Bishop opens slots on summer Wesley tour to clerics, spouses

Southwest Texas clergy members and their spouses can join Bishop Joel N. Martinez this summer on a Wesley Heritage Tour to the United Kingdom.
Martinez has a limited number of spots available on the July 25 to Aug. 3 trip. Cost is $2,498 for clerics and $2,648 for spouses.
The price includes roundtrip airfare, accommodations, transportation in England and two meals a day.
Full payment is due April 25. Nearly 30 travelers have already signed up.
Sponsored by Educational Opportunity Tours, the 10-day trip was originally intended for recently ordained clergy members in the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences.
In response to requests from others, Martinez said he was opening tour places to pastors who hadn’t visited significant places in the lives of John and Charles Wesley. They are the founders of the worldwide Methodist movement.
“In 2003 I was privileged to lead a Wesley Heritage Tour to England on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of John Wesley’s birth,” Martinez said.
“Raquel and I—along with more than 50 laity and clergy members from the San Antonio Episcopal Area—traced the steps and visited the sites of the Methodist move-ment’s beginnings in Epworth, Oxford, Bristol and London. It was a deeply moving return to our spiritual roots.”
The 2005 itinerary includes stops in:
> London and Birmingham on Day 3.
> Bristol, Bath and Cheddar on Day 4.
> Coventry and Birmingham on Day 5.
> Worcester and Glocester on Day 6.
> Epworth on Day 7.
> Cotswolds, Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway and Stow-on-the-Wold on Day 8.
> Stratford and Oxford on Day 9.
Educational programs are planned at:
> Asbury House, Birmingham.
> New Room and Charles Wesley House, Bristol.
> City Road Chapel, London.
> Old Rectory and St. Andrew Church, Epworth.
> Coventry Cathedral, Coventry.
> St. Mary de Crypt, Gloucester.
Tour participants can earn two units of continuing education credit.
For more information about the 2005 Wesley Heritage Tour, call (210) 408-4502 or toll free (888) 349-4191. The e-mail address is bishop@ umcswtx.org.