WELCOME TO PILGRIM

      Welcome to this course of exploration into the truth of the Christian faith as it has been revealed in Jesus Christ and lived out in his Church down through the centuries.

      The aim of this course is to help people explore what it means to become disciples of Jesus Christ. From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus called people to follow him and become his disciples. The Church in every generation shares in the task of helping others hear Christ’s call to them and follow him.

      We hope the course will help you to understand this faith and to see how it can be lived out each day, and that it will equip you to make a decision about whether to be part of this Church. This will either happen by being baptized and confirmed, if this has not happened to you before, or by a renewal of baptismal vows.

      You won’t be able to find out everything about the Christian faith in any one course. But through the Pilgrim course material you will be able to reflect on some of the great texts that have been particularly significant to Christian people from the earliest days of the Church:

      There is one book based on each of these texts in the ‘Follow’ stage of Pilgrim (designed for absolute beginners) and one that goes further in the ‘Grow’ (discipleship) stage.

      By learning these texts, reflecting upon them, and seeing what they mean for your life, you will make a journey through the great story of the Christian faith. And you will do this in the company of a small group of fellow travellers: people like you who want to find out more about the Christian faith and are considering its claims and challenges.

      In other words, this course is for people who are not yet Christians, but who are open to finding out more and for those who are just beginning the journey. People who want some sort of refresher course are also very welcome. In walking with you on this journey we are not assuming that you necessarily share the beliefs that are being explored, just that you want to find out about them.

      This course will approach the great issues of faith not by trying to persuade you to believe, but by encouraging you to practise the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer which have always been at the heart of the living out of Christian faith.

      We don’t think these are things that should only be practised once you have come to faith. Rather, they can be the means by which faith is received and then strengthened within us.

      Each book has six sessions, and in each session you will find: