Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet


Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago


A new BBC series features well-known faces taking on the Camino de Santiago. How will it impact their beliefs? 

 
Santiago700
 
What happens when you take celebrities away from home, have them live with strangers, and challenge them physically?
 
The answer depends on those involved. And in the case of a new BBC series, Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago, it’s not quite what you’d expect. I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here this isn’t.  
 
The three-part travelogue sees seven well-known faces stripped of their everyday comforts and invited to live as modern pilgrims on the famous medieval pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago.

Naturally there are spiritual differences, with a range of beliefs represented. On the one hand, we have Catholic-turned atheist Neil Morrissey of Men Behaving Badly fame and comedian Ed Byrne, a patron of Humanists UK.

Sharing their journey is a vicar, the Revd Kate Bottley, with everything in between. We learn that Debbie McGhee was a Christian before she met Paul Daniels, who opposed it on rational grounds. Since his death she’s beginning to explore faith again, but is not sure what she now believes. 
 
There are physical differences, too. Some are seasoned hikers who get a buzz from the exercise. Others are not quite as prepared. The aforementioned Kate, who recently began presenting the new Good Morning Show on BBC Radio 2, gets speedy confirmation that walking is emphatically not for her. 

Santiago2
Heather Small, Raphael Rowe, Ed Byrne Image | BBC | CTV | Brigid McFall   



In the first episode, the pilgrims face one of the most gruelling parts of the Camino de Santiago route – a 26km hike from France into Spain. As they move along the route through vast mountain ranges and landscapes in France and Spain and the series progresses, they explore their differing religious beliefs. Why doesn’t an atheist believe in God? Why does a Christian go to church? Why would someone become a priest? 
 
It’s in these interactions that the programme is at its most compelling, with the participants willing to engage and listen; arguing the point and not the person. There's an honesty to the conversations and the sharing of their pasts. Pilgrimage is not a Christian apologetics programme - it does not claim to be - but it does give space to what shapes our core beliefs, and whether such unusual circumstances will change them.  
 
What’s more, you get to travel the Camino on your sofa.
 


Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago begins on BBC 2 on Friday, 16 March at 9pm. Find out more here.

 

Top image
Neil Morrissey, Ed Byrne, Debbie McGee, Raphael Rowe, JJ Chalmers, Rev. Kate Bottley and Heather Small at the start of their journey.
Image | BBC | CTV | Brigid McFall    

Related resource
Baptist minister Richard Littledale has written a book called Journey, The Way of the Disciple (Authentic), which would accompany the series nicely.  Journey is an accessible and thought-provoking devotional look at the nature of discipleship through the lens of pilgrimage.  What do we learn about God whilst on the move which could not be learnt whilst stationary? 
Baptist Times, 12/03/2018
    Post     Tweet
Sharing the Christian story with your local schools
A presentation that has seen hundreds of thousands of pupils learn more about the Christian faith at Christmas and Easter marks its 30th anniversary next year – and it is hoped even more churches and schools could be involved
‘It will help you encounter Jesus in new and deeper ways’
Mosaic Creative has announced the release of a new book and audiobook of biblical monologues for churches called Following the Son by Jackie Mouradian
Different types of small church
The Small Church Connexion team is testing out different categories of small church, from a new plant to one that is choosing to close. These are imprecise categories which need to be fleshed out, but can help us strengthen the resource we offer
My journey to becoming a national hockey umpire
Interview with Annette Golding, a Baptist church member who became a Level 3 hockey umpire in 2022
‘Enabling people to be deeply human in safety’
Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries equips the church to support mental health and wellbeing. Baptist minister Shaun Lambert spoke with its UK Director Corin Pilling
Is generosity the new evangelism?
A generous life has the power to change lives today, writes Wendy Pawsey, head of giving for the Evangelical Alliance, and author of Generous with a Capital G, part of the 2024 Big Church Read
     The Baptist Times 
    Posted: 11/09/2024
    Posted: 05/02/2024
    Posted: 16/12/2023
    Posted: 15/12/2023
    Posted: 06/12/2023
    Posted: 27/11/2023
    Posted: 01/11/2023