One Step At A Time

“God calls us to be pilgrim people. It’s important for us to slow down and take a walk with God,” Jon Haddenham shares.

“God calls us to be pilgrim people. It’s important for us to slow down and take a walk with God,” Jon Haddenham shares.

For Jon, the idea of pilgrimage is more than a metaphor or an abstract idea. He recently had the opportunity to lead a group of graduating high school senior guys as they walked across Colorado Springs. For three days, Jon shepherded the students from one end of the city to the other, traveling 36 miles between the Woodmen campuses in the Pikes Peak region: Woodmen Heights, Downtown, Rockrimmon and Monument.

The pilgrimage created ample space for honest conversations. Students shared about their fears and prayers and the transition from high school into adulthood. It reminded Jon of the way Jesus walked with His disciples, teaching and preparing them along the road.

Jon’s pilgrimage with the students was another milestone on a journey God has been leading him on for years.

HEARTACHE AND HELP

Jesus entered Jon’s path when he was in fourth grade, when a friend invited him to church and he accepted the Lord.

God walked alongside Jon through the passing of his older brother when Jon was just 13 years old. Jon felt the weight of this deep heartache and Jesus met him in the valley.

At one of his lowest points, Jon cried out to God — and God responded. The Lord led him to college in Oklahoma. Jesus became real to Jon through a church and a community there that nurtured his flourishing faith. “I was planted in an environment where ministry was happening. Through international missions, worship and revival, I was able to taste the goodness of God,” Jon recalls.

After spending time in Wyoming, a job opportunity brought Jon to Colorado Springs. While staying with a family in Black Forest, he was introduced to Woodmen. Seventeen years later, Woodmen remains his church home.

PILGRIM PEOPLE

Through each move and season, God continued drawing Jon closer to Himself. Eventually, Jon’s discipleship journey led him to explore more intentional, ancient practices of prayer and pilgrimage.

Jon points out that throughout Scripture, God’s people are often on the move. Abraham left what was familiar and traveled toward a new land, trusting God to guide and provide. Jesus walked from place to place with His disciples. “Pilgrimage calls us to slow down enough to have a new revelation from God — you’re looking to go deeper, and at the same time God is guiding you in that revelation,” Jon says.

Jon was inspired when he learned about Aidan’s Way, a 300-mile pilgrimage route tracing the path of Saint Aidan, a seventh-century missionary, from the Scottish island of Iona to Lindisfarne, England.

PRACTICE INTO ACTION

Jon says, “I felt called to put the practice of pilgrimage into action. I began thinking, how do I obey God locally? So the Woodmen pilgrimage idea came about.”

In September 2025, Jon tested a route connecting Woodmen’s campuses. Step after step, he prayed over each campus and cried out to God for the city’s broken places.

In the spring of 2026, Jon invited the guys from his Woodmen Students small group to join him on the journey: Gavin Kruse, Logan Schaff, Josh Farmer, Jacksun Wesson, Connor McClellan and Isaac Taylor. Jon says, “I wanted them to have a capstone lesson to our four years of discipleship.”

The group gathered at Heights on the first morning and prayed over one another before setting out. Along the route, Jon encouraged the students to spend time in contemplation, listening to God and praying over their city.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The journey challenged the students in different ways. Gavin, who naturally walks quickly, sensed God inviting him to slow down and notice what was around him.

Jacksun is blind, so the students took turns guiding him, helping him navigate the terrain. “It’s humbling to guide someone,” Jon shares. “It’s a realization of the dependence we have in life.”

Walking beside Jacksun reminded Jon and the students of their reliance on God — and of their responsibility to care for others along the way.

At the end of day one, the group reached Woodmen Downtown. They shared dinner and the guys helped Jacksun learn to shoot free throws. The celebration of a made basket could be heard all over the block! The next day, they continued to Rockrimmon before gathering at Jon’s home for steak, fellowship and worship.

By the third morning, Gavin woke up sore, but Philippians 4:13 came to mind: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He prayed for strength and continued walking.

After attending the 9 AM service at Rockrimmon, Jon and the students began the final stretch toward Monument. The boys concluded the journey at United, their final event as Woodmen high school students. They wrapped up the evening celebrating the journey with ice cream.

FINDING THE SILENCE

The pilgrimage tested the students’ strength and discipline, but Jon knew completing every mile wasn’t the only value in the journey: “There were moments of beauty for me in seeing students walking down a trail connecting, in meals provided by others and in breaking bread together. Moments like these are simple but they’re expressions of love that would not have happened unless we started the journey.”

Jon reflects, “We found the silence in our noisy city. I’ve heard it said that God walks at three miles per hour. The journey of pilgrimage is not so much the miles, it’s the slowing down enough that God can speak to your soul, and sharing the experience with others.”

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