LAKELAND — Since the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen Oct. 12, violence in the Middle East has been a regular focus of news reports. With two groups scheduled to visit the Holy Land this year, that violence has also gotten attention in the Florida Conference.

A youth and young adult trip scheduled for Dec. 27-Jan. 4 was canceled because of concerns for people’s safety and conversations with officials at the United States State Department, according to Mike Standifer, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries Youth Ministry office.

The Florida Conference United Methodist Pilgrimage 2001 scheduled for Jan. 3-13 has also been canceled, according to an article in the "Hoosier United Methodist News," the newspaper for the Indiana area, which comprises the Northern and Southern Indiana Conferences. The late Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson encouraged Florida’s clergy to participate in the pilgrimage, and Florida Bishop J. Lloyd Knox was scheduled as a leader.

"In light of the [United States’] State Department’s recommendation that U.S. citizens not travel to Israel and the continuing violence there, it is my decision that it would be unwise for me to lead a group to the Middle East," said Woodie W. White, bishop of the Indiana Area and organizer of the trip, in a memo to Indiana Area organizers.

Standifer said his decision to cancel the December trip was based on his own research. "I didn’t make my decision by the media," he said. "Educational Opportunities [trip planners] told us that if the State Department’s travel advisory was still in effect, they would cancel the trip, even if the tickets were issued. I talked to the State Department, and they said it was possible to take the advisory down, but not any time before the end of the year."

The State Department’s Oct. 24 travel warning encourages United States citizens to "defer all travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza" because of heightened threats of terrorist incidents.

Both Standifer and White said they will plan future trips to the Holy Land. White has already chosen Jan. 5-14, 2002 for another pilgrimage.