Washington National Cathedral

Join worshipers in Bethlehem Chapel for the third annual joint simulcast Christmas service with the people of Bethlehem. Prayers, readings, and hymns alternate between Washington, D.C., and Palestine via the Internet, bringing together people of different lands, languages, and ethnic backgrounds in celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace. Many of those attending were moved by the service as they experienced what it means to be “one in Christ” though separated by time and space.

Participants in Washington include the Right Rev. John Bryson Chane, the Episcopal bishop of Washington; the Right Rev. Richard H. Graham, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod; the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the Cathedral; and the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

In Bethlehem, participants will be the Right Rev. Suheil Dawani, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem; the Right Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land; and the Rev Dr. Mitri Raheb from Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. The service is also webcast live from the Cathedral's home page.

Sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee for Bethlehem, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Sharing Jerusalem, Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace.