This Christmas, Bethlehem will come to Washington. And Washington will go to Bethlehem, thanks to modern technology, a pilgrimage, and a deep desire to worship together.

Christians in the Washington area will assemble at the National Cathedral on Dec. 18 for the fourth annual joint simulcast service with Palestinian Christians gathered at the Christmas Lutheran Church in the town where Jesus was born.

Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will lead the service in Washington, with Bishop John Bryson Chane, Dean Samuel T. Lloyd and Bishop Richard H. Graham of the Metropolitan D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

In Bethlehem, the service will be led by Episcopal Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and president of the Lutheran World Federation, and the Rev. Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem’s Christmas Lutheran Church.
Because of the time difference, worshippers will gather at 10 a.m. in Washington, and at 5 p.m. in Bethlehem.

The annual service began in 2006 as something of a technical experiment. Participants gathered eagerly in the cathedral’s Bethlehem Chapel to await a live video stream from Bethlehem to appear on a screen set up next to the altar. The service started late, the picture and sound crackled in and out, and there were a few stretches where reception was lost altogether, but as the sound of familiar carols sung in Arabic crackled over the miles, and the golden light of candles gleamed in the faraway church at the center of the Christian universe, the spirit of the service was unmistakable.

In the years following, the Diocese of Washington entered into a lengthy period of discernment about its relationship with the Episcopal Church in the Holy Land, and in January began a three-year companion relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem.

At this year’s service, a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Washington will find themselves on the other side of the camera in Bethlehem, as part of a December pilgrimage to visit Christianity’s holy sites and learn more about the Jerusalem diocese’s institutions.

“This is going to be new, because I’m usually behind the camera in the Bethlehem Chapel,” said Tracy Deiter, an assistant AV technician at the cathedral (among her other duties) who is coordinating the diocesan pilgrimage and will be travelling to Jordan and the Holy Land with members of about 10 local parishes. “It’s going to be different.”

The pilgrimage is set for Dec. 8-20, she said, and it is still possible for interested people to join the group.

“I kept saying we needed to schedule a date to be back in D.C. to do the telecast, and [pilgrimage leader the Rev. John Peterson, former canon for global reconciliation at Washington National Cathedral] said, ‘Why would you want to do that? Be in Bethlehem!’ And it’s true, it is a draw.”
Deiter describes this pilgrimage, the diocese’s second, as “part education, part refreshing and renewal.”

Participants range from those taking a “once in a lifetime” trip to see where Jesus lived, to those who have spent time in the region and wish to return, Deiter said, noting that one young woman in the group cancelled her cruise in order to join the pilgrimage.

“This was arranged so there would be more time to do the educational pieces, so people get a sense of the importance and the magnitude of the work there,” she said.

The group will visit diocesan hospitals and schools in Jordan and the Holy Land, as well as holy sites from Galilee to Jerusalem.  The pilgrimage will give parishes here a chance to figure out how they might partner with parishes in the Diocese of Jerusalem, Deiter said, as well as an opportunity to meet Palestinian Christians face to face.

“People love to meet one on one,” she said. “Knowing other people and places and seeing the work that’s being done – I just really hope it’s going to touch people deeply.”

• For more information about the Bethlehem Service, contact the Rev. Gwendolyn W. Tobias at wtobias@cathedral.org
• For more information about the pilgrimage, contact Tracy Dieter at tdieter@edow.org