Village Church to Lead Pilgrimage to Alabama This Fall

In October, the Building Beloved Community Committee of Village Presbyterian Church will be sponsoring a Human Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama. Building Beloved Community is a committee of the Session, the church’s governing body. Its purpose is to work both within and outside Village Church to follow our faith’s teaching for justice, inclusion and welcome to all people.

“What is a pilgrimage?” It is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about themselves, others, or a higher good through the experience. It is more than a big history lesson. It is an opportunity to pray with our feet, with the hope of deepening our understanding and our faith. It can lead to a personal transformation.

The Human Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama Oct. 9-13 will encourage us to study, reflect on and pray about the spiritual values that led the great movement for equal rights and social justice and changed our country over 60 years ago. We will start our journey in Birmingham, then travel by tour bus to Montgomery where we’ll enter three sites: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice — A reverent and sacred outdoor site which addresses the legacy of slavery, lynching and racial segregation; The Legacy Museum — A powerful immersive journey through the history of slavery to mass incarceration concluding with a reflection space and world class art gallery; Freedom Monument Sculpture Park — A 17-acre site overlooking the Alabama River which honors the lives of the 10 million Black people who were enslaved in America and celebrates their courage and resilience.

Then in Selma, we will experience The Footsteps to Freedom Tour which includes The National Voting Rights Museum, The Slavery & Civil Rights Museum, Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, a walk across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge and The Lowndes Interpretive Center—a National Park Service site dedicated to those who peacefully marched in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery to gain the right to vote.

Once back in Birmingham we will enter: 16th Street Baptist Church — Site of the 1963 Sunday morning bombing by the KKK resulting in the death of four young girls which is still an active place of worship; Kelly Ingram Park where powerful sculptures depict the 1963 civil rights struggle when 3,000 peaceful protesters were arrested, including 1,000 children; The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute — An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution depicting the events of the 1963 Birmingham campaign and the Children’s Crusade.

Journey with us, to arrive at new spiritual insights on how to live what we believe. Space is limited. Email Nancy Gatewood at with questions.