
The
Rev. Dr. Mary Luti, First Church in Cambridge
The Rev.
Dr. Anne Minton, Christ Church Cambridge
Ms. Tricia
Kibbe, Director—Seeking the Sacred
Special Program College Administrative
Staff
Ms.
Rana Khoury, Office Manager
Ms. Genia
Stephan, Registrar
Ms. Kathi
McDonald, Warden
Ms. Simone
Qumri, Librarian
In the Program Schedule, the Field Trips are
underlined. Please take a hat and water (at
least one liter) on ALL Field Trips. WATER from
the taps is potable, but it is safest to drink bottled water—which
will be provided for a symbolic cost.
Lectures, Seminars, Briefings and Reflections will
often look at scriptural texts. Please bring your Schedule, a Bible
and a notebook.
Modest Dress: Events
marked with an asterisk (*)require that knees and shoulders
be completely covered, in consideration of local custom.
Important Reminder: NEVER
LEAVE YOUR PASSPORT OR VALUABLES ON THE BUS OR ANYWHERE ELSE THAT IS NOT
TOTALLY SECURE! On trips inside Israel
and Palestine, and ESPECIALLY on trips into the Palestinian
Authority (PA) - e.g. Bethlehem— you will need your passport, details
of your medical insurance, money and a credit card.
You MUST take ALL personal
medication and hygienic needs with you on all overnight trips.
Remember, YOU must
pay for ALL drinks (including bottled water) that you
order while eating any meals (i.e. lunches) during excursions.
Please notify the Staff at least
TWO days in advance, if you will miss any scheduled Program event or meal.
SPECIAL PROGRAM SCHEDULE
March 2008
Mon March 24 Depart from USA
Tues 25 Welcome
to Jerusalem!
Arrivals Ben
Gurion Airport Tel Aviv
Transfer
by bus to Jerusalem
Welcome
and light refreshment
18.00 Reception
and Orientation
19.00 Dinner
and overnight at
St
George’s College Jerusalem
20.00 Evening
Prayer
Wed 26 Becoming
Pilgrims
07.30 Breakfast
08.30 Opening
Pilgrim Prayers in the Chapel
09.00 Opening Seminar: “Becoming
Pilgrims”
10.00 College
and Neighborhood Orientation
11.00 Opening
Lecture: ‘Jerusalem Through the Ages: An Interfaith Narrative”
12.30 Lunch
13.30 *Horizons
of Jerusalem: Journey Outside the Walled City
“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about
his people…” (Psalm 125:2)
Reflection: “Sacred Landscapes”
15.00 The
Separation Wall at Abu Dis
Reflection: “Walls
and Gates”
FREE
TIME FOR REST
19.00 Dinner
20.00 Evening
Prayer
Thur. 27
07.30 Breakfast
08.30 Briefing:
Explorations in the Old City
09.00 Explorations
in the Four Quarters of the Old City
12.30 Light
Lunch in the City
FREE
TIME - REST, MUSEUM, SHOPPING
17.00 Reports
on the Explorations (in Lecture Room)
18.30 Dinner
19.30 Guest
Speaker: “Contemporary
Realities—an
Israeli Jewish Perspective”
Mr Daniel Rossing, Director, JCJCR (Jerusalem Center for Jewish Christian
Relations)
21.00 Evening
Prayer
Fri. 28 Jerusalem:
Interfaith Labyrinth
07.00 Early
Breakfast
08.00 Seminar: “Encountering
Sacred Space—An Interfaith Pilgrimage”
0.900 *Visit
the Western Wall / HaKotel (“The Wailing Wall”)
Reflection: “Encountering
Jewish Sacred Space”
10.00 *Visit
St Anne’s Church and the Bethesda Pools
Reflection: “Jesus
the Healer”
12.00 Lunch
with the Sisters of Sion at Ecce Homo Convent
13.00 Briefing: “The
Anastasis—Song in Stone”
14.00 *Visit
the Church of the Resurrection / Anastasis (“The Holy Sepulchre”)
Reflection: “Encountering
Christian Sacred Space”
16.00 Vespers
in the Anastasis
17.00 Return
to the College
18.00 OPTIONAL — Depart
for synagogue Erev Shabat (Sabbath Eve) Services at
the
Yedidya Synagogue West Jersualem
Conversation
with Jewish Families
Return
to St. George’s College
19.00 Dinner
in the College
- Evening Prayer
NB—For trip to Bethlehem in the Palestinian Authority
you need your PASSPORT, copy of travel insurance, and credit card, money
(dollars not shekels) for shopping.
Sat. 29 The
Road to Bethlehem
07.00 Early
Breakfast
08.00 *Depart
for Ein Kerem
Visit
the Church of St. John the Baptist
Reflection: “John
the Baptist”
10.00 *Depart
for Bethlehem
12.00 Light
Lunch in Bethlehem
Conversation
with Palestinian Residents:
“Palestinian
Life under Occupation”
14.00 *Visit
the Basilica of the Nativity
“She gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger.” (Luke 2:7)
Reflection: “The Birth of Jesus”
15.00 *Visit
the Mosque at Manger Square
Conversation
with Muslim Hosts
16.00 *Visit
the Shepherds’ Fields
“There
were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Lk
2:8)
Reflection: “The
Message of the Angels”
17.00 Return
to Jerusalem
19.00 Dinner
in the College
20.00 Group
Reflection/Evening Prayer
IMPORTANT NOTE:
PLEASE! Pack ALL medications and everything else you will
need. There may well be NO easy access to pharmacies and shops when
we are in Galilee.
You MUST have your passport etc. with you.
Sun 30 ‘He
has gone before you into Galilee…’
08.00~09.00 Late Breakfast
08.00 *Sunday
Worship Services in the City
(Various Denominations— Suggestions: Roman Catholic, Anglican,
Lutheran, Greek Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Presbyterian, etc.)
Meetings
with Local Palestinian Christians
12.30 Light
Lunch in the City
14.00 Departure
to Galilee via the Judean Desert Road
Reflection: Jesus
in the Wilderness
15.00 Depart
for the Jordan River at Yardenit via the Hills of Galilee
“Jesus
came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the
Jordan.” (Mark
1:9)
Renewal
of Baptismal Promises in the Water of the Jordan
Reflection: “The
Baptism of Jesus”
19.00 Dinner
and Overnight at Pilgerhaus
20.00 Evening
Prayer
Mon 31
07.30 Breakfast
08.30 *Nazareth— Visit
the Basilica of the Annunciation
Reflection: Annunciation
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth…and the virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26.)
11.00 Visit
the Excavations at the Sisters of Nazareth Convent
12.00 Light
Lunch in Nazareth
13.00 Depart
via the Hills of Galilee for the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth)
14.00 Visit
the Mount of Beatitudes
Reflection: “Beatitudes”
15.00 Depart
for Tabgha (Heptapegon) on the Sea of Galilee (Kinnereth)
16.00 Communion
Service by the Lake
Rev
Mary Luti—Celebrant
19.00 Dinner,
overnight Pilgerhaus—Tabgha
Tel
++972-4-670-0100
Fax
++972-4-670-0101
20.00 Evening
Prayer
April 2008
Tue 1 Transfiguration
and Tears
07.00 Early
Breakfast
08.00 *Depart
for Mount Tabor
09.00 *Mount
Tabor and the Basilica of the
Transfiguration
“And
he was transfigured before them
and his garments became glistening…”
(Mark 9:2)
10.00 Prayer
at the Basilica of the
Transfiguration
on Mount Tabor
Reflection: “Transfiguration”
11.00 Depart
for Jerusalem via Jordan Valley
12.00 Light
Lunch en route
14.00 *The
Mount of Olives, Dominus Flevit
“Jesus drew near and saw the city, and wept over it, saying, ‘Would
that eventoday you knew the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:41)
Reflection: “The
Humble Entry”
*The
Garden of Gethsemane
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death… stay
here and keep watch.” (Mark 14:34)
Reflection: “The
Prayer of Jesus”
17.00 Arrive
at St. George’s
- Dinner and overnight at St. George’s
- Evening Prayer
Wed 2 Jerusalem:
Interfaith Labyrinth (2)
07.00 Early
Breakfast
07.45 *Departure
for The Haram Esh Sharif/ Temple Mount
*Visit
the area of the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa Mosque
Reflection: “Encountering
Muslim Sacred Space”
12.00 Light
Lunch in the City
13.00 *Departure
for Yad Vashem—Holocaust Memorial
Guest
Guide: Ms Carol Ann Bernheim
16.00 Return
to the College
19.00 Dinner
in the college
20.00 Group
Reflections/Evening Prayer
Thr 3 Day
of Joys
07.00 Breakfast
08.00 *Depart
for Emmaus/Abu Ghosh
“Did
not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?”
Luke 24:32)
09.00 Visit
the Ancient Roman Road to
Emmaus
at Motsa
Closing
Communion Service at Emmaus/Abu Ghosh (venue pending)
Reflection: “Emmaus”
12.00 Return
to Jerusalem
13.00 Light
Lunch in the City
FREE
TIME FOR REST, MUSEUM, SHOPPING
Options
include: ISRAEL MUSEUM AND SHRINE OF THE BOOK, ETC.
17.30 Conversation
with a Jewish Cantor
“The
Psalms in Jewish Worship”
18.30 Closing
Reception
19.30 Farewell
Dinner in the College
Overnight
at the College
Fri April 4 Return
Flights to the USA
[Please complete your evaluation form and give it to a Group Leader before
you depart!! Thank you!!!]
SAFE JOURNEY!!!
SHALOM!
SALAMAT!
PEACE!
O God,
I came to your holy land,…seeking a pure
encounter,
a cleansing, a pilgrimage, a sense of direction.
There are no pure experiences, no unmixed
feelings,
no beauty that is not woven with pain.
I wanted truth.
I find several, incompatible truths.
I wanted faith.
I have met faith ~ passionate, intense, real
and blind.
I wanted the Bible to come alive.
I find it living, breathing, and justifying violence.
There is no innocence in prayer, no innocence
in religion,…
just nowhere else to go to avoid noticing the
tenacity of evil,
or carrying my share of history, of present pain,
my share in the struggle for peace.
For, if your disciples keep silent,
these stones will cry aloud.
~ Janet
Morley
taken
from Companions of God
St. George’s College Jerusalem
Post Office Box 1248
Jerusalem 91000
Tel: +972 2 626 4704 Fax: +972 2 626
4703
www.sgcjerusalem.org |
