Progressive Pilgrimage provides travelers many opportunities to build relationships with people of different religions and cultures so that we might become more thoughtful neighbors, active in shaping God’s peaceable kingdom on earth today.
Traveling means that pilgrims will interact with people of diverse languages, faiths, traditions, and political views. Progressive Pilgrimage strives to provide authentic encounters that honor the worldview of those whom we meet, without imposing our own views upon them. Our pilgrimages have included cooking with Palestinian Muslim women who are raising disabled children; praying with German-speaking monks in Dormitian Abbey; sitting barefoot in a mosque to learn about Islam; touring East Jerusalem with Rabbis for Human Rights; walking the Falls and Shankill Roads in Belfast with Loyalist and Republican guides, and more. In each case, we resist the temptation to reconcile diverging narratives, striving to allow each voice to speak for itself. Only after thoughtful listening may the pilgrim attempt to draw conclusions about the land they are visiting. We hope that these experiences will also invite pilgrims to reconsider their own preconceived ideas about themselves and the other.
