BRYCE CANYON
NATIONAL PARK, Utah
(Deseret News) The short, black cross is almost
an afterthought, wheeled out of a supply closet
moments before introductions begin. Its arrival
wraps up 20 minutes of guitar practice and
nervous chatter, all part of prepping for a weekly
worship service.
“You have to sing loud and help me out,” says
Gabrielle Sheeley, a 20-year-old college student
from upstate New York, to the three young
people sitting near her on the edge of a wooden
stage.
The cross sits in a supply closet six days a
week, out of sight during astronomy
presentations and other meetings in the Lodge
at Bryce Canyon’s auditorium. But on Sunday
mornings at 8 a.m., it takes center stage as
Sheeley and her three teammates lead a
Christian service for those visiting or working at
the park.
“Please open your hearts and minds and
prepare for worship,” says 20-year-old Meleeza
Hall to the 12 people assembled on red,
cushioned chairs.
Sheeley, Hall, 22-year-old Eric Meeks and 20-
year-old Amy Auble are still getting used to
their new summer work and each other. Today,
June 11, is only their second Sunday in the
park. They’re learning hymn lyrics and
practicing leading prayers.
The program that sent these four young people
to Bryce Canyon, A Christian Ministry in the
National Parks, doesn’t expect perfection.
Sheeley can miss a few chords and Hall can
stumble over her introduction, as long as the
team is present and ready to greet tourists and
lodge employees.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day each summer,
Christians affiliated with the program live and
work in more than 25 national and state parks
across the country. They apply for permits to
host worship services and pick up shifts at park
restaurants and shops.
The goal is to be there for people who may
come to the park for fun but experience a
spiritual awakening of sorts, said Amy Kennedy,
director of placement and park relations for A
Christian Ministry in the National Parks.
“The national parks and their beauty attract
people from all over the world for excitement
and adventure, but also people who are
searching for something,” she said.
Filling a gap
On the Lodge at Bryce Canyon’s bulletin board,
next to an announcement about burning debris
and a safety chart for lightning storms, visitors
can browse some of their worship options.
Local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints gather every Sunday
afternoon in the upstairs conference room of
nearby Ruby’s Inn. Bryce Canyon Bible Church
is a few miles away, just north of the town of
Tropic.
National parks are often in remote areas.
Visitors have many hotels and restaurants to
choose from, but specialized religious services,
such as a Catholic Mass, are harder to come by.
Part of the mission of A Christian Ministry in
the National Parks is to serve believers who are
far from their spiritual homes and who might be
open to an interdenominational Christian service
if it’s convenient and inviting.
“We saw the sign outside,” said Nancy Wildt,
who attended the 8 a.m. service with her
husband, Ken. “We couldn’t find a Catholic
church, so we decided to check this out.”
The ministry also addresses the needs of park
staff, many of whom are seasonal workers who
only stay in the area for a few months.
“We’re getting to know people’s stories. We’re
communicating the love of Jesus by showing up
for people and being available for people who
don’t look like you or sound like you or have a
similar story as you,” said 26-year-old Shelby
Cook, who spent two summers in Denali
National Park and is now hiking the
Appalachian Trail.
Mazzy Marcum, a 19-year-old Indiana
University student, accepted a summer job at
Bryce Canyon because it seemed like a fun
adventure.
When she arrived in Utah in mid-May, Marcum
was shocked to learn that most of her co-
workers in the gift shop were 80-year-old
women, not people her age. She was grateful for
the arrival of Hall, Sheeley and Auble in her
dorm and plans to worship with them regularly
for the next few months.
“I’ll go every week,” she said, noting that she
attends a Christian ministry on her campus
during the school year.
Program overview
These stories of new friendships and bilingual
Bible studies fit well with the founding vision of
A Christian Ministry in the National Parks. The
program got its start in 1951 when Warren Ost,
then a student at Princeton Theological
Seminary, hosted a casual worship service in a
Yellowstone bar in response to the religious
needs of his co-workers and park guests.
Ost went on to lead the ministry for 45 years,
registering it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1971.
The program has grown and evolved since then,
expanding to include short-term mission trips
and other service opportunities.
Although it’s been around for decades, A
Christian Ministry in the National Parks has to
regularly apply for permits at each park where it
sends workers. Local park offices must approve
worship services, weddings, private tours,
protests and other events before they can
happen, said Cynthia Morris, who is in charge of
resource management and visitor protection at
Bryce Canyon.
“Anybody, including any religious group, can
apply for a special-use permit to have services
in the park,” she said, adding that she’s only
seen applications from A Christian Ministry in
the National Parks and the Jehovah’s
Witnesses over the past few years.
The young ministry members at Bryce Canyon
represent four of the nearly 300 working with A
Christian Ministry in the National Parks this
summer. Most members are between 18 and 30
years old, but a few are much older.
“We have some married, retired couples,”
Kennedy said.
They come from a variety of Christian
denominations. The unifying statement of faith
is the Apostles’ Creed, which professes belief in
God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Applicants are asked to explain their religious
background, as well as how their relationship
with God impacts their life. They list the three
parks they’re most interested in serving at and
describe what’s drawing them to the ministry.
The people who stand out are those who seem
flexible and ready to deal with unexpected
challenges, such as someone dying in the park,
said the Rev. Spencer Lundgaard, the program’s
executive director.
“They need to have a risk-taking approach to
life. They should be willing to go for things and
be willing to fail, learn from failure and then try
again,” he said.
“People who come into this program with a set
of expectations are usually the ones who end up
disappointed,” said Kennedy. “The park will be
nothing like they imagined.”
Enjoying God’s creation
As a college freshman in 2006, Kennedy saw a
summer in Olympic National Park in
Washington as a welcome escape from her real
life. She remembers sitting by a river in the park
during a rainstorm, feeling more connected with
her faith than she had in months.
“I had no cell signal and no connection to the
outside world,” Kennedy said. “For the first time,
I was real with God and I cried out to God. I
dealt with things I had been avoiding for a long
time.”
Many ministry participants have similar stories.
Hall, who grew up and goes to college in
Georgia, said she wanted to serve in Bryce
Canyon because of how powerful she found the
park when she visited in 2015.
“That vacation was a spiritual experience for
me,” she said.
People of faith have been speaking and writing
about the religious value of nature for centuries.
Advocates for the establishment of the national
park system argued in religious terms, asserting
the importance of caring for God’s creation, said
Mark Stoll, author of “Inherit the Holy Mountain:
Religion and the Rise of American
Environmentalism.”
They’d say things like, “We have to protect the
Grand Canyon. The Creator only made one,” he
said.
Participants of A Christian Ministry in the
National Parks aren’t necessarily environmental
activists, but teams do care for the land they
enjoy throughout the summer, Lundgaard said.
“They figure out how to steward this creation,”
he said, noting that projects include picking up
litter along trails and at campgrounds.
Developing leaders
A summer spent with A Christian Ministry in the
National Parks is not all hikes and Bible
lessons.
Ministry team members are generally spread out
across several positions, including at the front
desk, in a restaurant kitchen or with the
housekeeping crew, Kennedy said.
They will work around 40 hours a week for
minimum wage. It’s a somewhat unusual set-
up for team members in their 20s, whose friends
and classmates might be on study-abroad trips
or working in career-oriented internships.
“My friends and family are incredibly surprised,”
said Alyssa Sherman, 29, who is serving in
Mount Rainier National Park this year after two
summers in Bryce Canyon and a winter at a
national park in the Virgin Islands. “They’re
proud and they love me but this doesn’t look
like the career they expected.”
Grateful praise
During a break between worship services, Hall,
Meeks and Auble relax in a patch of sunlight as
Sheeley, who also plays mandolin, reads
through guitar chords. They chat about bad
dreams and blackout curtains, remembering
how popular the song “Jesus, Take the Wheel”
was when it was first released.
“That was everyone’s favorite song in the fourth
grade,” Hall said.
Soon, they’ll be talking with tourists and
stumbling through songs sung off-key. But for
now, they’re just young people, amazed at their
luck to spend the summer surrounded by tall
pine trees and kind co-workers.
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