Tantur Experience

Tantur’s Continuing Education Course:
What is It Like?

• Content
• Pacing
• Experience

Recent participants in the Continuing Education Programs of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute have said that they wished they had known more about the exact content, pacing, and experience of the course before they arrived. In answer to that request, we outline here the content and pacing of the Tantur experience.

Content

The Continuing Education Program of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute introduces its participants to many of the facets of the Holy Land. St. Jerome was the first to say that the land is “the fifth Gospel” – that is, once you know the land, you will then understand the other four gospels more deeply. So, typically, our program includes classroom experiences in Old Testament, New Testament (the cultural world of Jesus), Biblical Geography, and an overview of the history of the Middle East. We are the first to admit that even the Three-Month program barely does justice to any of these topics. Furthermore, as an ecumenical institute and expressing our commitment to the local Christians (many of whom are quite unknown to Christians from the West), we wish to introduce our participants to the peoples of the land, the “living stones,” as it were.

As precious as the holy places are, the “living stones” are those Christians who have faithfully lived in the Holy Land through the centuries, often at great sacrifice. So we introduce them to you, both in their history and in their contemporary existence. But the peoples of the land are more than other parts of the Christian family. They are also our Jewish brothers and sisters and our Muslim brothers and sisters. So, through some very fine local, English-speaking teachers, we open up the world of Jewish thought and belief and Muslim thought and belief.

Supplementing our classroom experience are the many field trips that bring to life the very religious faith we speak of. These include many trips to places around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the southern part of the Holy Land (usually guided by persons from the different faiths so that they can describe in their words what the places mean to them). And in both the Three-Month and One-Month programs, we have a five-day trip to the Galilee to visit up the places where most of Jesus’ ministry occurred. (The Three-Month Program includes a six-day break, during which some travel to local sites on their own [e.g., Sinai, Jordan], or concentrate their study in their area of interest, or go to a place for personal prayer and reflection [a return to the Galilee or Negev]).

Pacing

What may distinguish the Tantur educational experience from other – worthwhile – short pilgrimages to the Holy Land (the “run-where-Jesus-walked” tours) is the amount of free time the program offers. That is, working on a six-day week (Monday through Saturday), we usually have one 2 1/2 hour class in the morning or a field trip (half or full day) and the rest of the day free. This pacing allows each one to personalize their time, study, and exploration. Furthermore, some groups like to spend long and studious hours in the wonderful local museums; others savor the opportunity to wander the streets of Bethlehem or the Old City of Jerusalem. Still others have longed for a time when they can read for many uninterrupted hours in a fine theological library about issues that touch their ministry or their biblical or historical interests. Tantur offers these diverse opportunities.

Experience

While not unique to Tantur, but certainly special here is the opportunity to live in community with other members of the Christian family they may have met only superficially or read about in history books. When – hopefully – enrollment allows for many people from many parts of the Christian family and many countries of the globe, you may find yourself living, for the first time, with a Canadian Mennonite or a Sri Lankan Anglican or a Romanian Orthodox seminary student or a Latvian Russian Orthodox professor or a Filipina Catholic Sister or an American Lutheran pastor or a South African biblical scholar. Community emerges as we eat, study, and pray together. Daily evening prayer, led by participants, reflects our common faith in Jesus Christ that we share…and sometimes reveals the divisions that we know all too well. The pain which sometimes comes from realizing how very broken our Christian family is may be the impetus needed to commit oneself to a ministry of reconciliation and ecumenism when one returns home.

It is difficult to capture the Tantur experience in a few words, but we hope that this page partially answers the question, Just what does life at Tantur look like? The Tantur experience requires an adventurous, faithful, grounded, and flexible spirit. We look for those who are open to learning from others and who believe that God still has something to offer them in coming to this holy, but broken land to learn. It is an intense program, a challenging program, and a wonderful program.

And the food is terrific…

Come to Tantur, you are welcome here!