Fall Retreat

October 15, 2023 | 11:30am - 4pm

Enclosed Shelter at MacRae W.C Walker Park

1012 Davis AveDes Moines, IA 50315

The Long Walk Home: Confessions on the Camino

Walking a pilgrimage is an ancient tradition where the outer walk mirrors an inner walk of more profound spiritual realization. In this session, Pastor Marcia Wakeland will recount how her five-hundred-mile walk across Spain on the Camino de Santiago taught, guided, and changed her relationship with the Divine. Pilgrimage implies simplicity, facing the unknown, and radical trust—aspects of everyone’s faith journey.

Please join us to hear from Paster Wakeland. Copies of her memoir will be available for purchase, with all proceeds benefiting Dorothy’s House.

The cost of $15 includes lunch!

Sign up by Sunday, October 8th!

Marcia Wakeland is a retired ELCA pastor who continues her work of thirty years as a spiritual director, writer, and listening advocate. She founded the Listening Post of Anchorage in 2008, which has continued as an outreach to the marginalized and poor of the city. She loves exploring the edges of her fears, being curious about her prejudices, and realizing the joy we are offered in this life on earth.

She grew up as an Iowa farm girl who went to Alaska in 1975, presumably for just a year, and fell in love with the landscape, the culture, and the people. She lives in Eagle River with her husband, two grown children, and three grandchildren. An avid hiker, walker, camper, and skier, she also loves to read, build labyrinths, and travel. She has published two children’s books and, more recently, her memoir of walking a pilgrimage, The Long Walk Home: Confessions on the Camino. She blogs weekly at listeninglife.live on the realities of walking the spiritual path.

Dorothy’s House provides a safe place for the practice of life for those whose lives have been interrupted by human trafficking, exploitation, and prostitution. They are a long-term (2-year), three-phase program for women to heal, learn, grow, re-imagine, and build their future.

Copies of her memoir will be available for purchase, with all proceeds benefiting Dorothy’s House (Cash Only).