We headed out early to the Mt of Olives - about 7:30. All 1200 of us! Just think about the logistics behind that - and somehow it worked. Standing there in the hot morning sun, singing, listening to an introduction to the city of Jerusalem, praying... Then there were photographs from a circling helicopter, first of the whole group, then of the Bishops, and then we broke into smaller groups and headed down the Mt to the site of Gethsemani and the church of All Nations, that place where Jesus was squeezed out in prayer on the night before his crucifixion. It was all quite a moment. Our small group decided to walk back through the Old City rather than take the busses back. We went up into the Old City through the Lion's Gate - also known as St Stephen's gate, the traditional place where Stephen was martyred, outside the walls, within site of the Mt of Olives - the place where the Messiah is supposed to return. We stopped by St Anne's Church, where the Pool of Bethsaida was in the time of Jesus, now filled with beautiful gardens and lemon trees. Time to pause and cool off in the shade.
We went on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, slowly walking past the place of Jesus' crucifixion, the place he was taken down and laid out, and perhaps the place where he was buried. It is an Orthodox church, filled with old columns and dark corridors and devotional lamps. There was Divine Liturgy being offered at the site of the tomb. I stopped in a small empty stone side chapel and listened and sung along with the chanted psalms. So much to think about... We came back up through the Christian Quarter Road to David street and all the shops in the souk (a street filled with side shops).
Up at the Jaffa Gate we stopped by Christ Church for a tour and drinks and rest. I have run into Linda Cohen several times - wonderful to see her, and she seems to be doing great work at Christ Church with CMJ. We caught cabs back to the hotel in time for lunch. I sat with the Leightons from Connecticut, long time friends, and with Archbishop Orambi from Uganda. He is a wonderful man. Long conversation about the Communion and the conference. Very encouraging. I invited him to Pittsburgh and the Seminary and St Stephens when he is in the States next year. We shall see.
At 2 PM there was the opening Eucharist to the conference, with Archbiship Orambi speaking from John 5 (healing at Bethsaida), "Jesus is Lord" - "I am asking you to be a church that obeys the Lord. Listen to the healer. Do not disobey the healer." Wonderful worship to a Kenyan liturgy, great enthusiasm, strong singing, deep joy. Exhausted, I went back to my room for an hour nap.
By 5 PM I was back in the conference to hear Os Guiness speak on the "8 Challenges of Modernity". Among them, "Modernity makes evangelism easier but discipleship harder (because of the shift from 'authority' to 'this is my preference')" and "The oddities of communication" (including inflation of language and inattention coming from the fact that everyone is speaking and no one is listening). "Deep listening is the rarest of gifts".
After dinner I headed back to sort it out and think and pray.
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