Two Traveling Pastors

Set Sights On Italy

By Dottie Evans

Once again, the Rev Greg Wismar, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church, and the Rev Steve Gordon, pastor of the Newtown Congregational Church, have gotten out their maps and their guide books, and they are making plans for an eight-day January getaway.

The theme is “The Magic of Italy” and the pastors as tour leaders are already penciling in an itinerary that will include stops in Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice, and Bologna. But all is not set in stone, because Rev Wismar has been thinking seriously about a stop at Ravenna to see the Byzantine mosaics at Santiago de Compostela.

“Byzantine art has a crispness of style, an other-worldliness to it. The mosaics take you on to the edge of the ethereal,” said Rev Wismar, as they both discussed changes they might make in the schedule to include just one more stop.

“We’ll be traveling through northern Italy by bus, and there is a lot of flexibility. You find so many interesting things along the way,” Rev Wismar added.

The two pastors stopped by The Bee offices Friday with news of their sixth annual Journey of the Pastor’s Pilgrims. In previous years, the journey has taken them to Israel and Jordan in 1996, to Greece, Turkey, and Israel in 1998, to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in 2000 (including the Oberammergau passion play), to Malta in 2001, and to England, Scotland, and Wales in 2002.

The trip to Italy is scheduled for January 24–31, 2004, and it will cost $1,698 per person, not including $185 for tips and taxes.

“We’ve learned how to deal with variety and the mix can be profound, from grandmothers to granddaughters. It’s a cross-generational experience,” said Rev Gordon.

The cost of the trip will include two dinners and six breakfasts at first class hotels, and lunch is “on your own.” There will be a professional tour director and local guides in Florence and Rome. Round trip airfare is on Al Italia out of New York City.

“We’ve blocked a group of seats already that we can keep until the end of September,” Rev Wismar said.

In Rome, a city that the Rev Gordon has never visited, they will see the Forum, the Coliseum, and St Peter’s Basilica. They will also explore the catacombs because, as Rev Wismar noted, “that is an important chapter in early Christian history.”

In Florence, they hope to visit the Duomo, Sante Croce, and maybe the Uffizi gallery.

“Of course, we’ll be reading about St Paul and St Peter in Rome,” Rev Wismar added, noting that although worship is ecumenical, there will be a daily time for devotion and reflection.

“We look forward to the bonds of friendship that are formed and renewed within our churches and between the two groups. Many who will come along for the journey to Italy are repeat travelers,” he said.

Over the past five trips, the group has varied in size from 102 travelers, when they journeyed to Germany, to 12, when there had been an advisory against travel to Israel in 2001 and they visited Malta instead.

Information on the “Magic of Italy” is available from Pastor Wismar at 426-0651. There will be an informational meeting at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 85 Mt Pleasant Road at Tory Lane, Newtown, on Saturday, September 13, at 7 pm.