206. The Healing Power of Pilgrimage, with Jon Huckins, Director of Journey Home

Spiritual Life and Leadership

When I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2022, it was something I had been longing to do for years. After a fairly traumatic experience at a church I'd been serving, the thought of just walking with Jesus for an extended time felt like exactly what I needed.
I walked the Camino together with Jon Huckins, the founder and Director of Journey Home. In this episode, Jon unpacks why pilgrimmage is so meaningful and how it can help those of us in leadership to be our best selves for the sake of those we're leading, for the world, and for ourselves.
THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Jon Huckins is founder and Director of Journey Home and is adjunct professor of New Testament at Point Loma Nazarene University.
• Jon Huckins describes the transition to the second half of life as a shift from doing to being and embracing one's identity as deeply loved by God.
• The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is presented as a crucial tool for self-reflection, challenging external expectations, and engaging spiritual awakening.
• The transition from leading Global Immersion to starting Journey Home reflects Huckins' focus on facilitating societal and individual healing.
• Jon Huckins shares the profound influence the Camino pilgrimage has had on his ministry and his dedication to the work of peacemaking.
• The Camino serves as a means for intentional dislocation to face oneself and the authentic realitiies of life.
• Huckins comments on the distinct challenges faced by pastors and ministry leaders in an era where their conventional roles are questioned.
• Pilgrimage, according to Jon Huckins, is linked to the process of acknowledging and grieving loss, while also confronting the resistance to change in our ministries.
• Becoming second-half-of-life individuals allows for more resilience and a generous, open-hearted approach to leadership.
• Jon Huckins emphasizes the significance of spaces like the Camino for transformation, focusing on experiencing rather than decision-making.
• Jon Huckins highlights the transformative power of being fully present and releasing control, as experienced on the Camino.
• The mission of Journey Home aims to facilitate pilgrimages that act as vehicles for healing and development for leaders.
• Jon Huckins stresses the importance of pilgrimages like the Camino in aiding Christian leaders through their spiritual and emotional development.
• The challenges of ministry require spaces and practices that support healing and rejuvenation.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• JourneyHome:
  • Website – Journeyhome.info
  • Instagram - @journey_home_pilgrimages
• Books mentioned:
  • Falling Upward, by Richard Rohr
  • Leadership on the Line, by Ronald Heifetz
• Related episodes:
  • Ep 163: You Can’t Be Found if You’re Never Lost, with Steve Carter
  • Ep 112: The Beatitudes and Spiritual Leadership, with Mark Scandrette
• Church leadership Institute
• Global Immersion

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