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A UMNS Report
By Erin Edgemon*

7:00 A.M. EST March 29, 2011

The Rev. Matthew Kelley places written prayers into cracks at the Western
Wall in Jerusalem. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Matthew Kelley.
View in Photo Gallery

Not many people have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

For 13 young clergy and laity, a recent pilgrimage of the Holy Land was a life-changing journey that brought new meaning to their faith and their ministry.

“Our pilgrimage really brought home to me how human the Bible is,” said the Rev. Matthew Kelley, from Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Clarksville, Tenn. “These stories are about God interacting with real people in real places, facing real struggles."

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society sponsored the pilgrimage Feb. 22-March 5. Participants, representing several annual (regional) conferences across the United States, traveled to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, said the Rev. Clayton Childers, director of conference relations for the board. They visited with local people and heard their perspectives on the current situation in the Middle East.

“We also witnessed how there is still history unfolding in this land and how complex the issues are,” Kelley said. “(We) were overwhelmed to see how the Palestinians — the vast majority of whom want an end to all violence and to live side by side with Israel in peace — suffer under Israeli occupation. We came away with a strong resolve to tell their story, which is often not heard in our country.”

The group visited several historic Christian sites. They paused to read the Sermon on the Mount at the site where Jesus may have taught his disciples and they rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee, watching a crewmember demonstrate an ancient technique of casting a fishing net.

The clergy also visited the Qumran archeological site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, knelt in prayer in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, drank water from Jacob’s Well and worshipped in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

“A number of the group had collected prayers from church members and friends which they used to guide their prayers at the Western (Wailing) Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem,” Childers said. “There was even time to take a swim and float in the Dead Sea.”

Walking ‘where Jesus walked’

The Board of Church and Society began leading pilgrimages to the Holy Land eight years ago, he said, but this year’s trip was the first in four years. The next pilgrimage is slated for Feb. 1-10, 2012.

“We think it is inspiring for clergy to walk where Jesus did and learn the history of the area,” Childers said. Clergy are introduced to the current situation and meet people of varying perspectives, both Israeli and Palestinian.

During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land led by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, travelers worshipped on the hillside said to be the place of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Clayton Childers.
View in Photo Gallery

“We want participants to experience both the Holy Land's historic and religious significance and the current reality of people who live there today,” Childers said. “This area of the world, despite its small size, is a huge barrier to global peace. Until the rights of all the people who live there are protected, both Palestinian and Israeli, there will be no end to this conflict.”

Visiting the Holy Land is often so inspiring it helps pastors interpret the Bible better and describe what certain places actually look like in their sermons.

They also leave the area as advocates for peace.

Visiting the Holy Land is something Kelley always wanted to do. He appreciated that the trip came with many opportunities to speak with Palestinian and Israeli natives of various religious beliefs.

He began to see the conflicts for more than just black-and-white issues as they sometimes appear in the United States. The group saw Palestinian refugee camps where many people have lived in deplorable conditions since the 1940s.

“They are living in what we would call a really run-down housing project,” Kelley said.

They also met with Avihai Stollat, who works with the organization Breaking the Silence. The organization collects the stories of former Israeli soldiers, like Stollat, who want to make people aware of what is really happening in Palestine.

“It was a very powerful experience to see the places where the stories (with which) I have been so familiar actually happened,” Kelley said. “These stories are about real people. Some are extraordinary, and some are what we deal with in ordinary life.”

‘Brings the Bible to life’

Kelley said the trip has already affected his preaching. Now he can set the story of something that happened in the gospel. He paints many word pictures when he is preaching.

A child walks through the Al Arub Palestinian Refugee Camp in the West Bank, south of Bethlehem. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Clayton Childers. View in Photo Gallery

With his ministry, he hopes to take groups to experience what he did.

The Rev. Chris Henson, Smith Grove United Methodist Church in Mocksville, N.C., has trouble putting to words the profound experience of the pilgrimage. He relished speaking with the people living in the area, from the hardcore Zionists to the Israeli soldiers and the Bedouins.

“You heard the voices of an entire spectrum,” he said. “It made it more than just sightseeing.”

Now as he reads the Bible, he knows how certain places in the book actually feel and look.

“These things that were just in a book have become alive,” Henson said. “It has added a deeper appreciation for the text.

“I can’t wait for Easter, having been in Jerusalem and being where Jesus was in his last days.”

Kelley said the sense that they were walking in the footsteps of Jesus was powerful.

“I think to go and visit these places is something every pastor and every Christian should do at least once in their life. It really brings the text and the Bible to life."

*Edgemon is a freelance writer in Bell Buckle, Tenn.

News media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.