River of Life pilgrimage paddles its way down Connecticut River

By David Paulsen
Posted Jun 29, 2017

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal pilgrims have reached Day 30 of their 410-mile journey down the Connecticut River, and social media dispatches from the River of Life pilgrimage show clear skies, peaceful water and a group determined to embrace the call to prayer as they clutch their paddles.

“Another blessed day on the CT River Pilgrimage,” Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas tweeted as the group made its way into Massachusetts on Wednesday.

The pilgrimage was conceived and developed by New Hampshire Bishop Robert Hirschfeld and the Rev. Stephen Blackmer of Church of the Woods in Canterbury, New Hampshire. It launched May 31 near the Canadian border as a collaboration of all Episcopal dioceses in New England, as well as the New England synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and several conservation groups.

The idea was a Christian pilgrimage on the river, from source to sea, that would incorporate references to its natural history, human history and cultural history.

Community events will be held along the route, typically on weekends. A list of events and day paddles is available on the pilgrimage website. Pilgrims without a paddle or who live far from the Connecticut River still are encouraged to participate in the pilgrimage by following along as a “pilgrim in prayer” with the River of Life prayer book.

The following is a selection of Twitter dispatches from the pilgrimage.

– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for the Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

 

 

 

 


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