Pilgrims have completed their trek across across North Wales in honour of the 麻豆传媒 Church (URC’s) 50th anniversary.听
In total, 94 people representing 12 different churches, and four furry friends, took part in the pilgrimage which ended at Penmaenmawr on 2 October having started at Wrexham on 23 July.
The final route took the walkers from the picturesque castle town of Conwy, to Sychnant Pass and then across the lower slopes of Snowdonia National Park.
Explaining how the day unfolded, the Revd Julia Bartholomew, a Minister in Rhos-on-Sea, said: 鈥淪omehow this walk embodied all the walks that had gone before.鈥�
Every Saturday, pilgrims of all ages had travelled by foot, bus, train and car from one church to the next听of the 12 churches taking part.
鈥淚t was a bright blustery day,听and this was certainly not a 鈥榳alk in the park鈥�,鈥� continued Julia. 鈥淏etween gasps for breath,听we told our stories. As we walked, our different church structures, worship styles, theologies, all disappeared in the background. Instead,听we found common ground through sharing our own real-life听stories, our hopes and dreams, our struggles with life, with church, with faith.鈥�
Along the way the team paused for a lunch break at a scenic mountain stream in the shelter of a drystone wall, on the south side of Foel Lus.
鈥淭he climb of nearly 1500 feet had been tough, the wind was fierce, and we didn鈥檛 all have the most suitable footwear, but as we sat and shared our lunch, we realised how through our openness to travelling together on this path, God had brought us together in a place of refuge and refreshment,鈥� added Julia.
鈥淚t was our delight to realise that as churches, we are not left to struggle alone in the face of an ever changing and seemingly indifferent world. We have brothers and sisters in Christ on our doorsteps with whom we can share our joys, pray together and explore new ways of speaking Jesus鈥� love into our communities.鈥�
At the end of the journey, the group were welcomed at听St Paul’s United Church in Penmaenmawr, a Methodist and URC local ecumenical partnership,听with bowls of soup,听cake, and mugs of tea听followed by worship.
The walk took place across 11 weeks and included infants to people aged over 70 with the groups covering more than 90 kilometers it total. Some walkers included four generations of the same family.
The pilgrims walked from:
Walk 1 – Salisbury Park URC, Wrexham to Tyddyn Street United Church, Mold
Walk 2 – Tyddyn Street United Church, to St John’s URC, Buckley
Walk 3 鈥� St John鈥檚 URC to Ewloe Green Presbyterian Church
Walk 4 鈥� Ewloe Green to Rivertown URC, Shotton
Walk 5 鈥� Rivertown URC to St John鈥檚 URC, Flint and Bagillt
Walk 6 鈥� St John鈥檚 URC to Tabernacle URC, Holywell
Walk 7 鈥� Tabernacle URC to Horeb Chapel, Dyserth
Walk 8 鈥� Horeb Chapel to United Church, Rhyl
Walk 9 鈥� United Church, Rhyl to Rhos-on-Sea URC
Walk 10 鈥� Rhos-on-Sea URC to Gloddaeth United Church, Llandudno.
Walk 11 鈥� Gloddaeth United Church to St Paul鈥檚 United Church, Penmaenmawr.
Find full details .
North Wales pilgrimage marks URC’s jubilee – August 2022