Pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine

27 members of St George’s visited Israel and Palestine in October 2008 to visit sites connected with the gospels. David Kibble writes:

"We particularly enjoyed visiting the area around Lake Galilee where much of Jesus’ ministry took place. We saw where Jesus taught his Sermon on the Mount, the area where he fed the 5,000 and the lake on which the disciples fished. As one member of the congregation commented, she was now able to read the gospels ‘in colour.’

While in Jerusalem we walked the traditional Via Dolorosa, visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; built over the site where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and buried and from where he rose from the dead.

We also took the opportunity to visit sites holy to our brother Abrahamic faiths: the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. We were given a particularly interesting audio visual presentation on the Jerusalem Temple at the Davidson Archaeological Museum.

Members of the party were shocked to see some of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and particularly the security fence or wall around Bethlehem. We saw how the wall separated Palestinian families from their work and families and how it had annexed land not generally accepted as belonging to Israel. Our Christian guide explained how many Palestinian Christians had left the area because of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

We worshipped one morning in the Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem. The early morning eucharist ended with 27 of us singing the doxology in a four part round. An unforgettable experience!"

The church will be running another pilgrimage in the autumn 2010. Details from David Kibble via the church office.