Dear friends in Christ,

Growing up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and in north Texas to boot, it likely won’t surprise you that I have never been on a pilgrimage.

Now, I am blessed to have been to many sacred or holy places; vacationing or traveling for leisure or education: Westminster Abbey, Washington National Cathedral, St. Peter’s Basilica, to name a few.

And, I will unashamedly say that I cried the first time I went to Lambeau Field in Green Bay. (Go Pack, Go.)

I have not yet taken a “by the book” pilgrimage; journeying prayerfully with others to encounter and experience the divine.

And, I know that some of you have. Many Episcopal Youth Groups and adults journey to sacred places like Jerusalem, Iona, Iceland, Germany, Croatia (and more) annually, or at least with some regular cadence. And, for many pilgrims, these trips serve as a spiritual high-water mark on their faith journeys.

While ECMN is not (yet) at a place to offer a Diocese-wide pilgrimage, I am beginning to discern what that might mean for the young people among our vast and great diocese.

This spring, I found a copy of the 18th-century, Russian memoir The Way of A Pilgrim, where the unattributed author journeys around the rural countryside exploring what it means to “pray without ceasing”. He encounters a number of guides along his way, and one of his teachers invites our pilgrim to pray 6,000, and then 12,000 times per day, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

What the narrative reveals is that once this discipline takes hold, the prayer becomes so woven into the author’s life that without it, something feels missing; he cannot help but find his mind drifting toward that refrain in every waking moment.

Reading about this pilgrim’s journey has been helpful as I dream, discern, and discuss what pilgrimage looks like in my own life, and in our shared ministry work.

Perhaps the difference between vacation and pilgrimage is the posture, attitude, and expectation we have of what we will see; how God will be made known to us.

As we get ready for summer, and many of our friends, families, and fellows begin to journey, either on Pilgrimage, vacation, or work, may God meet us as we go. May Jesus Christ be revealed in the strangers around us, and continue to reveal God’s abundance, grace, and love.

Whether or not you consider yourself a pilgrim, may God meet you on the road.

Jesus loves you, drink lots of water, 

Dan M-N

(From my newsletter to ECMN Children & Youth Workers/Clergy, April 30, 2026)