I was very glad and grateful for a sabbatical break from ministry for three months in 2009. The adventure of my "backwards pilgrimage" has now been published and we've made plans for a small launch event on Saturday 27 February, from 3 to 5pm.The book can be purchased from http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/walking-home/6289119 for £9.90, plus delivery. To reserve a copy for collection at the launch, please download and return the order form. The proceeds (over £3 per copy) will go to Christian Aid.
To whet your appetite, here's the blurb from the cover:
To whet your appetite, here's the blurb from the cover:
Simon Harvey, a Leicestershire vicar who describes himself as not much of a walker, sets out on a five hundred mile pilgrimage in reverse.
Perhaps a pilgrimage doesn't have to involve a package tour to a distant shrine. What happens if it is simplified and taken at walking pace, where the goal is not some unfamiliar holy site but home, the place of belonging?
This book describes an unlikely journey from the very heart of the French capital to a suburban parish on the southern edge of Leicester, in the English Midlands. Fifty-two days of solitary walking, punctuated by reunions with old friends and special places, lead Simon through an adventure in faith.
Keen observation, thoughts that are allowed to wander as far as his feet, a delight in the ordinariness of unspectacular places and a series of surprising encounters, all fill a travel story that is humorous, reflective and accessible.
Simon explores the Bible's metaphor of "walking with God" on unpromising tarmac roads and country paths. He discovers fresh insight into the possibilities of down to earth discipleship in a style that isn't preachy or too keen to persuade.
