May 30th: Baptists? In Jerusalem?

After four days in the desert and southern Israel, we came back to sunny, warm, non-humid Jerusalem for the weekend to rest, study, take our quiz, listen to lectures, prepare our maps for our next trip, do laundry, explore Jerusalem, shop, etc. On Sunday, a group of us went to church in Jerusalem. This was the longest trek that I took outside of the old city wall (our hotel was in the Christian Quarter inside the wall). I was surprised to find a Baptist church in the city of Jerusalem, and pleasantly surprised at the refreshing time of worship that we experienced there.


The first photo that you see is the sign outside the church, “Baptist House,” and the second photo is of the inside. The service was in English, as most of the people there were either American Christians visiting Israel, or American and European Jewish Christians who have moved to Jerusalem. For example, the pastor is a transplant from New Jersey, and I also spoke with an elderly Jewish woman from Connecticut who moved to Jerusalem with her husband in the early 1960s. Moreover, I met an elderly Jewish man who was originally from Germany, who as a boy escaped to England during the Holocaust.

The service itself was much like what one would expect and be comfortable with in a Baptist church in the states—singing, praying, preaching, and the like. There was about 150 in attendance. One interesting tradition at the Baptist House is that all visitors had to stand, one by one, and introduce themselves. It was fascinating to see and hear where everyone was from, and why they were in Israel. We had a group of students from Julliard in New York City; I suppose some of them may become well-known musicians someday.

As church services go, I thought the Baptist House was great. I sensed a real God-honoring atmosphere there, and it was very meaningful to me to be worshipping with so many people from so many different areas, generations, and backgrounds. The funny thing is, after the service I got to talking to a gentleman who recently came to Israel from the Philadelphia area to coach basketball. I grew up in the Philly area, so we struck up a fine conversation, and it was not long until we found out that he had been having prayer meetings at the high school where I attended, with my cross-country coach (a Christian man who is still coaching after all these years). So, it’s a big world, yet it’s a small world.


With all the talking I was doing, my group got tired of waiting and left to return to the hotel. So, I was on my own to get back to Old Jerusalem, which was about a twenty-minute walk. I leave you with a few pictures that I took on that walk. The first is the emblem of Jerusalem (a lion) that was on the side of a building.


The second is “The Holy Bagel Café,” a name that I thought humorous. I didn’t eat there, by the way, so I have no idea how righteous their bagels are.


And finally, many of the streets in Jerusalem are named after famous kings throughout history—King David, King George, etc. I had no idea that one of them was King Kong!