Walking the Way Together: Pilgrim Groups at the Village

The spiritual disciplines form a path from the ordinary world we inhabit into the Kingdom of God that is already breaking in around us. As we walk this path together, we learn to recognize God’s presence, respond to Him with wisdom, and notice His beauty at work in us and through us.

Pilgrim Groups are a core discipleship rhythm at the Village. These groups are intentionally gender-specific, gathering as either men’s groups or women’s groups to foster trust, honesty, and deeper formation. Participation assumes active engagement in the life of the community, including worship and shared rhythms. Within this context, Pilgrim Groups practice the disciplines together through Scripture, prayer, confession, and discernment, while growing in biblical understanding, vocation, and leadership.

Pilgrim Groups are spaces marked by careful listening rather than quick advice. Confession names both visible sin and hidden patterns that need renewal, and prayer remains our first response. We also speak honestly about sexuality as part of our formation into wholeness, honoring one another with confidentiality, care, and grace as we learn to live more fully in Christ.

The Basics of a Pilgrim Group: Bible Study, Hot Seat, and Prayer

How to Study the Bible, the PG Way

At the Village, Pilgrim Groups study Scripture as a shared practice of listening and response. The PG way begins by engaging the biblical text directly, before outside commentary, trusting that God speaks through His Word as we attend to it together. This approach helps each person observe what the text actually says, wrestle with its meaning in community, and discern faithful ways to live it out.

PG Bible study follows a simple, repeatable rhythm of observation, interpretation, and application. Groups meet twice a month, moving through each chapter over two gatherings. This pace allows for sustained immersion in Scripture while leaving space for conversation, the Hot Seat model, and Trinitarian prayer. Over time, the practice forms people who know how to read the Bible carefully, listen humbly, and respond with obedience shaped by grace.

The Hot Seat Model

The Hot Seat is a gospel-centered practice of formation at the Village that helps us name what is shaping our lives. It creates space for a person to bring a real situation, struggle, or decision into the light of Christ and the community. The group listens with care, trusting that God is already at work beneath the surface.

In the Hot Seat, we slow down and attend to the beliefs, fears, and desires that drive our reactions. Together, we learn to see where our stories have drifted from the good news of Jesus and where repentance, repair, and trust are needed. This practice invites honesty, humility, and courage in a shared space of grace.

The Hot Seat is practiced within committed community and guided by prayer and Scripture. The aim is healing, freedom, and deeper faithfulness. Over time, this rhythm forms wisdom, strengthens dependence on Christ, and teaches us how to walk together in truth and love.

Trinitarian prayer grows out of a desire to live in relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We begin by approaching God as a good and loving Father, one who invites trust, wonder, and honest asking. We name His character as we have experienced it and bring our desires before Him, confident that He knows what is best and gives generously out of love.

We then turn to Jesus, our faithful older brother, who knows our struggles from the inside. Having faced temptation, suffering, and death on our behalf, He understands every place of confusion or fear we carry. We bring our concerns to Him, trusting His wisdom, correction, and guidance as we learn to follow His way.

Finally, we listen for the Spirit, our encourager and guide into truth. Through Scripture and quiet attentiveness, we make space to hear the Spirit’s leading, trusting that His voice aligns with the Father and the Son. We close by sharing what we have heard within the community, submitting our discernment to one another and to spiritual leaders, believing that God often speaks most clearly through a humble and attentive people.