A trip to the Holy Land... bringing back a bell from Jerusalem

One of the ministries that Iona House / Institute for Christoformity will be developing over the coming years is offering the experience of pilgrimage. We will be leading trips to the Holy Land, the Footsteps of Paul, and Celtic Christianity tours (Ireland, Scotland, England). For nearly two millennia Christians have made journeys of faith to sacred places in order to enrich their own faith and enter into solidarity with the people of God. Countless people have been deeply marked by a pilgrimage experience.

We (Elizabeth and I) were blessed to have been invited to lead a group of 15 people to Israel for a 10 day pilgrimage. We THOROUGHLY enjoyed our time with a fantastic group of committed Christians. We learned so much from our Palestinian, Christian guide about the current context of Christians as well as the history of God’s people in Israel/Palestine. We saw many ancient sites and also got to know some of the “living stones” (present-day Christians) of the Holy Land. We had a chance to walk the Via Dolorosa and pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which has within it both the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and the tomb where He was laid). We spent time in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Galilee. We also visited the site where Jesus was baptized, floated in the Dead Sea and saw a host of significant biblical sites. It was AMAZING!

One of the highlights for us was finding a bell in a market in the Old City of Jerusalem that we purchased and brought back to use as a means of calling people to prayer. It weighs about 27 lbs and is solid brass. Everyone chuckled at us when we showed up at the bus with our large, heavy bell. “How are you going to get that home?!” Truthfully it did destroy our suitcase. But it’s worth it to have a bell from the Mother Church calling us to prayer! When you hear the bell at Iona House, know that it is a call to prayer from the source of Christianity.

Below is a gallery of some highlights of the trip.