The ideas listed below are just a few samples of the different types of Spiritual Tours we can arrange – but the possibilities are limitless! We can create a tour around your group’s specific passion and ensure it is enriched by unique venues and the embracing of local culture!
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Martin Luther Reformation Tour
Church, study and history tours can visit the important places where Martin Luther lived and initiated the events that led to the Reformation. In the 16th century Martin Luther’s challenging theological ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization. Many of the reformation sites are now under the protection of UNESCO and listed as World Heritage sites, including Eisleben, where Luther was born and where he died, Wittenberg where he posted his famous 95 theses, and Eisenach where Luther was forced to live in the Wartburg Castle and translated the New Testament from Greek into German. Consider including your choir and add a performance dimension to your Reformation tour.
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Sing where Methodism was Born
Tour England with your Methodist choir or heritage group, visiting the sites of Methodist history and tracing the lives of John and Charles Wesley. Visit Methodist congregations and enjoy joint performances and fellowship. Visit the Old Rectory in Epworth where John Wesley was born, Christ Church College and Cathedral in Oxford, the New Room in Bristol, and Wesley’s Chapel and House in London.
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Spiritual Tour Following the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage Route
For several hundred years Santiago de Compostela, located near the northwestern Atlantic coast of Spain, was the third most popular pilgrimage route after Jerusalem and Rome. Today, tens of thousands of Christians and non-Christians each year follow one of the several official Camino routes through Spain. As one Camino pilgrim recently said: “You look at the landscape and the world in general through different eyes when walking along an ancient pilgrimage route.” There exists a network of pilgrimage hostels run by local parishes, councils, and pilgrim associations. Accommodations can be in a combination of hostels, monasteries, conventional hotels and the more luxurious Spanish paradors (government owned high-end hotels in historic buildings and former monasteries). A portion of the tour can be on foot, the length of which to be determined by you.
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Discovery Tour of Early Christianity in Ireland
Follow in the footsteps of St. Patrick and St. Columba as you tour Ireland and Northern Ireland. In Dublin, see the Book of Kells, considered the most striking manuscript ever produced in the Anglo-Saxon world and one of the greatest masterpieces of early Christian art. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, named after the Patron Saint, is where he baptized converts from paganism to Christianity. See the monastic settlements and high crosses along the Meath Heritage trail, and Armagh, the city of Saint Patrick and the Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. Visit Londonderry founded as a monastery in 546 by St. Columba. In Donegal, see breathtaking natural beauty of Slieve League (Sliabh a’Liag, and Glencolmcille), named in honor of St. Columba. This special corner of Ireland is home to a unique way of life where traditional culture lives on. The village of Glencolmcille is where St. Columba worshipped and his Holy well, which is a pilgrimage site.
As you tour you will also discover the traditions and modern history of Ireland and Northern Ireland along with the marvelous scenery of the Antrim coast, rated as one of the top five road trips worldwide. Here is where you will find Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site containing 40,000 columns of basalt.