Living Stones Pilgrimage With the Christians of the Holy Land

A Guide

Alison Hilliard and Betty Jane Bailey

The Holy Land has always had an intense attraction for Christians. Every year, hundreds of thousands tread the crowded streets of Jerusalem, or walk by the quiet waters of Galilee. There are hundreds of guidebooks designed for pilgrims and other visitors. The encounter with the stones which Jesus saw and touched has been, for many, a powerful spiritual experience.

But the Christian presence is not just history. There are living, worshipping Christian communities in the Holy Land today. This unique guidebook is designed to help you encounter those communities, and to walk, talk and pray with contemporary Christians in Israel, the Palestinian and Occupied Territories: the ‘living stones’ of the book’s title. Written half a century after the creation of the state of Israel, with the co-operation of all the Christian traditions in the Holy Land, it is a key companion for visitors who want to share for a while the thoughts and the life, witness and presence of those who now live the faith of the apostles in this troubled land.

Alison Hilliard frequently reports from Israel and the Palestinian Territories for BBC Radio and Television. She is Head of Religious Programmes for the BBC World Service and has also lived in Jerusalem.

Rev. Dr. Betty Jane Bailey has lived in Bethlehem as a representative of the United Church of Christ USA and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Review:

“The local Christian community wishes to invite you to their land, to share with you their narrative and their heritage, to help you to discover the land in which our common faith is still rooted. The book is designed to help you respond to that invitation as you seek to experience the living faith of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land.”—Michael Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, President of the Middle East Council of Churches.

Reviews

“The local Christian community wishes to invite you to their land, to share with you their narrative and their heritage, to help you to discover the land in which our common faith is still rooted. The book is designed to help you respond to that invitation as you seek to experience the living faith of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land.” -Michael Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, President of the Middle East Council of Churches.