The Pilgrimage is faith-honing, metaphorical “trek” into the landscape of faith and spirit, intentionally pursuing a path toward God in the company of fellow travelers now, and of the “great cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us. Participants may travel together for a brief time to have a curious, hospitable spiritual conversation with others, or for a longer period as we deepen our spirits and connection with God through courses and spiritual direction. Pilgrimage participants come from varied spiritual backgrounds and convictions, though most have had at least some history within the varying Christian traditions.
The Pilgrimage is an effort to address–from a Jesus-centered, Trinitarian perspective–questions and experiences that may not be welcome, understood, or even considered in many church contexts. The goal is to assist people in their individual transformation in hopes of strengthening and enhancing, rather than detracting from, local, established communities of faith. A parallel goal is to provide support and training for pastors and ministry leaders who would like help effectively and compassionately shepherding their people who are asking these questions and having these experiences. We offer informal online spiritual conversation, accessible-yet-rigorous spirituality and Bible courses, and spiritual direction.
Faculty and Affiliation
Rev. Jennifer A G Layte
Founder, Director
Jennifer Layte is a pastor, spiritual director, and founder of the Pilgrimage. She provides spiritual mentoring, formation, and direction for any seeking to deepen their relationship with God–or encountering God for the first time–facilitating movement toward wholeness in Christ and participation in local churches.
A writer, teacher, and spiritual caregiver at heart, Jenn loves team building, introducing people to Jesus, and teaching the things she is also learning. She has authored two novels, Trees in the Pavement (Christian Focus Publications, 2008) and Favored One (Notes on Pilgrimage, 2019).
Passionate about unity among the people of Jesus, Jenn isn’t particularly sold on committing to any one denomination, preferring instead to see where each stream of the historic Church points to Jesus and offering cross-denominational methods to help others connect with Him. That’s why Jenn is the independently ordained minister of Central Baptist Church, received her MTS from Bethel Seminary, is an interfaith Advance Practice Board Certified Chaplain through the Spiritual Care Association, and received certification as a spiritual director from the Anglican Diocese of New England.
Wendy Widder Huisken, PhD
Wendy Widder Huisken is an author and educator who loves teaching the Bible to people who just want to learn more. She has a PhD in Near Eastern studies, an MA in Hebrew and Semitic Studies, and an MDiv with an emphasis in educational ministries. She has spent much of her career in the classroom, beginning with fifth graders and then making her way into adult education in college, seminary, the church, and online environments.
Wendy is the author of a number of books: two books for singles, Living Whole without a Better Half and A Match Made in Heaven: How Singles and the Church Can Live Happily Ever After (Kregel Publications), and she coauthored a book with her dad for Christian educators, The Forest and the Trees: Helping Teachers Integrate a Biblical Worldview across the Curriculum (Wipf and Stock). She wrote Daniel in two Zondervan commentary series (The Story of God; Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament), and she has contributed several resources on Daniel to Lexham Press.
Her greatest passions are writing biblically and theologically solid materials for laypeople, as well as teaching the Bible in an engaging way. She blogs occasionally at wendywidder.com.
The Pilgrimage is an affiliate of The Sanctuary at Woodville, a more embodied spiritual direction and formation ministry located in central New England. Please visit their website for further options for spiritual growth and learning.
2 thoughts on “Who We Are”