In the summer of 1974, Dr. Rose Strongin, a Jewish marine biologist from Atlantic Canada, inexplicably disappears for three hours at an archaeological dig on the Western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Consequently Rose, her husband Simon and their two young daughters miss their return flight from Tel Aviv on TWA 841 which explodes over the Mediterranean killing all aboard. Haunted by the event and with no memory of her disappearance, Rose works to put it out of her head and focus on her work and family. But twelve years later, in 1986, she learns that a 2,000 year old perfectly preserved vessel, dubbed by the press as the "Jesus Boat," is uncovered at the site of her disappearance and she begins to slowly recall the events of her amnesia. The Accidental Pilgrim crosses several decades exploring the intersection of science, religion and the unexplainable as a family gathers to say goodbye to the matriarch who held a family secret.