Sacred Parks - Project Year Travels: Concept Phase (Feb - May, 2010)
NPS sign at Cuyahoga Valley National Park
What is the "Concept Phase" of the project travel year?
If broken into three “phases,” the first four months of the project (essentially Feb-May, 2010) consisted of the Concept Phase: putting together a sense of cause and symmetry between the theoretical and the practical. In this phase, the distinction between going for a "big picture" snapshot of our nation's parks and "starting small" with local communities had not yet translated into a model for travel. Instead, the Sacred Parks Project straddled both the ideals of "seeing as much as possible" and "connecting meaningfully at the local level"; and because the project inspiration came at the heels of its implementation, Paul necessarily had to “learn to run before walking." Thus planning, and doing, this initial phase of the project year took place on-the-fly and on-the-road, literally.
If broken into three “phases,” the first four months of the project (essentially Feb-May, 2010) consisted of the Concept Phase: putting together a sense of cause and symmetry between the theoretical and the practical. In this phase, the distinction between going for a "big picture" snapshot of our nation's parks and "starting small" with local communities had not yet translated into a model for travel. Instead, the Sacred Parks Project straddled both the ideals of "seeing as much as possible" and "connecting meaningfully at the local level"; and because the project inspiration came at the heels of its implementation, Paul necessarily had to “learn to run before walking." Thus planning, and doing, this initial phase of the project year took place on-the-fly and on-the-road, literally.
Sacred Parks Trip #1: February 3 - 7, 2010 - Southwest Utah (Photos)
The road to winter Zion...
This was the maiden voyage of the project, and because of Paul's affinity for Zion National Park, and the inspiration God has given him through that place, the project started there. Paul flew into Las Vegas and drove north to St. George, Utah, where he stayed with the family of pastors Joe and Jill Doherty of New Promise Lutheran Church. Thursday through Saturday he hiked up into the snow-covered mountains of Zion, returning to engage with New Promise on Saturday and Sunday, during a women's retreat (at Zion) and between worship services at the church. The project name, "Sacred Parks" was decided on this trip, and the Sacred Parks Project was born.
Sacred Parks Trip #2: February 14 - 25, 2010 - Central / Southern California (Photos)
Santa Cruz, CINP
This trip established the model of future Sacred Parks trips to come: 1) visit multiple parks in the same trip, 2) focus on one "flagship" park by engaging with the community around it, and 3) observe the theme and "effect" of the journey. The trip began in San Francisco, with a visit to Muir Woods, then moved south via the central California valley to the dock for Channel Islands National Park in Ventura, CA. Boarding a ferry boat to Santa Cruz Island, Paul stayed there for three days. He then drove to Joshua Tree National Park and preached at a two-point parish in Twentynine Palms, before spending two days in Death Valley NP on his way back to San Francisco.
Sacred Parks Trip #3: March 15 - 25, 2010 - Florida and the Virgin Islands (U.S.) (Photos)
Everglades NP
This trip, along with the first, helped establish the basis for the evolving wilderness theology of the whole project: that we are saved (by grace through faith, of course!) in, with and under the wild mercy of God. The trip began in the Florida Everglades, and moved south to the tip of the Florida Keys (Dry Tortugas NP) and then to Christ the King Lutheran Church in Miami near Biscayne (Bay) National Park. Paul concluded this trip on the island of St. John (Virgin Islands National Park), where I met the second group of folks from A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (ACMNP), a wonderful ministry with whom I would later team up in the summer.
Sacred Parks Trip #4: April 5 - 14, 2010 - Ohio, Virginia, S. Carolina, and Tennesse / N. Carolina (Photos)
Great Smoky Mtns NP
This trip was a turning point in the Conceptual Phase, as Paul realized for the first time that spring was official springing, and pollen was in the air. This wreaked havoc on his sinuses, miles into backcountry hiking/camping in the middle of the Smoky Mountains. Reaching out to the stranger proved to be the one way he could experience God's grace most fully in the wilderness. And Paul realized what was known before: that all creatures need others - oneself included! Starting near Cleveland, Ohio (Cuyahoga Valley NP), Paul drove through the beautiful mountain country of Appalachia to Shenandoah National Park, then down sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway to Congaree NP in South Carolina, and finally on to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (on the border of TN and NC), where Paul preached and led an adult (bible) forum on the project at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Gatlinburg, TN. This trip was a good place to move into the next phase: The Experiential.