Beyond Pilgrimage
How to use Beyond Pilgrimage
Beyond Pilgrimage is designed as more than just a video series; it is a resource to help facilitate collective learning and constructive discussion within your faith community. While each part is unique, they are three threads of the same cord—one part will not cover everything, but by the end we hope to have painted a wide and in-depth understanding of the structural violence, the involvement of the Church, and how we can respond as followers of Christ.
Gather your group and watch all the way through, then use the discussion prompts to guide conversation related to the matters covered in each section. We recommend discussing in groups of 4-6, so if you are hosting a larger contingent, we recommend splitting into smaller groups to discuss, then each group can share a few key reflections and insights to the wider group afterwards if suitable to your context.
They key thing is to ensure that people are able to share their reflections, and that no one person dominates the conversation—remind people that this is a collective discussion, we are on this journey together, and if we can’t have these heavy, difficult, and important learning in these spaces; where else will we?
There is no ‘right or wrong’ way to facilitate this space, each community and gathering is unique and you will know best how to operate within your context. We hope that this can be a blessing to aid you in that work!
May God bless your discussion, learnings, and journey together into the faithful work of peacemaking and justice-seeking.
We begin by exploring the West Bank, settler violence, military incursions, settlement expansion, structural injustice; and the long history of indigenous Palestinian Christians in the land, as well as how Christian pilgrimage can contribute to this in often harmful ways.
Part one
Discussion prompts:
1. What is something that stood out to you in part one?
2. Did any of these stories remind you of similar situations elsewhere?
3. Why are we defensive as a church when it comes to injustice and oppression?
4. What was something new you learned and how has your understanding of the holy land shifted?
Reflect on Matthew 25:31-45
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’