ISRAEL – Members of The Canadian Church Press (CCP) arrived in Israel March 4 for a week-long tour of the Holy Land, and a strong contingent of Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) members was among them.
Mathew Block (editor of The Canadian Lutheran magazine), Ian Adnams (Vice President of the CCP; formerly editor of The Canadian Lutheran), and their spouses, as well as Marion Hollinger (editor of Tapestry, the national magazine of Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada), are all taking part in the trip, which is sponsored by the Israel Government Tourist Office.
Trip participants will visit a number of Holy Land sites including the Mount of Beatitudes (where tradition states Jesus gave the “Sermon on the Mount”), Capernaum (where Jesus began his ministry), the Sea of Galilee, Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, and his birthplace in Bethlehem. The trip will culminate in a visit to Jerusalem where participants will travel the Via Dolorsa (Latin for the “Way of Suffering”), which marks the route believed to have been followed by Christ on his way to Golgotha. Participants will end their journey at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—the traditional location of the tomb of Jesus, where He rose again from the dead three days after being buried.
Other publications represented on the trip are the Salvationist (Salvation Army), The Messenger (Seventh Day Adventist), Alliance.ca (Christian and Missionary Alliance), The Recorder (Mennonite), Catholic Missions in Canada and B.C. Catholic Newspaper (Roman Catholic), The United Church Observer (United), and two nondenominational publications—Christian Week and Converge magazine. The Israel Government Tourist Office covers the cost of the trip for all members of the CCP; spouses were invited to also come but at their own expenses.
The Canadian Lutheran and Tapestry are both member publications of The Canadian Church Press, an organization of Canadian Christian publications. The association promotes high standards of religious journalism and encourages cooperation between Canada’s Christian publishing community.