Bethlehem Icon School

In the summer, we arranged for the iconographer Ian Knowles, founding director of the Bethlehem Icon School, to give a presentation on the School, and to tell us something of his work to conserve the endangered native tradition of icon-painting of the Holy Land. The School is under the patronage of the Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem of the Melkite Catholic Church, but enjoys too the support of local Latin religious communities and the Orthodox.

See this post for a remarkable icon - Our Lady of the Wall - requested as a sign of goodness, justice and reconciliation by Bethlehem Christians of all kinds, to be painted on the wall of separation by the State of Israel on expropriated land. We hope to publish shortly a summary of Ian's challenging and inspiring talk. We are delighted that the event raised over £500. This may not sound a great deal, but it represents 5% of the School's running costs for 2012-13 - an unexpected Godsend. We are most grateful to the generosity of our members and guests, as well as to our hosts at Heythrop College.

The School now has its first class of students and we are delighted to share the first newsletter of the inaugural academic year.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_2cbXTJ5jYAeGF2LUFfUUNUU28