The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally posts formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.
Bishop Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, spent an hour and a half with us this evening. Tim Biles, one of the participants on our course, told us all that Bishop Suheil occupies the hottest seat in the Anglican Communion. The Bishop is leader of a small and slowly emigrating Arab Christian Church in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Whilst the church is small, it runs thirty five institutions of real value in promoting justice, peace and harmony between the faiths. He was a delight to listen to.
And Bishop Suheil helped me reconcile myself better with the Church of the Nativity. (If you have read my earlier post below you will understand what I mean.) The oldest church in Christendom in continuous use has attracted pilgrims for nearly 2000 years to Bethlehem. In the past this has brought the town prosperity and it is now doing so again. The number of pilgrims willing to visit is growing and the signs of regeneration in the town are visible to those who know what it was like before. Social and economic regeneration is a good thing. I hope and pray too for the spiritual regeneration of Bethlehem.
