Meet your guides.
Rev. Dr. Dawson Taylor
The Reverend Doctor Dawson Taylor is a native Texan and was ordained in 2006. Doctor Taylor holds degrees from Centenary College of Louisiana, Southern Methodist University and The Chicago Theological Seminary where he is also a Trustee. Reverend Taylor serves as the Executive Director of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas Texas, as well as Associate Pastor of Church Growth and Strategy at Cathedral of Hope.
He has previously served as the Senior Minister of Naples United Church of Christ in Naples, Florida, Senior Minister of Westmoreland Congregational UCC in Bethesda, Maryland, and Executive Minister at Cathedral of Hope UCC in Dallas, Texas.
Dawson brings an extensive background in pastoral leadership which he loves to share on pilgrimage or in consulting with congregations and not-for-profits. Dawson is constantly amused and entertained by his chocolate Labrador, Max.
Rev. Vince Amlin
The Reverend Vince Amlin serves as co-pastor of Bethany UCC in Chicago, IL. He formerly served as Associate Minister at the United Church of Gainesville and as Co-Founder of Gilead Church Chicago.
Vince is a graduate of NYU and the University of Chicago Divinity School. He loves the combination of retreat and long-distance walking and has completed pilgrimages on St. Cuthbert's Way, St. Magnus Way, the Camino Inglés, Camino Primitivo, Camino Portugués, and the Slovenian Way of the Cammino Celeste.
You can find his writing in various publications of the Still Speaking Writers Group. Vince lives with his spouse, Rachelle, and daughter, Nola.
Saio Journeys
Saio Journeys was born in Assisi, Italy, where we took our first pilgrimage together, exploring the lives of St. Claire and St. Francis, and spending our free-day eating and drinking in the vineyard at Saio Winery.
Reflecting on that trip, we realized we wanted to offer others the chance to venture deeper in their faith while adventuring to “thin places” where the Spirit seems so accessible.
We chose the name Saio Journeys in a nod to that winery, but also because it means “habit” (as in a monk’s habit) in Italian. Our logo is a nod to the triple-knotted cincture of the Franciscans.
We want our pilgrimages to offer participants a chance to be “set apart” for a time. To wear different (weather appropriate!) clothes and take on a particular rhythm of life. And we hope that the practice of pilgrimage you experience will become a habit for you the way it has for us!