Nick Kelsey, one of the pilgrims, said of the experience, "I think the highlight for me was the last four days, to discover the city of Jerusalem to see the way its developed over the centuries and then to visit the places where our Lord walked and particularly to follow the stations of the cross up through the old town and out of the old city wall and then into the current Church of the Holy Sepulchre was extraordinary."
Rev Tim Woods, USPG Advocacy Officer and Regional Desk Officer for the Middle East, assisted Bishop Michael in leading the pilgrimage. He described the experience as "an intensive and thoroughly enjoyable and enriching time which probably deepened our faith and touched us in a whole new way".
However, there is another side to the pilgrimage which can easily be overlooked. One thing that the Church and those involved with pilgrimages and study tours seem to be emphasising is that they do not want the Holy Land to become what Reed described as a "religious Disneyland".
The Palestinian Christian community has been in decline in recent years due to strong anti-Christian sentiment.
Says Woods, "The Israeli Government appears to have been actively trying to encourage Palestinian Christians to leave because they have seen them as able to get jobs and so forth elsewhere...they want to occupy more territory and the Palestinian Christian community is more mobile than the Muslim community."
Around 10 per cent of the worldwide Palestinian community is Christian. In the Holy Land, that number drops to only two per cent and often they are among the poorest Palestinians who cannot afford to emigrate.
One of the key things that the Church wants to get across is that pilgrimages should also engage with and benefit the "Living Stones".
Christians are being encouraged to help the local Christian and Palestinian community to organise their pilgrimages in an ethically responsible way by using hotels and tour companies run and owned by Palestinian Christians
Reed said it was important that any financial investment in a pilgrimage should make sure it "feeds back into the local economy and feeds back into nurturing and supporting families there, rather than being kept in bank accounts here in England and in Europe".
As well as an experience to deepen individual faith, however, pilgrimages are an act of love to show solidarity with the often forgotten Living Stones who continue to live and worship in the Holy Land, often in very difficult circumstances.
"The churches are still a significant presence," says Bishop Michael, "but they are under great pressure, hence the need for pilgrimages to go and be seen to support them."
