About Us

THE ETS STORY

In 1974 a young pastor, recently out of seminary, fulfilled his dream of visiting the Holy Land. When he returned home, he discovered that this trip made an impact on the way he preached and how he studied the Bible. The next year, the pastor returned to the Holy Land with a group from his church. He was amazed by the transformation that happened in the people that made the pilgrimage. He found that travelers returned and shared the Gospel more, volunteered more at Church, tithed Biblically, and were forever connected to each other because of their shared experience. It was out of this revelation that ETS was born.

That young Methodist Pastor, Dr. Jim Ridgway, made it his life’s goal to bring as many clergy members as possible on these life-changing journeys. A dream that started in his garage has grown to be the world’s largest provider of Christian Travel. In 2014 Dr. Ridgway passed, but ETS continues to further his dream.

To date, ETS has served thousands of pastors and churches throughout the U.S. and abroad. Many denominational leaders have seen the difference a tour to the Holy Land can make in their clergy members and have organized annual tours with ETS.

ETS has led over 350,000 people on Faith-Based trips in over 45 years of business. In addition to the Holy Land, ETS offers Faith Based cruises following the Journeys of Paul, Marriage and Women’s retreats at sea, Fellowship cruises, European Tours, River Cruises, and more.