Urban Iona

Book excerpt: Urban Iona is a modern Celtic tale of healing and vision during and after the author’s pilgrimage to Iona and Ireland and Scotland. Upon his return, a dream takes flesh for his church as an urban Celtic monastery, a gathering of pilgrims open to the world and serving those most in need. This is a powerful account of the author’s search for his family’s story, and the meaning and inspiration that story brought to his life and his ministry. Chronicled here is the author’s pilgrimage to Ireland—not as a travelogue but as deep, moving, often humorous reflection on the meaning of what he discovered there. More important, the book chronicles the author’s efforts to put into action the unique brand of Celtic spirituality he took away from his pilgrimage, in the form of Brigid’s Table, a ministry to prostitutes and other marginalized people in the inner city of Portland, Oregon. Also included are suggestions for applying this spirituality in other parishes, other places, and other lives.