The Reverend Aaron Fulp-Eickstaedt and his his family during their 50-day, 500-mile walk across Spain on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail. Photo contributed
“It really is sort of an otherworldly experience.” That’s how the Reverend Aaron Fulp-Eickstaedt described his family’s 50-day, 500-mile walk across Spain on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail.
Pastor Fulp-Eickstaedt and his spouse, the Reverend Judith Fulp-Eickstaedt, are now back in their respective pulpits at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in McLean and Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arlington, sharing their insights and adventures with their congregations.
Pastor Aaron said their sabbatical walk “helped me to think outside the box by engaging our imaginations along the way. Good literature does it. So does good religion. And even, at least occasionally, does a good long walk.” At a joint welcome home dinner at Trinity Church, Pastor Judith described the experience as a unique opportunity to rest, recuperate and reflect.
Surprises along the trail: Most Spanish breakfasts, lunches and dinners for Camino walkers included servings of ham (Pastor Aaron: “Is it strange to dream about vegetables?”). Some of the family’s lasting memories are of the fellow pilgrims they met as they walked: A French customs officer; a Danish professor and his high school teacher wife; and a man they called “John the Bear Chaser” whose occupation at Yosemite National Park was to induce bears to stay away from areas also frequented by humans in the park.
Pastor Aaron says “people can feel a pretty quick and deep bond with each other when they go through something like this. It’s the empathy and easy laughter that do it, I think. That and the conversations about meaningful things.”
For the Fulp-Eickstaedts’ two daughters, Rebecca and Martha, the Camino walk offered a chance for quality time and deep conversations with their parents, both of whom have demanding work schedules. Their father describes the time away from work responsibilities as “an opportunity to nourish my spirituality.”
The Immanuel Presbyterian and Trinity Presbyterian Churches are two of only 140 congregations nationwide to have received Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs grants for pastoral sabbaticals this year.