1st Pilgrimage Walk

During the summer I was chatting with my 6yr old daughter, Phoebe, and we thought we might start doing some pilgrimage walks. The idea is to walk (a kids' walking distance) to a holy site, have some sort of ritual/ceremony in encounter with God, and then walk back.

So, we're going on our first pilgrimage walk next weekend, on Sunday 17 September.

The plan is to walk to Much Wenlock Priory in Shropshire, near Telford [map]. It's an ancient Cluniac Benedictine priory built on the remains of an Anglo Saxon monastery. The ruins are beautiful and there is an almost tangible sense of the years of worship that have taken place among them.

The priory was dedicated to St Milburga, the first Abbess of the Anglo Saxon monastery. Milburga was the daughter of Merewalh, King of Mercia, who founded the original monastery. She was later canonised because she was said to be able to talk with birds. During construction work in 1101 bones were found believed to be hers, and the priory was later dedicated to her.

Our walk will take inspiration from St Milburga's communion with birds. The theme of the walk will be about living with and within nature, living in communion with nature.

We will gather together on a track just off the A458 about 1.5 miles south of Much Wenlock [map] at 11am. If you're coming from the Bridgnorth direction, the turning onto the track is on the right just before a steep hill that turns to the right. Carry on the track until the tarmac ends at the junction between several tracks. There's room to park there. We will then have a walk of about 1.5 miles through a cider orchard and along the valley to Much Wenlock.

The pilgrimage journey to the priory is a time of personal preparation for the encounter with God at the destiny of our pilgrimage, the priory at Much Wenlock.

Once at the priory we'll have a little ceremony inspired by St Milburga. This is the time and place of encounter with God, meeting God and re-understanding our communion with nature.

There'll be time to explore the ruins and/or the village and have some lunch together, before we turn round and take the journey back to the start of our pilgrimage.

The journey back is all about transformation - how am I (to be) different as a result of this particular encounter with God? How is my world changed, and how can I change this world, as a result of meeting God here?

So, all are welcome, regular peace churchers and tourists on the site alike. Looking forward to seeing you!

If you want to know any more, you can contact me using the contact form.