The Holy Land Pilgrimage
An apology: I have mentioned that I attended the Holy Land Pilgrimage in 2005. I was wrong. I was selected in 2005 and made the pilgrimage in 2006. A minor oops, but when I realize I make a mistake, I own up to it.
I opened with that apology because it leads directly into this week’s topic–the Holy Land Pilgrimage. This is the smallest and least-known of our three Grand Encampment charities, and that is a sad thing to say. Here we are, assuming the mantle of the Poor Soldiers for Christ, and we have a charitable mission in place to send deserving clergy to the Holy Land on pilgrimage, yet we have only a fraction of the 60+ Grand Commanderies and 1100+ Commanderies participating each year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are about 59,000 Christian ministers in the USA (2022). Now, given there are about 50,000 Southern Baptist churches alone in the USA, the 59,000 clergy number seems a bit low. Let’s use it, though, and realize that we send less than 0.1 percent of all Christian ministers to the Holy Land each year. Now, we don’t send ministers who have already traveled to the Holy Land (although one of the Episcopal priests in my group not only had attended before, he did so as a HLP pilgrim.), and there are those who will not accept our invitation. However, we need to do a much better job at supporting the clergy in our communities and jurisdictions.
The Holy Land Pilgrimage has been the proverbial “red-headed stepchild” of the charities. The leaders receive minimal funding (if any) from the Grand Encampment, and individual Commanderies and Grand Commanderies are responsible for funding the pilgrim ministers travel costs. Some Grand Commanderies have developed internal programs to raise funds, but we have not done anything at the Grand Encampment level to truly support this charity. In fact, we have done less for it than we have for the Educational Foundation, which is hard to believe is possible. I believe we need to change this, and to do so sooner than later.
When the Pilgrimages began, it was organized by the Grand Commandery of Michigan, and a few nearby jurisdictions joined in. At the 1979 Triennial Conclave, it became a Special Committee of the Grand Encampment, and by 2006 it was a Standing Committee. Still, unlike the Eye Foundation and the Educational Foundation, the Holy Land Pilgrimage has never had support from the entire membership of the Grand Encampment, and relies solely on the contributions of individuals and the sponsoring Commanderies and Grand Commanderies. Having a central fund to assist in funding this program will make it more accessible to more Commanderies and Grand Commanderies to sponsor pilgrim ministers. In the 1970s, the cost was about $1500 per minister, and today it is over $4000 when travel to and from our departure point is included. I applaud the Grand Commanderies which have already started programs to increase funding for supporting pilgrim ministers, and am thankful for the individuals who have contributed to make these pilgrimages happen.
Why am I so passionate about this? Because, as I noted above, I was a pilgrim minister in 2006. I was just five years into my pastoral career, and it made a huge impact on me to travel to the Holy Land, and to walk in the footsteps of Christ– walking the Way of the Cross on Ash Wednesday, in fact. It was a life-changing experience that will forever shape my ministry. It also was the single act that got me to engage actively with the Grand Commandery of Maryland and Beauseant and Crusade Commanderies, and eventually to serve as Grand Commander of Maryland and then Grand Prelate of the Grand Encampment. It’s highly likely none of this would have happened without the fortuitous timing of my invitation to be a pilgrim. I also know men who have been on the outside of the Fraternity looking in to experience the Pilgrimage and then seek out membership so that they could become Templars as well. Even those who have not become members of the Fraternity have often become strong supporters of our Order, and that is something we certainly need in today’s world.