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As Christians across the world celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, join Mark Michael of The Living Church and Garwood Anderson of Nashotah House as we retrace the steps of St. Paul’s ministry and explore the life of the undivided Church that gave us the creeds.
During this two-week trip across Turkey, sometimes called “the second Holy Land,” we will discover majestic ancient ruins and Byzantium’s greatest artistic treasures, worship together daily, feast on local delicacies, and learn from the resilient and faithful believers of contemporary Turkey.
The significance of ancient Anatolia — now Turkey — in the birth of our faith is hard to overestimate. Over 60 percent of the places mentioned in the Bible are located there, as were the sites of all seven of the Ecumenical Councils. For a thousand years, Constantinople (now Istanbul) was the world’s greatest Christian city, a center of scholarship, devotion, and art. Turkey is also a center of Islamic culture, and a home of grand mosques and Sufi spirituality. A safe and modern country, it hosts millions of tourists from across the world each year.
Our approach will be both historical and spiritual. Assisted by excellent local guides, we will trace the stories of these sites and hear biblical texts in the places they address. We will celebrate the Eucharist together in ancient churches and have time for discussion and reflection. There will be fun moments as well: shopping in Istanbul’s grand bazaar, enjoying the hot springs at Pamukkale, learning about Turkish coffee and carpets, maybe even a hot-air balloon trip over the moonscape of Cappadocia.
Pilgrimage enriches your understanding of the Bible and deepens your connections to the Church’s witness across the ages. You make new friends and encounter God in new and exciting ways. Don’t miss this chance to explore the Cradle of the Church.
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