The Way of Pilgrimage is a journey in which prayer, conversation, listening, reading, noticing and looking are transformed from activities of the mind to practices of the heart. The focus is on being present to God and to all of life.
The combination of small group and personal reflection material allows young adults to engage with the journey in a variety of ways.
The resource is based around the understanding that rhythm is part of the daily routine of pilgrims. This is not always easy to begin, but, if your young people are encouraged and supported to stick with it, they (and you) will find that particular prayers, scriptures and practices repeated through the journey will sink from their heads down to their hearts and will become as familiar and comforting as wearing a favourite pair of shoes.
The Pilgrimage has five sets of six weekly meetings, each an hour and 15 minutes long. These combined with a one week introduction make a total of 31 weeks that can either take place consecutively or in six-week chunks depending on the needs and commitment of your group.
The five participants’ books focus on the theme areas…
Vol. 1 Choosing Pilgrimage
Vol. 2 The Bible: Pilgrimage Travel Guide
Vol. 3 Prayer: Heart of the Pilgrimage
Vol. 4 Companions on the Pilgrimage
Vol. 5 Stepping into the World
Each volume was written by christian educators who were selected for their expertise and versatility in working with young people. The first volume was written by Kyle Dugan and Craig Mitchell, who has worked for 25 years at a local, state and national level in youth ministry with the Uniting Church in Australia.
The role of the leader is to assist in the ‘spiritual formation’ of your young people and the leaders guide ensures that this is not a scary task. It offers a map for each of five six-week pilgrimages with clear structures and framework. The guide is packed full of “how-to” which make it easy to lead as is, or to tweak a little to fit the needs of your group.
Leader tools, suggestions and plans are included in the all-inclusive Way of Pilgrimage manual covering all five volumes of the participant books.
Sessions include…
Welcoming
Noticing
Moving from Head2Heart
Naming
Blessing and
Sending Forth
Everything you need to guide young people in the weekly 1¼-hour experiences is included and exceptionally user-friendly.
