St. George’s College is expanding its relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem. We have just finished hosting our third annual clergy retreat for all the clergy of the diocese. Our speaker was Clare Amos of the World Council of Churches. Clare is a former course director at the college. She has written a marvelous little book entitled “Peace-ing Together Jerusalem,” which concludes with the words “The task of the Christian is not to be neutral—but to be torn in two.” She gave three splendid lectures on themes from the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John.

We also are expanding our relationship to include “Parish Days” for parishes in the north around Nazareth, parishes in the West Bank, and parishes in Jordan. People of the diocese visited the new excavation at Migdal. This is the town associated with Mary of Magdalene, where a whole village has been uncovered together with a market place and a synagogue. We also visited Kursi, the site of the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5), and Capernaum, Jesus’ home base during his three-year ministry in Galilee preaching, teaching, and healing.

Before Easter we will gather the churches around Nablus in the West Bank to visit some of the biblical sites, such as the church of the Samaritan woman. Within the year we hope to do something similar with the churches around Amman, Jordan. As a followup, we hope to receive clusters of parishes at the college for an overnight in Jerusalem with a day walking the events of Holy Week.

Our ministries serve to sustain and strengthen our Christian presence as we teach respect and concern for all people, bringing hope to many, regardless of faith, where the light of hope is often dim. With a dwindling church membership due to emigration caused by local strife and economic hardship, the ministry here has more than the usual challenges. The maintenance of the historic Arab Christian presence, the ‘Living Stones,’ is vital, therefore, to the future stability of the region as we put our faith into action ‘loving our neighbors as ourselves.’ ~ The Most Reverend Suheil S. Dawani, Archbishop in Jerusalem