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Last May, I had the honor of leading a group of chaplains and campus ministers on El Camino de Santiago in Spain. The experience was life-changing for all participants. After we completed El Camino, I took a few days off to meet my sisters in Barcelona for a weekend together. While there, I visited La Sagrada Familia Basilica. Being in and around the building was a deep spiritual experience.
Standing in a crowded communion line as a college student, the Rev. Sharon Rubey encountered the moment that would shape her ministry, and her understanding of the role of a deacon.
For the Rev. Joaquin Garcia, the call to ministry has never been about a title, position, or appointment. It has always been about responding to need. “Ministry is essentially a response to real needs,” Garcia said, a conviction that has guided his life for decades. Another lesson he carries came from a former church leader who reminded him, “There is enough need in the world to go around.”
The most ubiquitous tools on El Camino are walking sticks. They are reminiscent of a traditional depiction of St. James as a pilgrim with a walking stick. Attached to it is a gourd, his own version of a water bottle. He also wears a large hat, a robe, and a satchel with the things he needs for a long journey.
Last May, I took 10 chaplains and campus ministers on a pilgrimage. We walked the last 72 miles of Spain’s El Camino de Santiago. This is one of the oldest pilgrimages in Christendom. It began in the 9th century with the claim that the remains of St. James were found in a nearby forest. Since then, pilgrims have walked El Camino in search of deeper meaning in their lives.
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Join fellow UMEA clergy for a restorative retreat in Nashville, where we will explore how Scripture, story, and song can sustain us in ministry. Throughout the Bible, God’s people have turned to music when ordinary words could not carry the weight of grief, hope, joy, or suffering. As chaplains serving in military, healthcare, correctional, and other ministry settings, we encounter these realities every day.
Exploration 2026 creates sacred space for adults, 18 and older, to be in meaningful fellowship, passionate worship, theological reflection and practical workshops as they discern whether God’s call on their life is to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church and what faithful steps they can take in response.
