Education for Ministry launches Pilgrimages – Journeys with Purpose
There are journeys taken to reach a destination – and there are journeys that invite change along the way. EfM: Pilgrimage, a new offering, is an invitation to the latter. Education for Ministry will offer three such pilgrimages in 2027–2028.
“As EfM continues to expand its formation offerings utilizing its Core Practices, it seemed like an amazing opportunity to infuse a pilgrimage experience with EfM’s tradition of building community through study, reflection, and implications for action,” says Executive Director Kevin Goodman.
Rather than focusing, like many pilgrimages, on the destination or the miles traveled, EfM’s pilgrimages begin with building community and preparing for the spiritual work. Months before pilgrims embark, they enter into a season of intentional preparation that includes weekly learning, spiritual reflection, and practices of witness. For the El Camino, pilgrims’ preparation includes both physical and spiritual training.
The first offering is an epic walk through the key sites from the Civil Rights Movement. The Rev. Canon Sister Veronica Dunbar (Sister Vee), Diocese of Michigan; the Rev. Kevin Goodman, EfM executive director, Diocese of Chicago; and the Rev. Sara Ardrey-Graves, associate dean for spiritual and professional formation, School of Theology, University of the South, contributed to the pilgrimage itinerary and will help guide the experience.
“For many of my siblings of color, the Civil Rights pilgrimage is a journey into collective and individual memory,” explains Sister Vee. “I see this pilgrimage as part of the ongoing conversation around the meaning of discipleship. Christ acknowledged, in undergoing the baptism of repentance from John, that to be fully human means to be fully accountable for the suffering we see around us.”
Next is the Camino de Santiago, also known in English as the Way of St. James. Beth Cavey, director of EfM ministry empowerment, and the Rev. Jose Fernandez, rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Woodlawn, Diocese of Alabama, will help travelers transform into pilgrims through physical and spiritual practices that witness more deeply. “The Camino has long had the allure of possibility and transformation,” says Cavey. “I walked part of it in 2022 and the experience cultivated a pilgrim’s spirit in me that I wanted to help others find.”
Fernandez sees the value of the walk continuing well past the end date. “Perhaps the deepest lesson of the Camino is that Santiago is not the end of the pilgrimage. We return home to discover that the road continues beneath our feet, and that God has been walking it with us all along.”
Lastly, EfM will take travelers through the city of New Orleans for a pilgrimage based on the Stations of the Cross led by Goodman. Participants will see “the city that care forgot” through the lens of scriptural salvation history while developing a deepening spiritual life and studying within a spiritual community. “I started offering a pilgrimage experience based on the Stations of the Cross in my beloved hometown after watching Tyler Perry’s modern retelling of the Stations,” said Goodman. “This pilgrimage is a powerful experience.”
Trip Details
EfM: Pilgrimage—Civil Rights Trail, Alabama, Feb. 25–March 2, 2027, is a transformative journey through Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, and other sacred sites of memory and witness. To prepare for the pilgrimage, participants will meet for three sessions via Zoom, beginning Feb. 4.
EfM: Pilgrimage—Camino, June 11–19, 2027, is designed to help travelers transform into pilgrims through physical and spiritual practices. Pilgrims will arrive in Sarria, Spain, and depart from Santiago de Compostela. In addition to the Camino walk itself, participants will be part of a group who train individually and in community prior to the trip.
EfM: Pilgrimage—Stations New Orleans, Louisiana, March 9–14, 2028. Pilgrims will journey to New Orleans to discover and act upon tenets of faith while experiencing one of the world’s most dynamic cities. To prepare for the pilgrimage, participants will meet for three sessions via Zoom, beginning in Feb. 2028.
To learn complete details of these pilgrimages along with itinerary, costs, and registration, click here:
About Education for Ministry
The Education for Ministry Program (EfM) offers courses for small-group engagement and transformation developed by the School of Theology, at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. An estimated 120,000 individuals have participated in the program since its founding in 1975.
About the School of Theology
The School of Theology forms lay and ordained leaders for service to the Episcopal Church and the world. The seminary’s rigorous curriculum is grounded in the Anglican tradition of forming disciples through a common life of prayer, study, and service; the seminary offers residential education surrounded by God’s creation in a rural, natural setting. The school’s global contextual education program further equips students for the practical aspects of ministry in community, preparing graduates who are devout, learned, and useful.