Julie Brenton Rowe
Learn about the ELCJHL’s new pilgrimage center at Bethany beyond the Jordan, believed to be the site where Jesus was baptized.
Ecumenical and faith leaders from around the world are gathering with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land for the Jan. 6 dedication of the first Lutheran church built on a holy site: The Evangelical Lutheran Church at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan.
This site on the Jordan River is believed to be the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus and crowds of others, as related in John 1:29, which refers to “Bethany beyond the Jordan.”
The ELCJHL is one of 7 churches given land at this site by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Pilgrims visiting “the Holy Land” are encouraged to remember this and other Biblical sites in Jordan in their trip plans.
Rev. Rolf Pearson and his wife Kerstin will be caretakers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, which consists of a church, pastor’s house and multipurpose hall. They will be developing worship services, baptismal renewals and spiritual practices as they develop the pilgrim center.
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