2009 Conference of Bishops Academy in the Middle East

The ELCA group view outstanding scenery during a Jan. 4 tour at Petra, Jordan, a well-known historic archeological site.

The ELCA visitors saw this famous tomb, carved out of solid rock, at the Petra site.

A close-up view of the most famous tomb at the Petra site.

The Petra ruins include many large, impressive tombs, such as this one, carved from solid rock.

The ELCA bishops introduced themselves to the congregation Jan. 4 at Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church, Amman.

Confirming one of six confirmands Jan. 4 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Amman, are the Rev. Samer Azar, pastor; ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.

The Rev. Samer Azar, left, pastor of Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church, Amman, and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, greet worshippers at the Amman congregation Jan. 4.

The Rev. Gerald Mansholt, bishop, ELCA Central States Synod, greets Zeid Al Rafai, president of the Jordanian Senate Jan. 5 in Amman.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, center, accepts a gift from Zeid Al Rafai, president of the Jordanian Senate, in Amman Jan. 4. At left is Bishop Munib Younan of the ELCJHL.

Father Nabil Haddad, Jordanian Intefaith Coexistence Research Center, right, addresses the ELCA bishops during a meeting in Amman Jan. 5. To Haddad's right is Jordan's Minister of Islamic Affairs, Abdal Fatah Salah, and ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan.

Bishop Bruce Burnside, ELCA South Central Synod of Wisconsin, Madison, addresses a question to participants in a forum Jan. 5 at the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Resarch Center in Amman. At left is Bishop Murray Finck, ELCA Pacifica Synod, Santa Ana, Calif.

Bishop Margaret Payne, ELCA New England Synod, signs a document calling for Christian-Muslim cooperation, dialogue and work for peace. Several ELCA bishops signed the document in Amman, Jordan, Jan. 5.

ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan, left, makes a point during a meeting at the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center in Amman Jan. 5. Next to Younan is Jordan's Minister of Islamic Affairs, Abdal Fatah Salah and Sami Gammoh, Vice president of the Center. At rear center is Bishop Bruce Burnside, ELCA South-Central Synod Wisconsin, Madison.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson addresses a news conference in Amman, Jordan Jan. 5. At left is ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson.

ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson speaks to Jordanian Television at the site of Jesus' Baptism in Jordan Jan. 6. At her right is ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan.

Clergy and bishops of the ELCA, ELCIC and ELCJHL led a worship service at Jesus' baptismal site in Jordan Jan. 6.

Pastor Samer Azar, right, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church, Amman, Jordan, reads the liturgy at a worship service at the site of Jesus' baptism in Jordan Jan. 6. With him is ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan.

A representative of the Jordan Baptism Site Commission presents a gift to ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson. With Johnson, from left, are ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.

His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, right, addresses ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson during an audience with the Jordanian monarch Jan. 6 in Amman. ELCIC Bishop Susan Johnson and ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan also attended.

ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson leave the palace in Amman, Jordan, Jan. 6, following an audience with His Majesty King Abdullah II.

Bishop Michael Keys, ELCA Alaska Synod, takes communion Jan. 7 at a Conference of Bishops' worship service at the Lutheran Chuch of the Redeemer, Jerusalem. The Rev. Susan Briehl, serves the wine.

Ray Dolphin, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, speaks with Bishop Gary Wollersheim, ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, following a presentation to the bishops Jan. 7.

Mazen Faraj, left, a Palestinian refugee, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, discuss The Parent Circle, Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace, during a joint presentation to the bishops Jan. 7 in Jerusalem.

Bishops and clergy from the United States and Canada pray for Rami Elhanan and Mazen Faraj following their presentation to the bishops Jan. 7. The two men are members of The Parents Circle, Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace.

Rami Elhanan, left, whose daughter was killed in suicide bomb attack, speaks with the Rev. Susan Wilder, right, ELCA Washington Office staff for Middle East concerns.

Bishop Bruce Burnside, left, ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin and Bishop Michael Pryse, ELCIC, prepare to enter Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, a Holocaust memorial.

From left, ELCJHL Bishop Munib A. Younan, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson light a symbolic eternal flame Jan. 8 at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, a Holocaust memorial.

From left, ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson lay a wreath Jan. 8 at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, a Holocaust memorial.

North American Lutheran bishops visit the offices of the Chief Rabbis of Israel Jan. 8 in Jerusalem, and heard presentations from both Jewish leaders.

One of Israel's two chief rabbis, Yona Metzger, addresses the North American Lutheran bishops Jan. 8 in Jerusalem. Metzger, along with ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, appeared in the 2007 CBS-TV special, "In God's Name."

Shlomo Amar, another of Israel's chief rabbis, addresses the North American Lutheran bishops Jan. 8 in Jerusalem. On Rabbi Amar's right is Rabbi David Rosen, of the American Jewish Committee, Jerusalem.

ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson addresses the two chief rabbis of Israel Jan. 8 in Jerusalem.

A small group of North American Lutheran bishops met with Meir Sheetrit, Israel's Minister of the Interior, Jan. 8 in Tel Aviv.

Ruhana Avraham, center, Israel's Minister of Tourism, met with North American Lutheran bishops Jan. 8 in Jerusalem. With her, at right, is ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson.

Bishop Claire Burkat, ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, snaps a photograph Jan. 9 outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jersualem.

Bishop Mark Hanson opens worship Jan. 9 in a chapel at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

Leading worship Jan. 9 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were, from left, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan and Scott Weidler, ELCA worship and liturgical resources team.

Participants in worship Jan. 9 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, are, from left, Bishop Roy Riley, ELCA New Jerssey Synod; Bishop James Justman, ELCA East-Central Synod of Wisconsin; and Bishop Jon Anderson, ELCA Southwestern Minnesota Synod.

Bishop Dean Nelson, ELCA Southwest California Synod, sings at worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jan. 9, in Jerusalem.

ELCA and ELCIC bishops, spouses and staff gathered outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jan. 9, In Jerusalem.

Beatitude Theofilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, signs a book he presented to ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson Jan. 9, during a visit to the patriarch in Jerusalem.

Beatitude Theofilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, presents a gift to ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson Jan. 9 in Jerusalem.

Augusta Victoria Hospital is a LWF medical facility on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. North American Lutheran bishops visited the hospital Jan. 9.

The Rev. Mark Brown, LWF Jerusalem representative, right, leads a tour of the Augusta Victoria Hospital grounds Jan. 9. Listening are, from left, Cynthia Burnside and her husband, Bishop Bruce Burnside, ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, and Bishop Richard Graham, ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod.

Bishop James Arends, right, ELCA La Crosse Area Synod, and his wife, Lynn, visited Augusta Victoria Hospital, an LWF medical facility in East Jerusalem Jan. 9.

North American Lutheran bishops visited Augusta Victoria Hospital, and LWF medical facility in East Jerusalem, Jan. 9.

Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, director of the LWF's Augusta Victoria Hospital, East Jerusalem, leads a tour group Jan. 9, during the bishops' visit to the hospital.

The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a well-known Islamic shrine, is a familiar site in the Jerusalem skyline.