Christ Church, Blaine, WA - Supporting Our Pilgrimage through Music

One of our pilgrims for the journey this summer, Alexandra Hendricks-Hockey, is a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Blaine, Washington. Alexandra (or Alex) is a gifted musician, as is her vicar The Rev. Jay Rozendaal. As a means of raising financial resources and awareness of the journey this summer- Christ Church is putting on a concert tomorrow, May 10th. Here are some notes about the music from Jay:

(Jay) will be playing a set of Bach Chorale Preludes, transcribed for piano by 19th century pianist Ferruccio Busoni, and a set of pieces by Chopin and Liszt (including his "Legend: St. Francis of Paola walking on the waves"). A student of (his) from Western, and a Blaine H.S. alum, Celeste Fraser will be singing arias from La boheme, and a group of Lieder by Richard Strauss. (Celeste will be going to Manhattan School of Music in the fall for her master's.) And, on the lighter side, (they) will have a set by members of a local Celtic band, Seamus, led by (a) parishioner Clea Taylor - and joined by Alexandra for a couple of songs. Alexandra and (Jay) will do "Morning has broken" and "Taste and See."

What a wonderful example of a community supporting its young person both in prayers and resources!

Gathering the Pilgrims

On April 12th, we had our first orientation with the youth who will be journeying to Israel and Palestine this summer.  Among our activities was to view the photos from the 2007 trip.  The journey last year was a wonderful one.  5 of us from the Diocese of Olympia journeyed with a larger group of youth from the Diocese of Olympia.  After we returned, I have heard from participants and their families about how much the journey changed their understandings of themselves and their awareness of the world around them.  

In addition to learning a bit about where we will journey this summer, we also asked the youth to read Richard North Patterson's book Exile.  We hope that through this fictional murder mystery, our young people might begin to explore some of the issues surrounding the current conflicts in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  If you haven't had the chance to read this book- you should.  

Our group will gather again at the beginning of June for a weekend retreat on Whidbey Island.  Please keep us all in your prayers.

Welcome!

This blog will document the journey of 8 American youth and 3 chaperons from the state of Washington on our journey to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.  While there are 11 of us journeying, we are joined by the thoughts and prayers of so many friends and family.  While we are in the Holy Land, we will be joined by a group of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.  Our youth will also have the opportunity to meet Jewish Israeli young adults, and hear their stories.

This journey is sponsored by the Episcopal Bishop's Committee for Israel/Palestine.  Our hope is that through building friendship between our youth and youth of the Holy Land, we can begin to sow some seeds of peace.