An invitation to join a network
of Small Pilgrim
Places
Places that have ‘presence’:
some call them
‘holy’, ‘sacred’, ‘thin’, ‘liminal’, ‘in-between’, ‘thresholds’, ‘dense’.
Places that ‘speak’,
provided that humans don’t intrude with anxious talk.
Places that range from the stone circle and roadside shrine
to the well and the monument, which are outdoors and always accessible,
to the home of a composer, a gallery of art, or a church, chapel, or crypt.
Places that are small,
where a crowd would be out of place.
Perhaps not easy to find.
Places for searchers and seekers,
for those on or off the edges of the churches,
for those asking questions about God.
Places where you pause for refreshment (inner and outer)
and which gently move you on.
Places that encourage silence and stillness and reflection.
Places that offer simple hospitality and thoughtful conversation,
that have a ‘hospitaller’ to welcome and invite.
A journey by road or rail, perhaps the last part on foot:
A pause on arrival:
A welcome:
A saunter
(the word comes from ‘sainte terre’ or ‘holy land’),
with the help of a guide, perhaps a ‘meditation trail’:
A time of silence for pondering, wondering, reflecting, marvelling:
A time for refreshment and conversation:
A souvenir for remembrance:
A setting out on the next stage of the journey.
Places with a modest annual budget,
each needing one or two people with confidence and competence to be ‘hospitallers’,
a kind of ‘barefoot’ ministry akin to ‘befrienders’ and ‘first-aiders’:
‘guarding’ the boundaries, ‘holding’ the silence, ‘welcoming’ visitors.
A network of those concerned,
held together by common values and aspirations,
meeting from time to time,
encouraging one another to experiment.
You are invited to be a subscriber,
offering your financial support,
and receiving a newsletter and a directory of subscribers,
… and, if you can,
working towards the setting up of a formal network (see below),
and visiting and helping the pilot project at Llandecwyn,
between Harlech and Porthmadog in North Wales.
The annual subscription is £15
(£20 or US$40 for those who live outside the UK).
Cheques to be made payable to Small Pilgrim Places Network and sent to
the Chair, Jim Cotter, Dwylan, Stryd Fawr, Harlech, Gwynedd, LL46 2YA, U.K.
There are currently about 130 members. As well as the pilot project at Llandecwyn, there are nine people now experimenting with the idea in other places: Ysbyty Ystwyth, Llanfair-dyyfryn-clwyd near Ruthin, and places in Northumberland, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire. The network is beginning to take shape as places as well as people.
The Network was launched in Birmingham on
8 October 2005 and the meeting adopted a provisional constitution with
provisional objectives, along with provisional characteristics of small
pilgrim places and provisional good practice guide.
