Sacred Parks - Project Year Travels: Immersion Phase (June - September, 2010)
NPS sign at Cuyahoga Valley National Park
What is the "Immersion Phase" of the project travel year?
The second of the three “phases” of the project (travel) year was the "Immersion Phase" (roughly June-September, 2010.) This phase involved living more fully into the project ideals, inviting other individuals to journey with him, and engaging more fully with communities inside and outside of parks. It was in this period when Paul invited a colleague in the ministry to join in a backcountry hiking and camping experience in Denali - the first official trip of its kind for the Project. This phase also brought the unique opportunity for Paul to meet and partner with key individuals and communities tied to A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (www.ACMNP.com), spending an entire month living as a minister in Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, USA. Living in his tent, leading worship (on Sundays), and interacting with park and ministry staff during the week, Paul represented both the Sacred Parks Project and ACMNP in a partnership that brought the concept of experiencing God's presence and Creation with one's neighbors front-and-center to the project. Near the end of this phase, Paul decided to "slow down" and make trips shorter and more about being in relationship with a park and its community (rather than trying to visit more than one or two parks in a given trip.) This was manifest most fully in the September trip to the Grand Canyon: connecting to ACMNP, the wider Grand Canyon (worship) community, and embarking with colleagues on a spiritual and recreational camping trip together.
The second of the three “phases” of the project (travel) year was the "Immersion Phase" (roughly June-September, 2010.) This phase involved living more fully into the project ideals, inviting other individuals to journey with him, and engaging more fully with communities inside and outside of parks. It was in this period when Paul invited a colleague in the ministry to join in a backcountry hiking and camping experience in Denali - the first official trip of its kind for the Project. This phase also brought the unique opportunity for Paul to meet and partner with key individuals and communities tied to A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (www.ACMNP.com), spending an entire month living as a minister in Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, USA. Living in his tent, leading worship (on Sundays), and interacting with park and ministry staff during the week, Paul represented both the Sacred Parks Project and ACMNP in a partnership that brought the concept of experiencing God's presence and Creation with one's neighbors front-and-center to the project. Near the end of this phase, Paul decided to "slow down" and make trips shorter and more about being in relationship with a park and its community (rather than trying to visit more than one or two parks in a given trip.) This was manifest most fully in the September trip to the Grand Canyon: connecting to ACMNP, the wider Grand Canyon (worship) community, and embarking with colleagues on a spiritual and recreational camping trip together.
Sacred Parks Trip #5: June 3 - 12, 2010 - Northern and Eastern California (Photos)
Sequoia National Park
This was the trip where the project saw the pluses and minuses of working with local churches only. Starting in San Francisco, Paul drove southeast through California's central valley to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, where he interacted and hiked with a member of the Sequoia/KC staff of ACMNP. This was a great moment, introducing the importance of truly being out in nature with another person of faith who shares a love for God's creation. Next, was Yosemite, the first Sacred Parks trip where Paul intentionally connected with the ACMNP worship team on a Sunday (and not with a local church.) This was done to witness first-hand how ACMNP student leaders interacted with the community on Sunday mornings - something Paul would do later in the summer (at Glacier.) Again, hiking with the team proved fruitful, as it is often in hiking that real conversation about God and nature happens, well, naturally. After Yosemite, Paul drove north to Lassen Volcanic National Park, a lesser-known park with amazing topographical diversity (i.e. all four of the world's volcano types are there!) Finally, the trip came full-circle in Redwoods National (and State) Park(s).
Sacred Parks Trip #6: June 23 - July 2, 2010 - Eastern Colorado and Wyoming (Photos)
Rocky Mountain NP
This was another turning point - a trip that brought new friends at a time when Paul and the project were in need of fresh grace and new ideas. Starting at Rocky Mountain National Park, Paul met up (and hiked) with new colleagues in ministry. Leaving for Denver and Colorado Springs, Paul met with friends and visited The Garden of the Gods. Next stop: Wyoming for Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, preaching at Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Jackson Sunday morning and visiting an ACMNP service in Yellowstone that evening. The trip concluded back in Denver, when Paul met with a possible future partner in ministry.
Sacred Parks Trip #7: July 4 - 14, 2010 - Alaska mainland (Photos)
Denali State Park
Of the eight national parks in Alaska, only three are easily accessible by car. The first visited was Denali, "The Great One," where Paul and his pastor colleague Adam went up into the mountains of the backcountry for three days. They later stayed one night in Denali State Park - the only place where the top of Mt. McKinley (called Denali by the locals) had been visible for weeks. Heading back toward Anchorage, Adam and Paul drove east to Seward, for a guided boat tour on Resurrection Bay. The following day, after dropping Adam off in Anchorage, Paul hiked and camped at Kenai Fjords NP, led an adult forum at Central Lutheran in Anchorage and travelled east to Wrangell-St.Elias NP, and finally back to Anchorage to hike with an ACMNP colleague in Chugach State Park.
Sacred Parks Trip #8: July 28 - Sept. 2, 2010 - Washington, Oregon & ACMNP month in Montana (Photos)
Mt. Rainier & Crater Lake NPs
This trip began officially in Seattle, where Paul drove south to Mt. Rainier National Park, meeting up with ACMNP colleague Kimberly Miller to hike and meet with a student working for ACMNP in Rainier. Paul then drove south to Crater Lake NP on his way up northeast to Glacier National Park. Upon first arriving near the park, Paul attended worship at Northridge Lutheran Church, where he met pastors Dan Heskett and Andy Arnold. (Later that week, along with Dan, Paul met several ministers from the Kalispell/Columbia Falls/West Glacier area at a bible study.) Later that Sunday (August 1), Paul began his month-long ministry for A Christian Ministry in the National Parks: leading worship in the park and serving as a pastoral presence in the West Glacier community along with the other five members of his ministry team. Paul also engaged with the larger community - both inside the park and around Kalispell, Montana - when he volunteered with the National Park Service twice and helped lead worship at three services with the help of Lutheran pastor and chaplain Kathie Larson Phillips. (More on ACMNP month in Glacier).
Sacred Parks Trip #9: September 15 - 21, 2010 - ACMNP National Board Meeting, Arizona (Photos)
Grand Canyon National Park
In some ways this trip was the culmination of the project travel year. Paul was invited by A Christian Ministry in the National Parks to present a brief narrative of his experience in Glacier and describe the Sacred Parks Project to the ACMNP board members at their annual board meeting, held this year in Grand Canyon National Park. Paul focused on "Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary (And Vice Versa)" and used the metaphor of the St. Louis Arch as a means for coming together for the common goal of building a bridge to better faithful stewardship of the earth. The trip concluded with an overnight hike with colleagues into the Grand Canyon: down the South Kaibab Trail, across the Colorado River, and back up the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim.