Pilgrim Stories

In 2012 Joanne listened to leaders talk about their dreams for Ramallah’s Episcopal Technological and Vocational Training Center (ETVTC). In 2022 she witnessed them come true.

Why does the Holy Land draw me in? What is it about Jerusalem that holds my heart? I’ve had the privilege of making the traditional pilgrimage to the Holy Land since the mid-1990’s, walking in the footsteps of Jesus in the Galilee and in Jerusalem,...

Along with 15 other trustees and staff members, Matthew Johnson, an attorney from Oak Park, Illinois, visited 11 Diocese of Jerusalem schools and hospitals in October. After visiting the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt, Jordan, he recalls the powerful impression his first...

For pilgrims from Colorado in Jerusalem during the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh the conflict becomes real by the Rev. Weezie BlanchardRector of Church of the Ascension, Denver Recently, 21 parishioners from various Episcopal churches in Colorado (and a few from Oklahoma) returned from a...

by Randy Heyn-LambPasadena, California Doni and Randy Heyn-Lamb have made a half dozen trips to the eastern Mediterranean over the past 20 years and returned in November and December, 2019, to visit friends and note the changes since their last visit. With introductions from AFEDJ...

In July 2019 a group of Episcopalians called The Holy Landers along with other members of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, including Bishops Ian Douglas and Laura Ahrens, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A few of their members have written movingly of their...

The Rev’d Matthew Dayton-WelchNovember 25th, 2018Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church, Newtown SquareThe Feast of Christ the King (John 18: 33-37) Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own,...

by Elizabeth Keesee Henry In October, during an AFEDJ Board visit to a number of the Diocese of Jerusalem institutions, I was moved to see that a common thread among them was the living out of our baptismal vow “to seek and serve Christ in...

Sermon by the Rev. Matthew Dayton-WelchNovember 18, 2018Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church, Newtown SquareMark 13:1-8 As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these...

by the Rev. Dr. Ann J. Broomell The first time I traveled to Jerusalem was in 2004 with a group of other clergy and spouses. The trip was planned to be a mix of visiting the holy sites and learning some of the life of...