As many of you will know all curates are engaged in what is known colloquially as Potty Training’, officially POT’ or Post Ordination Training. The aim of this training is partly to give curates a chance to reflect on their ministerial experiences and to supplement whatever training they receive in the parish. It also provides a valuable opportunity to meet with other curates and commiserate or celebrate as seems most appropriate!
The content of this training varies between diocese and so there’s an element of potluck as to whether the training is good, bad or indifferent. In the Edmonton area curates are given an opportunity to do a study tour of the Holy Land as part of their Post Ordination Training; every 3 or 4 years the Bishop of Edmonton leads a group of curate pilgrims to Israel where we spend a week together visiting the holy sites and meeting with some of the local Christians.
This is how I came to escape the wind and rain of London in mid-January for the cold but sunny climbs of Israel earlier this year. I had had reservations about going, partly because the political situation presents some risks (my mother advised me to prepare a will before I left) and also because I had just got back into the swing of work after my post-Christmas break and it seemed inconvenient to take a week out at this stage (my inner Martha was speaking to me more loudly than my inner Mary at this point). I also fear that fellow clergy bring out the worst in me and I wasn’t sure how I would cope for a week with a group of (largely male) clergy.
Given all my inner reservations I could perhaps only be pleasantly surprised by so many things about this pilgrimage; the renewed spiritual vigour provided by visiting places where Christ lived and ministered and died and where generations of pilgrims have since worshipped and prayed and presented themselves before God; meeting Palestinian Christians whose faith shows Christ’s love in action in a way which is humbling and extraordinarily moving; enjoying the company of fellow pilgrims and developing friendships that I hope will last for years to come.
Inevitably I return with enough photographs to bore even the greatest enthusiast.
On Palm Sunday I will be sharing (some of) these and be giving an account of my experiences in Israel. After the Parish Eucharist there will be a simple bread and cheese lunch in the crypt which will be accompanied by a presentation on this week I spent in the Holy Land. Part of the Bishop’s aim in sending curates on this study tour is to encourage them to think about how they might lead parish groups on pilgrimage in the future. Given the many blessings that arose for me and the other curates travelling to the Holy land I hope that sharing my experiences might provide stimulus for us all to think about a Parish Pilgrimage to Israel in the future. Please come.
A Week in the Holy Land by Mother Sarah
Time: After the Parish Eucharist on Palm Sunday
Location: In the Crypt
Christians in Israel are feeling increasingly isolated and as fewer pilgrims travel to Israel this sense of isolation is exacerbated.
The Holy Land
Sarah Eynstone