'Walking towards a fuller life' 

Baptist minister Paul Revill has launched a pilgrimage walking ministry - Pilgrim Pathways

Pilgrimage walking has become 'an interest and joy' to Paul over the past few years, and as a result he's created Pilgrim Pathways to introduce others to the practice. Pilgrim Pathways provides accompanied pilgrimage walks in the West of England and North East. 

Paul completed the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage as part of a sabbatical in the autumn of 2019, and last autumn walked from Prudhoe in the north east to his new home 530 miles away in Somerset to prepare for a new ministry there. 

Pilgrimage walking is about 'walking with a heart open to God and with the aim of being changed and transformed,' he explains.  

'A pilgrimage is a journey on foot to a place of sacred or special significance.  

'Pilgrimage is a walk with the purpose of personal transformation. This might be to gain a spiritual experience, to encounter God.  

'It might be for the purpose of gaining fresh insight into one's own life, to solve a problem or to find new direction and meaning. It might be for the purpose of greater wellbeing of soul and mind.' 

Pilgrimage Pathways offers mainly day walks and half-day walks that start and finish at places of spiritual significance and heritage, as well as following routes through some of these regions' most attractive landscapes. 

Paul also offers one to one accompaniment, as a trained spiritual director.  

He can also help local churches to plan their own pilgrimage days and events, and can run walking retreats.  
 

There is an accompanying programme of online conversations on pilgrimage related themes.  

'More and more people across the world are engaging in pilgrimage walking each year and new pilgrimage routes are being created and old ones re-energised,' Paul continues.   

'It is increasingly recognised that walking is good for our health.  

'Walking for a spiritual or transformational purpose can bring benefits which last a lifetime.'

 

Visit Pilgrim Pathways here and on Facebook here

The Pilgrim Pathways Launch Walk takes place on 18 May. It's a free walk from Bristol Cathedral to Pill