US church leaders visit North Wales to explore faith beyond church walls

Church leaders from Ohio visited North Wales to learn how a Christian community uses walking and pilgrimage to reach people who do not usually attend church.

The visit was part of a ten-day UK tour exploring new forms of church, with stops in London, Liverpool and Lincolnshire. Fresh Expressions UK, an organisation supporting the development of these communities, invited the Nomadic Community to host the tour’s only Welsh stop.

Bishop Daniel Beaudoin, Bishop of the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and a group of pastors joined the community on Sunday 11 October for a walk to Llangelynnin Old Church.

The small, 12th-century church stands high above the Conwy Valley, with sweeping views across the surrounding hills. Reached on foot, it is a stop on the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way to Bardsey Island.

The Nomadic Community is led by the Revd Eryl Parry, a Pioneer Priest in the Diocese of Bangor (Bro Celynnin Ministry Area) and Chaplain on Bardsey Island. The Nomadic Community has developed over ten years and helps people discover or deepen their relationship with God through the landscape, conversations and stillness. Its walks and gatherings draw on scripture and the area’s ancient Christian stories.

For the visitors, this offered an example of ministry that gives people time to explore faith and recognises that a community’s development cannot be hurried. It also means making room for different voices and helping people discover what they can contribute.

On the climb to the church, the Ohio visitors walked alongside members of the community’s leadership team, hearing how it began and how it has changed. They paused for reflection before walking the next section in silence.

At the church, the group held a service of Pilgrim Prayer. They reflected on Matthew 11:28–30, using The Message translation, particularly its invitation to discover the “unforced rhythms of grace” and to “walk with me and work with me”.The Message is a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible by Eugene Peterson, using everyday language to bring familiar passages to life in a fresh way.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The passage prompted discussion about the burdens people carry and the importance of creating a community where they can come as they are.The image of sharing a load also spoke to the experience of pioneer ministry: new Christian communities develop through prayer, relationships and people learning to work together, rather than through the efforts of one person.

Writing on Facebook, Sarah Marie Kochy Schaaf from Northwestern Ohio Synod, described her experience of the Nomadic Community,

Worship in the Wild tastes like being welcomed with Welsh cakes made from scratch using Jill’s grandma’s recipe.

It sounds like silence drenched with the Holy Spirit and the gentle conversation Eryl invites us to share as we journey on pilgrimage together.

It looks like the perspective you gain from climbing upward and seeing God’s handiwork knitting all things together.

It feels like water from a deep well, where Mo pauses to dip her fingers, welcoming you into her ritual.

It smells like a candle lit in an old church, connecting us to the generations who came this way before us.

Eryl is known for her use of pilgrimage, walking and the outdoors in her ministry. In 2024, she met the celebrity participants in BBC’s Pilgrimage programme at Llangelynnin, introducing them to the idea of a “thin place”, where heaven and earth feel especially close.

Eryl says “We felt really honoured to be invited by Fresh Expressions UK to be their Welsh stop on this UK tour. Walking together gave us a chance to share honestly how the community has developed over the past ten years, and to listen and learn from one another.

“For our own team, it was an opportunity to look back at that journey and recognise how many people have shaped it. Some have been part of the story for a long time and others have joined more recently, but everyone has a voice and a part to play in where we go next.

“We began the day as hosts and visitors, but very quickly we were simply fellow pilgrims, walking together and sharing the different ways we see God at work beyond the walls of our churches.”

For more information about the Nomadic Community contact Revd Eryl Parry erylparry@churchinwales.org.uk