‘None of us left that journey unchanged and unchallenged’ 

What happened when a group of Baptist ministers walked the Abbot's Way through the Dartmoor National Park. By Michael Shaw

 
 
‘Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls
Jer 6:16
 

Over the last few years the spirituality of walking has become more real for me. The idea of pilgrimage is not new, and many people have discovered the power of walking for spiritual growth. I have done a few walks, mostly along the coastal path down here in Devon and Cornwall. But for many years it has been my ambition to walk the St Cuthbert's Way from Melrose to Lindisfarne. Early this year Pete Greig recorded his journey along St Aidan’s Way from Iona to Lindisfarne, which I would also love to do.
 
While reading New Celtic Monasticism by Ray Simpson, I was made aware of a route from Tavistock Abbey to Buckfast Abbey known as the Abbot's Way. Initially I wondered whether I should do this alone, but then I felt that it could be more interesting to walk with other people.
 
I have been a member of the Order of Baptist Ministry since I completed my NAMs. I was seeking connection and accountability, and a few of the people I did NAMs with had joined too. So it seemed a natural path for me to take. Like many people I had heard about the Order but didn’t know much about it. But because I trusted the people who had joined, it felt right for me to join in.
 
We have quite a large group of us in the Order down here in the South West Baptist Association region, so I put out a message on our WhatsApp group. I thought nobody would respond, but got a response straight away, saying “Yes”. So a few of us got a Zoom meeting together and arranged a date.
 
On Monday 18 September seven of us (Tim Judson, Eleanor Moffatt, Darrell Holmes, James Henley, Hannah Freeland, Elisabeth Pearce and me) gathered at Tavistock Abbey for our two day pilgrimage. We had arranged a few things to make life easier, cars at both start and end locations, Elisabeth’s husband Andrew was very kindly dropping our bags at a Bunkhouse in Princetown (where we were spending the night), we had a pub reservation for the evening and bacon ready for our breakfast.
 
The only thing we didn’t have was a map! Tim, our map guru had left it at home, but we quickly acquired one and set off alone the road.

We wanted this to be more than a walk, so we had Order of Baptist Ministry prayers with us – Midday, Evening and Morning offices, and were also planning to read Psalms and pray along the way.
 
The first day was a joy, we had a short shower of rain, but then the clouds lifted and we soon found ourselves having lunch under a tree, sharing stories and engaging in deep conversations, and less deep ones too. We prayed the midday office and set off into the moors.
 
The path was mostly very easy to follow, and the weather made the walk a joy for the senses, with some stunning views, and we even stopped off at an organic pub for a drink (did you know you can’t buy an organic diet cola?).
 
Just before we entered Princetown, we sat in a ditch near the path and shared together our hope and dream for the journey and prayed for and with each other. It was a special moment.

We arrived at out bunkhouse and settled in. We had walked around 7-8 miles of the 22 miles, so a pub meal was just what we all needed! The evening office was said, and we all found our bunks ready for the big day the next day.
 
We knew rain was forecast for day two, but all the weather people were saying it could come later in the day. However, they were wrong; we woke up and we were basically in a cloud! We said the morning office and headed off into the rain soaked moors, hoping the weather would break. It didn’t...
 
The weather was awful, and within 30 minutes we were all soaked, and our shoes were not able to cope with the volume of rain.
 
At this point we met Scherch, fascinating guy from the Netherlands who said he was “on pilgrimage to get the fire inside him”. He joined us for part of the journey. It was about this time we took a wrong turning. Visibility was low, and we obviously missed a turning. So, we retraced our steps and found our way back onto the path.
 
When I say path, there was a period of about an hour where we couldn’t really see where we were supposed to go. The weather was terrible and we were all wet and slightly bewildered; it was too far to go back, so we could only go forward. We ate our lunch under a tarp tent Tim constructed. Eventually, through a combination of map skills, GPS apps and intuition we found ourselves back on the right path.
 
Often slowed by streams that were now rivers, fords that were now streams, paths that were now flooded and ground that suddenly disappeared under your feet (at one point my whole leg got swallowed up in a muddy hole) the journey took its toll.

But we kept supporting each other, helping each other and encouraging each other. Everyone played a role in getting all of us across the most difficult parts of the journey, until eventually we found ourselves on the final stretch, a 2.5mile road walk down towards Buckfast Abbey.
 
We took a final team photo with the Abbey Spire in the background and went on our ways, but none of us have left that journey unchanged and unchallenged by it. It was a deeply special experience for all of us. It was hard, it was mentally challenging, parts of my body took a few days to recover, my walking boots went in the bin. But would I do it again? YES!

Sadly, ministers fraternals can easily become centred around success models, whether perceived or even over stated success, with little opportunity for true vulnerability and openness.

One of the strengths of the Order is that those models are often downplayed. While the pilgrimage was only one night, the opportunities to help each other when we were struggling – whether to cross a stream or carry on when the walk seemed too daunting to ensure that we all made it through, and to know that we all brought something to the journey – highlighted to me why we need the Order: it is a great model for maintaining and sustaining ministry.
 

You can find out more about the Order of Baptist Ministry here: orderforbaptistministry.co.uk

 

Michael Shaw is the minister of Devonport Community Baptist Church, Plymouth

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