The Dean of St George’s College Jerusalem spent the last three weeks of April on an extended visit to the United Kingdom to consult with members of the British Regional Committee and to meet a range of leaders in the church and in theological education. There were also opportunities to meet with alumni of the College, including several of the participants in the recent Sharing Perspectives: Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land program.

The extended visit allowed Dr Jenks to consult widely about ways that the College can better serve the needs of the Church of England as well as the wider Anglican Communion.

One immediate outcome from the visit has been action to proceed with our plans to offer courses for ordination candidates from around the global Anglican Communion. This addresses one of the strategic goals set by the College Foundation in recent years, namely to engage with candidates preparing for ordination as well as clergy in the early years of their ministry. See the separate story on the Jerusalem Ministry Formation Program for more details.

The visit also allowed Dr Jenks to explore ways that the College can serve as a site for encounter and reconciliation within the wider Anglican Communion, as a place for interfaith encounter, and as a resource for the Anglican Church in the Middle East. Much more work is needed before these plans come to fruition, but the UK visit allowed these ideas to be discussed with a range of stakeholders.