Pilgrimages
Pilgrimage is travel plus.
Pilgrimage = travel + purpose + God
Hiking the Camino Santiago, Spain
Men's Trip, October 12-24 2025
2024 Past Pilgrimage
Steps of Paul Tour
"Part of the work of a pilgrim is to be surprised."
-Jim Forest
I’ve had a number of pilgrimages in my life. One-time journeys on the bucket list, seasonal ones like silent retreats, and the annual pilgrimage our family takes each summer to my hometown in north Georgia. We drive to the Atlanta area for Salem Camp Meeting to experience Old Time religion with 200 year old Christian tradition.
It was the pilgrimage I took with a seminary buddy to Mt Athos in 2016 that forever changed my life. In the late 90s I learned from a friend of this place in Greece where Orthodox Christian monks have built dozens of monasteries for over a thousand years. This stretch of land juts out like a finger into the Aegean Sea. At the tip sits the domineering Mt Athos, the place some believe the Virgin Mary bodily ascended into heaven. Only ten non-Orthodox Christians a day are allowed to take a ferry to this remote peninsula.
Chris and I worked for over a year on the logistics to travel there. We hiked from monastery to monastery, and appealed for hospitality. While staying with the monks we worshiped in the beautiful Orthodox style, ate in silence as is their practice, and even got recruited for some gardening and construction work!
I saw and heard the Lord in ways I never expected, and that's one of the many gifts of pilgrimage. I reached my physical limits, confronted the smallness and niche-nature of my own theological tradition, and was forced to consider the breadth of Christian faith. I had conversations deep into the night and learned so much about myself and my Jesus.
Pilgrimage transcends mere travel; it is a purposeful journey imbued with the divine. It is an opportunity to deepen one's faith, encounter new perspectives, and connect with sacred traditions.
The Collaborative creates discipleship resources and experiences for Christ-centered professionals in the public square. Pilgrimage is one of these key experiences.
Beyond sightseeing and leisure, pilgrimage is an intentional pursuit of spiritual growth. It is an invitation to be surprised, to encounter the unexpected, and to embrace the richness of diverse cultures and beliefs. As Richard R. Niebuhr observed, "Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys."
African theologian John S. Mbiti profoundly captures this understanding when he states, "Christianity is a religion of pilgrimage; it is a way of life for those who walk in Christ." For Mbiti, pilgrimage is not just about reaching a physical destination but about being constantly transformed by Christ as we walk through life, both as individuals and within the community of faith.
Then, moving inwardly, we have the words of Thomas Merton: “The geographical pilgrimage is the symbolic acting out of an inner journey.”
Anyone can "travel" or "take a vacation", but this is different.
Spiritual formation is the ongoing process of shaping one’s inner life to reflect the character and teachings of Christ, cultivating virtues that sustain a faithful and purposeful life.
And on the journey, we laugh, we feast, we pray, we dig into God’s Word, and we encounter the other: other cultures, other faiths, other ideas, other ways God is at work in the world.
Some come, consider joining us. See the world, look within, and encounter your God.
Welcome to the journey.
“Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you are not so much concerned about arriving, but arriving with the others.”
-Pilgrim Beatitudes
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