Olmsted Offers Funds for Israel/Palestine Journey

 

Olmsted Manor has activated The Perry Trust for Educational Travel to offer scholarships for clergy and spouses  to travel to Palestine and Israel from March 2-12, 2015 along with students from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and laity from Shadyside Presbyterian Church. The trip is offered in cooperation with the seminary and the World Mission Initiative. 

The trip will be led by Dr. Steven Tuell, the James A. Kelso Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an elder in the Western PA Conference, and Rev. Todd Leach, minister of mission outreach at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. 

There are 10 openings for travelers with scholarships through the Perry Trust. Successful applicants and their spouses would be eligible for funding in the amount of half the cost of the trip. The full price for the 10 day trip is $3000. Thus, the cost of the trip for each scholarship recipient would be $1500.
 
Here is a description of the journey:
For any believer, a trip to the Holy Land is a pilgrimage: the wonderful opportunity to walk where Jesus walked, to see and hear and smell and taste the land of the Bible.  But many Christians making this journey never have the opportunity to meet, worship, work with and support the Christians of Palestine. On this pilgrimage, we will not only visit the ancient sacred and historical sights of the region, but we will also meet those living stones, members of the struggling Christian communities determined to maintain their witness to our faith in the land of its birth.  We will spend time living with, worshipping with, learning from and working alongside these Palestinian Christians.  Download an itinerary
 
The Perry Trust was established:

• To provide periodically an educational travel experience designed by Olmsted Manor for a group of ministers and spouses/fiancés with priorities which may include, but are not limited to The Holy Land, Wesley Heritage in England, The Journeys of St. Paul, and mission stations served by the Board of Global Ministries.
• To provide a preparatory retreat at Olmsted Manor to be attended by all recipients.
• To provide a reflection after the travel experience for sharing ideas, developing methods to integrate the experience into ministry and to enhance knowledge and facts.
• To provide a required reading list to increase the value of their travel experience.
• To build fellowship among the recipients so that friendships in ministry might continue to grow.
• Preference may be given to ministers whose service in the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference does not exceed 10 years.

 
So that a pastor and spouse can “have this common experience” as a foundation for their ministry, all licensed and ordained ministers of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and spouses/fiancés are eligible to apply. The selection committee will have final authority for determining recipients. 

Download Perry Trust scholarship application
 
Questions about scholarship application may be directed to Jody Larson at 814-945-6512 or by email at jody@olmstedmanor.org   Questions about the itinerary or particular aspects of the travel experience may be directed to Dr. Steven Tuell at 412-362-5610 or by email at stuell@pts.edu
 
 
Please note: Due to the unrest in the Middle East at the present time, this trip could be cancelled due to those conditions that may escalate when nearing the time of departure. The committee at PTS will make the determination of possible cancellation.