Hi friends!

This letter is later than I intended, partly due to both work and vacation travel all crammed into about six weeks (with a side of covid), so let's get right to business, starting with the most time-sensitive item first.

Special Guest at the Next Outfitters' Gathering!

I really hope you can make our next zoom gathering, which is October 30th at 7PM Eastern. I'm excited to welcome BJ Thompson, Build a Better Us CEO, to our call that night, so that you can learn a little bit more about the organization which is our fiscal sponsor here. I expect he will give a broader view of the Kingdom work we're doing together, of which the Pilgrimage is a part, and you will have the opportunity to ask him questions. Time permitting, you will also be able to ask me questions about the next thing.

I've Got a New Book Coming Out!

And it's directly related to the Pilgrimage.

Follower: How Getting Close to Jesus Brings You to Yourself is finally going to be published--and you can be part of the story.

Follower is my first non-fiction book--about identity, purpose, and transformation, illustrated by the story of Simon's becoming Peter because of Jesus. Trees in the Pavement was traditionally published, Favored One was self-published, and this time I'm taking the third route--hybrid publishing--thanks to an indirect introduction by another spiritual director.

Hybrid publication allows the author to have much more control over what happens to her book, while also benefitting from the book's being vetted by a publisher with editing, design, and distribution services. Additionally, this particular publishing company takes none of the proceeds of the sale of the book after publication. All the proceeds can help augment the work we do here on Pilgrimage. The tricky part is how much it costs up front.

The cost, of course, is why at first I didn't want to go this route. But, after a recent traditional publishing rejection, my friend Amy said,

She's right, of course. By the time I had a live conversation about Follower with another traditional publisher just last week, I had already realized that hybrid is the way I want to go--at least for this book. And your understanding of me and my work as Amy describes it is why I'm inviting you, in particular, to help. You may have seen on social media that I have launched a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a fundraising platform for creative projects. Donors make pledges to a project, and if the set goal is met in the designated time, the project funds. (If the pledge goal is not met, no one pays anything, and the creator gets no assistance toward their project.) Ideally, we reach the goal in time, and if we exceed it, that will cover the cost of other things--possibly an audio version, for example. The monetary goal I've set is a faith-tester for me, and I'll likely be posting about this on social media every day of the fundraiser in hopes of reaching it.

Here, though, is where I ask you for help directly. In some ways it seems a bit much to ask a group of people--many of whom already donate to the Pilgrimage ministry--to donate to another thing. On the other hand, you have shown you believe in this work already, and Follower is literally an extension of what we're doing here--we use it inThe Walk course. Once this book is published, people will be able to have it for the class, but its message won't be confined to the course. Who knows--if it does well enough, we might also be able to add it as another income stream for this ministry, multiplying your giving that way.

I kind of like the idea of my Pilgrimage friends and family being part of the story of how this book came to be. As of this writing, we're about a third of the way to our goal. The Kickstarter closes on November 18th. Thanks for praying about if and how you can help, and for the ultimate God-glorifying success of this venture. No pledge is too small. Seriously. I just want you to be a part of this. I can't wait to see what story we tell together.

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Pilgrimage Events!

(I figured I might as well keep the exclamation mark thing going...)

The Oasis - The first Pilgrimage in-person retreat has come and gone and it was beautiful. I was even tempted to host another one next fall, but the attendees reminded me that if I'm starting a DMin program then, too, it's the better part of wisdom to wait. Fortunately, there are other ways we Pilgrims find to get together in person. On Thursday, two of the evening Winter/Spring SITS course and I are getting together for tea.

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Winter Solace - I've begun introducing our staff on the Pilgrimage Facebook page. Check it out. Hope you can join us!

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Stepping into the Story and The Walk - Due to the aforementioned doctoral program starting in the fall (also part of this ministry), all Pilgrimage courses in 2025 will be offered prior to August. There's plenty of time for people to sign up, but it seems worth mentioning this for planning purposes. And if you really like to plan ahead, you can register for them (or encourage your friends to register) already, below.

Thanks for your time, your support, your prayers. I'm truly grateful for you. Hope to see you on the 30th!

Travel well,

Jenn (Renegade) 😄 🐪