St Mark s Cathedral Pilgrimage Following in the footsteps of Jesus led by The Very Rev. Steve Thomason Dean of St Mark s Cathedral & The Rev. Hunt Priest Rector, Emmanuel, Mercer Island 6th - 18th January, 2016 Lightline Pilgrimages North America - The official Pilgrimage partner for the Diocese of Jerusalem - Tel: (951) 906-3185 Email: info@lightlinena.com
Our Christian tradition holds dear the practice of making pilgrimages as holy experiences of learning, conversion and transformation, and none is more significant than walking the ways of Jesus. Both of us have found that our pilgrimages to the Holy Land have shaped our ministries and our understanding of what it means to follow Christ. We are excited by this opportunity to lead a pilgrimage together, with approximately 30 members of our congregations, leaving Seattle on January 6 th, 2016 and returning January 18 th. This is designed to be different than a tour or vacation; a pilgrimage offers a very particular opportunity to engage our sacred Scriptures contextually, and to learn more about the foundational stories of our faith. We also will engage people who call this special place home while exploring the realities of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. We will worship with our sisters and brothers in Christ in Nazareth and Jerusalem at Episcopal churches, and we will celebrate the Eucharist at holy sites that bear witness to Jesus ministry in those same places. To the first disciples in Galilee who were curious, or even longing for something more in their lives, Jesus says, Come and see, and we receive the same invitation even today, as followers of Christ. Come and see. Steve Thomason Dean of St. Mark s Cathedral Hunt Priest Rector, Emmanuel, Mercer Island TO SECURE PLACES ON THIS TOUR Please complete and send the enclosed booking form together with a deposit of $500 per person. The balance of the tour cost is payable no later than 1st October 2015.
Day 1, Wednesday 6th January We meet at Seattle-Tacoma to board our late afternoon overnight flight to Tel Aviv via London. HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE before dinner. Overnight stay on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Day 2, Thursday 7th January Our flight lands in the Tel Aviv late evening and we hope to be on our way to the north of Israel soon after clearing customs and immigration formalities. We will journey on to the Pilgerhaus by the Sea of Galilee, which will be our home for the next 4 nights. Day 4, Saturday 9th January We will spend the day visiting the sites around the Sea of Galilee associated with Jesus ministry of miracles and teaching set around the lake. We will have the chance to visit the Mount of Beatitudes, the ruins of Capernaum, the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, and the Church of Peter s Primacy. We will have the chance to experience our own boat ride on the lake, as well as seeing the First Century fishing boat discovered towards the end of the last century. Return tom our hotel in the late afternoon Dinner and overnight stay by the Sea of Galilee. Day 3, Friday 8th January After a relaxing morning we will leave our hotel and drive across te fertile Jezreel Valley to Mount Tabor, believed by many to be the site of the Transfiguration. After opening worship here we will break for lunch. In the afternoon we will visit the nearby excavations of Megiddo, Solomon s Chariot city. Strategically placed the city overlooks the plains of Armageddon. Finally we return to our lake side guesthouse in good time to relax Day 5, Sunday 10th January We begin our day by driving up to Nazareth to visit the Episcopal Church in Nazareth to join them in worship and to learn something of the Episcopal community in the city. We then break for lunch. And in the afternoon we will
Day 5 continued visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and the village of Cana, the site associated with Jesus first sign. We then return to our lakeside hotel in good time to relax and freshen up before dinner. Overnight stay by the Sea of Galilee. records Jesus encounter with the Samaritan Woman. We will spend much of the rest of the day with the Rector of St Phillip s Episcopal Church the only church in the Old City of Nablus and see at first hand the ministries of hospital and kindergarten maintained by the diocese. After lunch with members of the parish we leave Nablus and drive down to the Jordan River, near to the place where it is believed Jesus was baptized by John. After renewing our own baptism we will stop briefly for a view of the Mount of Temptation and then drive up through the hills of the Judean Wilderness towards Jerusalem, and on south towards Bethlehem, where we will spend two nights staying at a Pilgrim Hotel on Manger Square. Day 6, Monday 11th January After breakfast we bid farewell to the Sea of Galilee and journey south. We will drive through the heart of the West Bank, noting as we drive some of the facts on the ground about the Occupation, as we come to the city of Nablus. Here we will visit the ancient holy site of Jacob s Well, where the Fourth Gospel Day 7, Tuesday 12th January 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, one of the oldest churches in Christendom 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 hope to visit the St Vincent Creche/Orphanage - the only facility of its kind in the West Bank, offering Christian love and compassion to over forty abandoned babies and small children and the remarkable International Center of Bethlehem founded by Revd Dr Mitri Raheb, the Lutheran pastor of Bethlehem. Dinner and overnight stay in Bethlehem. Garden of Gethsemane. We then proceed to our Jerusalem hotel and check-in. Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem. Day 8, Wednesday 13th January Our day starts with a visit to the ancient city of Hebron, the site of the Tombs of the Patriarchs, where history and modern-day issues overlap in an acute fashion. We will visit both the mosque and synagogue and see a little of the impact of the Occupation in this particularly sensitive city. Returning towards Jerusalem, will visit the church which commemorates the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and have lunch. After lunch we will make our way to the summit of the Mount of Olives, where we will visit the ruins of a demolished house before beginning a journey down the slopes of the Mount that will take us from Bethphage (the start of the traditional Palm Sunday route) to the churches of Pater Noster and Dominus Flevit, and finally to the Church of All Nations, in the Day 9, Thursday 14th January Today we begin with a tour of some of the Israeli Settlements in the West Bank, and meet some of the setters who live there, in order to hear their understanding of the issues around the Occupation and the settlements. After lunch back in Jerusalem
Day 9 continued we ascend Mount Zion to visit sites associated with the Last Supper, the Day of Pentecost and the falling asleep of Mary, before finishing our day at 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 High Priest. Many believe that Jesus himself was led up these steps to his trial by the 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. and recalling Peter s betrayal of Jesus. Return to our hotel in good time to relax and freshen up before dinner. Overnight stay in Jerusalem. Elizabeth and Mary, when Magnificat was first sung. Return to our Jerusalem hotel. Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem. Day 11, Saturday 16th January After breakfast we leave Jerusalem and drive to Abu Ghosh, one of the sites associated with Emmaus and return to Jerusalem for lunch. In the afternoon we visit the Israel Museum s Shrine of the book which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and the beautiful detailed model of Jerusalem based around the time of Jesus. and finally we finally we return to our hotel in good time to freshen up before dinner. Overnight stay in Jerusalem. Day 10, Friday 15th January This morning we make our way to the remarkable church of St Anne, close to the Lion Gate and the start of the Via Dolorosa. After a celebration of the Eucharist, we will prayerfully walk the Way of the Cross, ending in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After lunch we drive to over to West Jerusalem to visit Yad Vashem, the moving Holocaust Memorial Museum and Park and pay our respects to the millions that perished under Nazi occupation. We finish the afternoon at the village of Ein Karem, believed to have been the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth and thus the site of the birth of John the Baptist and of the encounter between Day 12, Sunday 17th January After breakfast we attend the principal Sunday Eucharist at St George s Episcopal Cathedral. The rest of the day will be free to relax, pack our bags, explore the Old City or revisit sites of particular interest (no lunch is provided today). Farewell dinner and an early night! Day 13, Monday 18th January An early start. We leave our hotel and drive down to Ben Gurion Airport and check-in for our morning flight to Seattle via London. Our plane lands back in Seattle mid afternoon, and we go our separate ways, ready to speak of all that we have seen and discovered in the Land of the Holy One Please note this complex touring programme may be subject to minor local amendments
HOLY LAND INCLUSIVE TOUR COST - $4095 All Lightline Pilgrimages are carefully costed to include all necessary items to complete the pilgrimage at the advertised price - absolutely no hidden costs Scheduled flights from Seattle on British Airways. Seattle-Tacoma/London Heathrow 06 Jan BA 0048 600P 1130A London Heathrow /Tel Aviv 07 Jan BA 0167 445P 1150P Tel Aviv/London Heathrow 18 Jan BA 0162 735A 1100A Heathrow/Seattle-Tacoma 18 Jan BA 0049 215P 405P All the above times are local and are subject to change All airport departure & passenger taxes (US, UK & Israel). En Suite accommodation at Christian Pilgrim hotels & guest houses Galilee - Pilgerhaus (Benedictine guest house by the Sea of Galilee) Bethlehem - Orient Palace (by Manger Square) Jerusalem - Gloria Hotel (Within the Old City, by Jaffa Gate) Full board throughout (breakfast, lunch & dinner daily). All entrance fees and local government taxes. State licensed English speaking guides throughout the tour. All touring in modern air-conditioned tourist coaches. All tipping. THE ONLY ITEMS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE Single Room supplement (very limited) $685, Travel Insurance and any items of a personal nature.
Your Licensed International Tour Operator Lightline Pilgrimages Ltd Coopersale Hall Farm, Epping, Essex England CM16 7PE Tel: +44 20 8281 4882 Email:info@lightline.org.uk