do you find time for church on the trail?

[RITBlake]

Please, lets not turn this in to a 'my religion is better then yours' forum.

I simply want to know if catholic/christian thru hikers are able to find time for making a service or two along the trail. If no, it certainly wouldn't keep me off the trail but I am curious.

Obviously you'd have to be in a trail town on a sunday or a saturday at the right time. But do you?

[bondboy]

In Pearisburg The Hostel Is Located On The Grounds Of A Catholic Church. They Have Wed. Evening Mass. The Caretaker Turned 75 The Day I Was There, Says They Will Shut It Down When/if He Retires. Another Neat Church Is By Cornwall Bridge 1/4 Mile Off The Trail North Of Kent (ct)

[A-Train]

The only mass I attended was on Easter Sunday at the Catholic Church in Pearisburg (I'm not in the least bit religious). The homily wasn't particularly inspiring but it was awful nice to be a part of the local community and to be so welcomed into the church. Had the added bonus of having my folks there, as well as sharing the day with other hikers and Pearisburg residents.

[Lone Wolf]

Catholic churches are hard to find in the south. We have 8 churches in Damascus. None of them Catholic.

[rocket04]

I think if I recall I saw lots of signs for methodist churches around towns. I'm assuming that provided you're around town on Sunday, you should be able to get to one. That's if you're not set on catholic, that is. You did say /christian, so I assume that would be OK.

[Jaybird]

Please, lets not turn this in to a 'my religion is better then yours' forum.
I simply want to know if catholic/christian thru hikers are able to find time for making a service or two along the trail. If no, it certainly wouldn't keep me off the trail but I am curious.
Obviously you'd have to be in a trail town on a sunday or a saturday at the right time. But do you?

i find the woods an "awe-inspiring" spiritual experience in itself....but, to answer your question....i have attended services while hiking (even tho' i'm a section-hiker)...i even heard an unbelievably inspired "sermon" by Bill Irwin in Damascus on a Sunday morning (Trail Days 2004)

[Tha Wookie]

It might depend on your definition of "church", but the there is a verse (can't remember which of the top of my head) that defines it a more than one or two folks praising God together.

So that means you could make or find Christian friends on the trail (and there are plently) to hold little services with. You could even do it walking.

The best part about it is that you're in God's church, instead of one of the many gaudy buildings meant to please people and collect dust.

As a Christian, it becomes a very exciting opportunity to walk your faith, and turn your hike into something much more special.

The more I praise God on the trail, the more vibrant nature becomes, to the point where it all speaks to me. It all has one, deeply compassionate voice.

Stand on a rock outcrop on a sunny day, or under a forest streaming with rain, or a ridge driven by snow, or lay under your tarp and listen - that's what I call church.

[Rain Man]

Please, lets not turn this in to a 'my religion is better then yours' forum. ... I simply want to know if catholic/christian ...

???? I think you just did.

Rain Man

.

[Blue Jay]

???? I think you just did.

Rain Man

.

Good one Rain Man. Religion is such a dangerous subject. That's why they used to try and keep it out of politics.

[MOWGLI]

I simply want to know if catholic/christian thru hikers are able to find time for making a service or two along the trail.

Like anything else, you have to make the time, 'cause you ain't never gonna find it - IMO. If I had tried to "find" the time to do my thru-hike, I'd still be searching.

Regarding church, here's an entry from my trail journal that you might enjoy. Its in-line with Tha Wookie's sentiments.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=85277

[PROFILE]

In 2000 we did a lot of hiking with a guy who I do not think ever missed a Sunday service. He had a very good plan. He would look ahead to the next Sunday while at one church and use the pastor there to make contact at the next church. He always had some one at the trail head to meet him, take him to their house to shower and would almost always feed him. He was Church of Christ I believe. He said it was real easy. He did carry a cell phone so he could call the night before to his contact to make it easy on the person picking him up.

It was amazing. The church people would go out of their way to do things for him. Church of Christ are not as popular as other churches and I know several times people drove over an hour to pick him up. The churches would take him shopping for resupply would house him in towns and pay/cook all his meals. I think anyone dedicated to going to a formal services and making arragments to do so would more than likely find the same result.

[MOWGLI]

In 2000 we did a lot of hiking with a guy who I do not think ever missed a Sunday service. He had a very good plan.

Would that be Mr. Lone Star? I posted a photo of Lone Star, Profile & Almanac and the world famous Little Bear in the gallery yesterday.

[Spirit Walker]

On the AT I went to church often. It was really interesting to experience the wide variety of churches and congregations along the trail. Some were inspiring, some made me very happy not to belong to the local church. Ones I remember: Hot Springs (Catholic), Damascus (It's a church hostel, the least I could do was attend their service. Hated it, but that's a different story.) Bastian (holy roller type - I loved it), Pearisburg (another church hostel), Front Royal (another Catholic church), Del. Water Gap (another church hostel - terrific people and pastor), Manchester Center (again, a church hostel - nice pastor), Hanover (fun Episcopal church) and Monson (sad little fundamentalist congregation). I am very glad I took the time to seek out the local religious institutions. Part of the trail experience, for me, is seeing different ways of living and attending church was a good way to meet local people.

On the other trails we were not as lucky in being in real towns with churches on weekends. Actually, we usually made an effort to avoid being in town on weekends as so many of the PO's are closed most of Saturday and Sunday. We had a terrific experience at the Baptist Church in Salmon, Idaho, but the only other church service we attended was in Macks Inn - nice, but not as inspiring as the mountains we were hiking through.

[Jack Tarlin]

There aren't many Catholic churches near the Trail, so the opportunity to attend Mass doesn't arise very often, especially down South.

However I discovered that hikers of ANY faith were welcomed at churches all up and down the Trail, and folks who are anxious to attend church while on their hikes should be aware that even if they can't find their own denomination out there, they should still consider attending services anyway; when I discussed this with a priest before my first hike, and when I mentioned that I didn't expect to attend Mass very often, he encouraged me to worship elsewhere, even if it meant going to a Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, or whatever service. It was ten years ago, but I still remember what he said:

"Don't worry about it! The phone might look a little different at first but the calls all go thru to the same place."

(Incidentally, the Catholic Church in Hanover, which is directly on the Trail, welcomes hikers at any time and they don't care how you're dressed).

[Bloodroot]

There aren't many Catholic churches near the Trail, so the opportunity to attend Mass doesn't arise very often, especially down South.

However I discovered that hikers of ANY faith were welcomed at churches all up and down the Trail, and folks who are anxious to attend church while on their hikes should be aware that even if they can't find their own denomination out there, they should still consider attending services anyway; when I discussed this with a priest before my first hike, and when I mentioned that I didn't expect to attend Mass very often, he encouraged me to worship elsewhere, even if it meant going to a Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, or whatever service. It was ten years ago, but I still remember what he said:

"Don't worry about it! The phone might look a little different at first but the calls all go thru to the same place."

(Incidentally, the Catholic Church in Hanover, which is directly on the Trail, welcomes hikers at any time and they don't care how you're dressed).

Excellent post.

[Mountain Dew]

Being a proud Fundamentalist Southern Baptist I sought out several churches along the trail to worship with. Buck Mountain Baptist Church was great. All 6 of us had a great Wed. night worship service together. Troutdale Baptist Church is another good church in which to worship. Goodtimes...

[Skeemer]

Where's SMS when you need him?

[Bloodroot]

Where's SMS when you need him?

Why? So this thread can be turned into a religious debate? The thread presented a simple question, deserving a simple response. Nothing more.

[Youngblood]

Where's SMS when you need him?

In Alaska... maybe wondering what the hell he was thinking. What did Abbey say about freezing your arse off and not seeing daylight for months?

Youngblood

[Jaybird]

It might depend on your definition of "church", but the there is a verse (can't remember which of the top of my head) that defines it a more than one or two folks praising God together.

So that means you could make or find Christian friends on the trail (and there are plently) to hold little services with. You could even do it walking.

The best part about it is that you're in God's church, instead of one of the many gaudy buildings meant to please people and collect dust.

As a Christian, it becomes a very exciting opportunity to walk your faith, and turn your hike into something much more special.

The more I praise God on the trail, the more vibrant nature becomes, to the point where it all speaks to me. It all has one, deeply compassionate voice.

Stand on a rock outcrop on a sunny day, or under a forest streaming with rain, or a ridge driven by snow, or lay under your tarp and listen - that's what I call church.

[I]..."Where two or more are gathered in my name,
there am I in the midst of them..."Matthew 18:20[/I]