Walking the line
Baptist minister to walk from Digby to Amherst in 20 days
Several weeks ago, a group of walkers decided to get together at a historic downtown church in Amherst to go for a stroll – something they were unable to do for two long years as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted how people could gather.
While walking outside is great exercise and helps overcome the isolation associated with the pandemic, nothing beats walking with friends.
“Ed and Susan (Colquhoun) said in February it would be nice to have a walk in the basement of the church. We thought about it for a while and decided let’s do it,” Sandy Corkum said. “People were finding it hard to walk outdoors because it was cold and slippery.”
As restrictions and gathering limits eased earlier this spring, the group, which varies between eight and 12 walkers, began walking laps of the basement that was refurbished several years ago. While the quarters aren’t big, compared to other indoor walking tracks, they have measured out the distance of how many laps it takes to walk a kilometre.
“Everyone was so isolated by COVID, so we’ve created a bit of a community here where after we’re done walking everyone sits and talks and shares stories,” Corkum said. “It’s great for everyone to be able to get together. We still socially-space and wear masks, though.”
Along the makeshift route there are spaced out signs sharing the benefits of walking and there’s music playing in the background – along with videos – featuring artists from the hey days or rock n’ roll.
“We play a lot of Johnny Cash,” Ed Colquhoun said. “Our club is called Walk the Line, so it fits. We like to listen to music, some of us even sing along.”
When the church community raised the money to refurbish the church, its then minister, Rev. Byron Corkum, never thought of it being used as a walking circuit.
“It’s definitely not something we envisioned,” he said. “We hoped to use it for all kinds of things and it’s nice to have this space to do this.”
Their walk took on added reason when they learned their new minister, Jeff White, is committing to walk from his present ministry in Digby to his new one at First Baptist – about 400 kilometres.
Present minister, Rev. Dan Green, is retiring at the end of June.
“We thought if he can walk 20 kilometres a day for 20 days, we can do it to support him,” Corkum said.
The group’s initial goal was to walk the same distance as White, but they have already surpassed that amount and are making their way back to Amherst. They have a map of Nova Scotia on the wall and they are marking
“I want to take time each day for prayer, reading, visiting special places, for meeting people and other things ... It’s going to be very spiritual.” Rev. Jeff White
how far they’ve gone and what’s left to go.
As they near another milestone and another distance marker, there’s talk they may do it again.
“We’ve been adding our kilometres as we walk in the basement and the church staff are sharing their kilometres as they walk upstairs,” Corkum said. “We’re adding them all together.”
For White, the journey to Amherst is not about raising money or supporting any cause. It’s an opportunity to partake in an ancient Christian ritual – a spiritual pilgrimage as he ponders his eight years in Digby and what’s to come in Amherst.
However, he added, if people want to make donations he will decide on a cause to support.
He plans to leave his church in Digby near the end of May and hopes
to arrive in Amherst around the start of July. Along the way, he plans to stay with family and friends and is going to stop in those communities that have been part of the journey that is his ministry, including Wolfville, where he’ll be attending a conference, and Parrsboro.
White said he wants to keep it simple along his trip between the chapters of his life.
“I want to take time each day for prayer, reading, visiting special places, for meeting people and other things,” White said. “To me, it’s going to be very spiritual.”
White said he got the idea from Acadia University theology professor Arthur Paul Boers, who, while participating in the annual Simpson Lectures at the university’s divinity college a decade ago, spoke a great deal about spiritual pilgrimages.
He thought about making the pilgrimage from Windsor to Digby eight years ago but decided against it because he wasn’t quite ready. Now an avid hiker, White has increased his walking stamina over the years – including a 50K walk in early 2018 and an 80K walk in November of that year.
“Over the years, I have become a hiker and a walker. I have done some long-distance legs, but they were three days as opposed to 20,” White said. “I am trying to do some longer walks to build myself up.”
As he planned his route, he was trying to keep it simple and has spent quite a bit of time setting things up at his stopping points so he doesn’t have to carry a lot of things with him.
“I’m dropping things off at a few places so I don’t have to take all my clothes and all my supplies,” he said. “I’m trying to get as lightweight as possible and I’m planning where to stop for food or where to stop for water. I expect it will be five to six hours of walking time each day.
White said he’s honoured to know members of his new congregation are going to meet and walk with him on his final leg into Amherst.