Seekers Circle: FAQs

The Seekers Circle community is for people of all faith backgrounds who want to more deeply explore the invitations of the practice of pilgrimage in everyday life and share that experience with a community of fellow seekers.

Each offering has a distinct focus, so if you have participated one you will still benefit from exploring the others.

While similar themes and content are explored in the Pilgrim Principles Online Course (for pilgrims in everyday life) and Journey Guide (for pilgrims traveling abroad), Seekers Circle is structured differently, intended to provide participants with the opportunity to slowly unpack a particular pilgrim theme each month as they seek to integrate it into everyday life. It also includes monthly virtual sessions with an emphasis on shared experience and conversation. 

Alternatively, the Pilgrim Principles Online Course is a seven-week online journey through the Pilgrim Principles Rule of Life only offered once a year and is crafted to provide an intensive and immersive experience, with daily readings, practices, and prompts as well as a community forum. Live weekly virtual sessions are fully guided and serve as an opportunity for content review and collective practice rather than group conversation. Journey Guide, on the other hand, is available on-demand and is a self-paced online course and resource created as a tool for intentional spiritual travel experiences.

They’re a surprise! Themes won’t be shared in advance but will instead be announced at the beginning of each month in A Sacred Journey’s email newsletter. Each theme reflects a different aspect of pilgrimage in both practice and metaphor that can readily be applied and explored in everyday life.

Materials will rotate on a monthly basis in the Seekers Circle Pilgrim Portal, with expiring material going away at the end of the month to make room for new materials. Recordings of Circle Gatherings will be privately shared for viewing within 24 hours after the session and will be available for the month following the session.

I’ve dreamed of convening something like Seekers Circle for a long time and am excited to finally give it a try. In that sense, it is a trial run, and I’ve committed to giving it my all in 2021. If interest is there and I find this commitment is a good fit for my own ministry in life, it is my hope that Seekers Circle can continue well beyond 2021.

For most of the year, the virtual Circle Gatherings occur on the last Saturday of each month at 11 am PT and are around 60-90 minutes in length. May, November, and December gatherings, however, will take place on the second to last Saturday of the month at 11 am PT due to end-of-month holidays in the US.

While the Circle Gatherings are a valuable element of the Seekers Circle community, there will understandably be times when you are unable to attend, and while we look forward to gathering with you attendance is by no means required for membership. If you are unable to attend and would still like to glean from the Circle Gathering, recordings will be available for one week after each session. Learn more here.

Circle Gatherings will be held over Zoom and require a high-speed Internet connection and a computer, tablet, or phone with a working camera and microphone (these are usually built-in). In order to take advantage of the Zoom features that will enhance our gatherings, it is important that you have a Zoom account and the latest version of Zoom downloaded on your device (participating via computer is encouraged so you can easily see all who are gathered). A Zoom link and password will be provided in the Pilgrim Portal. It is also advised that users wear earphones during sessions for a better sound experience for all. While some might be uncomfortable with the use of a camera, seeing one another for this process is essential for group intimacy and camaraderie and is highly preferred.

You are invited to share only as you feel led. It is important to note, however, that while other virtual sessions through A Sacred Journey, such as those that are part of the Pilgrim Principles Online Course, are mainly presented by the host, the Circle Gatherings are a community endeavor and are enhanced by community participation. Each session will consist of small-group time for reflection to encourage sharing in an intimate setting.

The number of Circle Gathering participants depends on the number of Seekers Circle members—there could be many or few—and it’s likely that not everyone will be able to attend each time. I’m eager to show up for whoever is willing to join me. If we are a large group, we’ll take advantage of some of Zoom’s small-group offerings to keep things intimate.

The only difference between the monthly and annual memberships is the price. The annual membership option will only be available during the Seekers Circle launch in January and offers a savings of $36 over the course of the year.

Payments are processed through Stripe payments, and all saved information is encrypted and secure.

Yes, monthly memberships automatically renew each month on the date corresponding with your initial date of joining (for example, if you joined on March 15 you will be charged again on April 15). Annual memberships will only automatically renew if the program continues into 2022. All annual members will be notified before any automatic payments will be processed.

Because of the nature of this membership, refunds aren’t available.

You can cancel your membership at any time. While you won’t receive a refund of payments made after canceling you will no longer be charged for future payments. While you cannot formally pause your membership, you can cancel it in your membership account and always join again if desired.