Pilgrim's Progress on Scenic Routes

British Methodists have taken part in two special pilgrimages in August, one in the UK and one across the channel.

Lay worker Marie Lumb and her husband Lee organised a party of 33 people, aged between 8 and 80 years old, who completed the final leg of the 135-mile North Wales Pilgrim’s Way from Tudweiliog to Aberdaron, and then set sail the following day to their final destination – Bardsey Island, and ancient place of pilgrimage where there are reputed to be buried the bodies of 20,000 saints – on Sunday 9 August.

Meanwhile, the Revd Steven Cooper led a connexionally-supported pilgrimage to Taizé in France with a group of young people from Darlington District.

Taizé is an ecumenical Christian community in the centre of France and is composed of about one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countries around the world.

Marie was inspired to walk the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way in 2024, as while visiting her mother-in-law in Holywell she had discovered a mural depicting the old pilgrim’s path, which starts at Basingwerk Abbey in Holywell and works its way through the North Wales countryside, stopping by ancient chapels, celtic crosses, mountains, valleys and coastline – arriving 135 miles later at Aberdaron, whereupon pilgrims braved the seas to travel across to Bardsey Island itself.

New to her post as Lay Worker for Crewe by Farndon Methodist Church, Marie thought that some of the families that attended the children's groups that she ran may like to try a walk.

Little did she know that one walk would rapidly turn into more, as the families were hooked on the 'pilgrimage bug', and so between April 2024 to August 2026 local families, many whom live in the Holt, Farndon and Malpas area, embarked on walking the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way, averaging one walk per month of between 8 to 14 miles during their walking season of April to August.

Most of the children were between the ages of six to nine years old when they started walking in 2024, so covering such long distances has been such a huge achievement.

But it hasn't just been a walk. In fact, since running these walks, the chapel congregation has grown in number as fresh conversations around faith, community and belief have happened along the way, and their annual trip to Min-y-don Christian Residential Centre was their biggest ever, with over 40 attendees.

The spirit of pilgrimage has been so transformational at Crewe by Farndon that they have recently decided to change their name to “Celtic Chapel”, where their commitment to pilgrimage and journeying with people where they are at is foundational in their vision.

The final days walking from Tudweiliog to Aberdaron, a 12-mile section, where pilgrims set a speedier than normal pace, culminated in a service of celebration at St Hywen's Church in Aberdaron, where the congregation were warmly welcomed by Lay Minister Susan with tea, squash and biscuits for some very hungry children.

Marie then surprised the congregation with a handwritten song about their journey on the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way called Pilgrim Chapel – My Home, which all 33 pilgrims sang together. Medals of achievement were then given to all pilgrims. According to the clergy at St Hywen's, they believe the group may be the first ever large group who have completed the North Wales Pilgrims Way with young children.

Pilgrims were over the moon that the weather was looking settled and so their trip on two boats over to Bardsey Island the next day looked promising.

Marie said: “The whole experience from beginning to end has been transformative, not only for our pilgrims, but for our chapel too.

“It has opened up opportunity for faith conversations as we journeyed alongside our pilgrims over the three years of pilgrimage. It is true that words really do flow so much easier when we walk!

“As well as marvelling at the wonders of nature, visiting ancient chapels along the way, we got to know each other on a deeper level. We also realised each one of us has strengths and weaknesses when walking such a challenging pilgrimage, and that collectively we each had something to bring to the table for the group as a whole. We became a team! And that is church – a team, walking ‘the way’ together.

“We are now far more likely to reach out to one another for not only practical help in our everyday lives, but with prayer requests too.

“Pilgrimage, when out walking, can unburden us not only of everyday concerns but really open the doors for exploring faith together.

“You would have thought we would have been ready to hang up our walking boots, but the pilgrimage bug has well and truly been caught, and the question now is, what next?”

If you are interested in finding out more about Celtic Chapel, what's on and how you can join in, please like and follow our Facebook page and Instagram account. There is also an email mailing list if preferred, please message 1108lw8@gmail.com

Marie would like to thank the Methodist District Fund who subsidised the cost of the Bardsey Island trip for our families and have provided other grant funding to enable this to happen. Also Roland and Linda Twydell, who describe themselves as part-time pilgrims, but Marie would like to acknowledge their full-time commitment to the background work of pilgrimage.

To read more about Methodist pilgrimages please visit: Pilgrimage