Pilgrimage as Sacred Space

In the Sunday morning service on 16th August we continued our reflection on sacred spaces by looking at the tradition of pilgrimage, with prayers, poems, chants and images from the St Bride’s Pilgrimage to Lindisfarne in June. Jon Jelfs writes:

One of the (many) special things about St Bride’s Liverpool is that inner-together journey in community expressed outwardly by ‘pilgrimage’ - walking a physical sacred path as a way of cultivating that inner spiritual journey towards union with God. This years pilgrimage involved walking together part of St Cuthbert’s Way in Northumberland, ending on Lindisfarne. Posted here is a short video slideshow of that journey.

Also on display was a large canvas made up of smaller canvases designed by many of the pilgrims, plus photos and artefacts from the trip.

We also recreated the tepee which was the centrepiece of the pilgrimage, the meeting place for morning and evening prayer, deep sharing and reflection on the experiences we shared. 

Helen Jelfs gave a reflection on pilgrimage as sacred space, which sadly was not recorded. However, one of the community who was unable to join us on this pilgrimage, Jonathan Clatworthy, has written a reflection inspired by our Sunday morning service - you can read it here.