Sacred Ground Pilgrimage: A Journey for the Whole Diocese

In just two short weeks, more than two dozen of us from the Diocese of Central New York will embark on the Sacred Ground Pilgrimage to the Legacy Museum and other important Civil Rights Movement sites. However, we’re working hard to make this truly a pilgrimage for our whole diocese. In the Fall, we began a two-year journey to further our commitment to racial justice and reconciliation as we seek to bring our vision of “a world healed by love” ever closer to its realization. This isn’t the journey of a few of us, it is the journey of all of us.

If you are unable to join us on the ground in Alabama on February 23-26, you can still journey with us in a number of important and meaningful ways. In our diocese we’re working hard to embrace and explore ways to engage people across space and time, living into the adage of hybrid ministry organization, Learning Forte: “On-site or online, it’s all in person!” We hope that you find one or more of the ways of being a pilgrim with us to be formative and engaging.

The image reads: "On-site or online, it's all in person"

This adage from Learning Forte is an excellent reminder for us that all participation is holy and whole participation. Whether you’re engaging with our pilgrimage in Alabama or from your home, you journeying with us is valuable, important, and holy.

Here are different ways you can embark on this pilgrimage from your home or wherever you find yourself:

Walk the Path of our Pilgrimage: Daily Email Digest

You can sign up here to receive an email each morning of the pilgrimage, February 23 – 26. The email will include a list of the agenda for the pilgrimage for the day and ways to engage with the stops on the way from afar. There will also be a prayer included for each stop on the way that we can pray together, asking for God’s blessings on our hosts and our pilgrims in Alabama and elsewhere and for God’s guidance in our learning and discerning.

Pray the Pilgrimage: Text Updates

In addition to the prayers available in our daily email digest, you can elect to receive text updates through GroupMe by signing up here. People in the text group will receive real-time prayer reminders throughout the days of the pilgrimage as the pilgrims on the ground enter into new experiences throughout the day. You can also use these reminders as opportunities to engage in the pilgrimage stops from afar as the pilgrims in Alabama engage with them on the ground, connecting across space.

Journey as a Pilgrim: Engage with us on Social Media

We’ll be using our social media outlets to help bring the entire diocese along with us through the journey. Here’s what you can expect from our different channels:

Facebook

On Facebook each day, we’ll post updates in our feed about where the pilgrims are and how you can engage in the different stops along the way no matter where you are. We’ll also go live on Facebook during times of prayer and worship so that you can pray and worship with us. We’ll also plan to go live at other key, sacred moments during the journey, including as we cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Finally, we’ll use our Facebook story during the days we’re in Alabama to post in-the-moment updates from Alabama. We encourage you to follow along with us, dialoging with pilgrims in Alabama and New York in the comments. Follow us on Facebook. 

Instagram

We’ll use Instagram in similar ways to Facebook with posts about our stops on the journey and story updates. If you’re more comfortable on Instagram than Facebook, you can find the same content there with the exception of the live broadcasts. Follow us on Instagram.

TikTok

We’re doing it. We’re entering the world of TikTok as a diocese, launching our channel with our pilgrimage! We’ll use TikTok to share personal reflections from some of the pilgrims on the ground in Alabama of their experiences. Follow us on TikTok. 

YouTube 

Our TikTok videos will also be shared as YouTube shorts, so you’ll be able to access those personal reflections on YouTube if you’re not a TikTok aficionado. In the days and weeks after our return to New York, you’ll also find longer compilation videos about our pilgrimage that are posted on our YouTube channel. You’ll have an opportunity to submit your reflections for those videos, too, so be on the look out for chances to share if you feel so called. Follow us on YouTube. 

 

 

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