⛰️ 75-Year-Old Program Blends ‘Mountains And Ministry, Rivers And Reverence’ 🔌
Weekend Plug-in 🔌
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Kelsey Lundgaard’s love for America’s national parks — and for God — developed at an early age.
Every summer, she and her family traveled to places such as Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and Zion National Park in Utah.
“It’s really what brings our family together as a whole, just because of the special place that a park can be,” said Lundgaard, 22, who graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, this spring with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
“Getting to be in God’s creation, and getting to see the mighty ways of just his miraculous beauty of what he creates, and then getting to enjoy it with your family,” she added, “it’s really the best of both worlds.”
As a Samford student, Lundgaard spent a summer working — and ministering — at Yellowstone National Park, which lies primarily in Wyoming but extends into Montana and Idaho.
She did so through a 75-year-old interdenominational ministry called A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, known to many by its acronym, ACMNP. According to its website, the ministry “equips team members to share Christ’s love through work, worship, and service in the national parks.”
Kelsey Lundgaard poses outside Mammoth Hot Springs Chapel at Yellowstone National Park. The chapel was built in 1913. (Photo provided by Kelsey Lundgaard)
A 2017 Deseret News feature noted:
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.
From Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska to Everglades National Park in Florida, this summer’s program comprises 200 team members at 27 national parks in the U.S. and Canada, said Abby Bennett, the ministry’s recruitment and placement coordinator.
Before her current role, the 2024 graduate of Southern Florida College served on teams at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
“Oh, it was amazing,” Bennett, who double-majored in political science and environmental studies, said of the experience. “You’re surrounded by God’s creation, and you get to worship the God who created all of it, and that is really impactful.
“And sometimes we would have a campfire after the worship service and invite people to have a time of fellowship with us and make s’mores,” she added. “But it really is all about building relationships with people and hoping that you’re able to make even a small impact on their lives.”
ACMNP services provide an opportunity to praise God, she explained, in a setting “where there often aren’t churches and where it’s often pretty isolated.”
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IN THE MINISTRY’S HISTORY, 17,000 program alumni have led 100,000 worship services at 45 national parks, according to ACMNP.
Team members split time between manual labor and leading worship services for workers and tourists.
Lundgaard earned cash as a housekeeper at Mammoth Hot Springs in the Montana portion of Yellowstone.
“Through the job, you really get to focus on relational ministry,” she said.
Sundays brought a mountaintop spiritual experience — literally and figuratively.
“At our place, there was a view of the mountains in the background,” Lundgaard said. “You go down part of the mountain to get to this amphitheater, and it’s just this magical feeling.
“Our service never had any animal issues,” she added, “but there have been stories in the past (at other ACMNP locations) where you would get a moose or a bear at your service. So it always kept everyone on their toes, having to be extra aware.”
A Christian Ministry in the National Parks team members take a group photo inside Mammoth Hot Springs Chapel at Yellowstone National Park. (Photo provided by Kelsey Lundgaard)
Bennett served as a zip line guide in the Great Smoky Mountains and a restaurant hostess at the Grand Canyon.
Each role forced her outside her comfort zone.
“You’re really relying on God through some tough moments,” Bennett said, “but the relationships that you’re able to build and the ways that you’re able to see God work truly are transformational — not only to yourself but to the people that you’re interacting with.”
Students make up a majority of ACMNP team members. However, the program welcomes all Christian adults — from teachers on summer break to retirees looking to mix fun and faith.
Among the current team members is Ajpaal Kalyanmasih, a 42-year-old Florida seminary student.
The son of Christian immigrants from India handles a variety of duties for a lodge at Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
But the ministry’s spiritual side excites the Denver native most, he shared in an email to Religion Unplugged:
When my parents emigrated from India, they fully immersed themselves in the culture of the United States. Part of being woven into that cultural fabric included summer trips to the national parks. I am indebted to a frugal father and a hardworking mother who both saved enough money to fund two- or three-week road trips across the states. Coupled with their fervent inculcation of the Christian faith … it seems only natural that ACMNP is the perfect opportunity to blend faith and forestry, mountains and ministry, rivers and reverence, Christ and creation.
ACMNP’s mission — to honor Christ in serving park visitors, extending His care over the environment, and developing Christian leadership — is precisely what I value. I remember Matthew 14, when Christ fed the weary travelers on the hillside, and I appreciate how ACMNP provides me the opportunity to administer the nourishment of God’s Word to park guests amidst His nature … I find ACMNP invaluable in fulfilling the highest duty and completing the greatest work in the most beautiful landscapes of our blessed country. The due diligence of the ACMNP team in not only preparing us but also ministering to us is a testament to the organization’s commitment to Christ’s command to “Love one another as I have loved you.”
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FROM TIME TO TIME, ACMNP’s approach to evangelism has stirred controversy.
“Does Religion belong in national parks?” High Country News asked in a 1995 article published during President Bill Clinton’s first term.
The eye-opening lede of that three-decade-old piece:
Karl and Rita Girshman, a Jewish couple from Maryland, happened to be naked in their room at Big Bend National Park in 1993 when suddenly, a lodge employee let himself in with a key. He handed the Girshmans a flier, then invited them to “join in worshipping our Lord and Savior” and to “come as you are.”
The man with the key was part of A Christian Ministry in the Parks, a little-known religious program that recruits some 300 Christians to work in the national parks or with its concessionaires.
Though the program has been a fixture of the park system for nearly half a century, those who advocate a high wall between church and state charge that evangelism is on the rise — especially since Roger Kennedy, who often makes religious references when speaking about the parks, became director of the National Park Service two years ago.
Among the critics quoted back then was Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Does the foundation still have concerns about ACMNP?
“FFRF occasionally receives complaints about religious services or organized worship activities taking place in national parks,” Amitabh Pal, the freethought association’s communications director, told Religion Unplugged. “However, based on our understanding, ACMNP is not receiving any special treatment from the National Park Service. Like other groups, it obtains permits through the NPS process, which is available to any organization that wishes to use it.
A Christian Ministry in the National Parks team members explore Olympic National Park in Washington. (Photo provided by ACMNP)
“That said,” Pal added in an email, “it can be frustrating for visitors who are simply trying to enjoy our national parks if they feel they are being approached or targeted by organized groups engaged in proselytizing. National parks should remain welcoming and accessible to all visitors, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof.”
Lundgaard, whose father, Spencer, served as ACMNP’s executive director from 2008 to 2018, said sharing her faith came naturally.
“Of course, it takes discernment to not share in a way that is forcing or making people uncomfortable,” Lundgaard said. “It’s all about, you know, reading the room and trying to be intuitive with how to approach those conversations
“But, I mean, a huge way of glorifying the Lord and trying to live a life set apart is through the work that you’re doing,” she added. “So, for example, I really tried to stay positive in my work and be efficient and encourage my co-workers.
“That’s what really showed the Lord, I think, because that wasn’t like everybody else that was there.”
A Christian Ministry in the National Parks team members lead worship at Olympic National Park in Washington. (Photo provided by ACMNP)
Inside The Godbeat
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The Final Plug
The kind, caring response to last week’s column on my friend Steve Lackmeyer’s cancer battle overwhelmed me.
I was particularly touched to hear from Lance Fleming.
“Man ... that's great writing and a great story with an all-time outcome,” Fleming commented on Facebook. “Great way to get my Friday morning started. Thanks for sharing Steve's story with everyone.”
The late Rex Fleming, center, with his family. (Photo provided by family)
Fleming’s own experience made his words extra special: His brave, 10-year-old son, Rex, died in 2012 after a two-year cancer fight. My colleague Cheryl Mann Bacon wrote a heartwarming piece in 2024 about the family’s work to honor his enduring legacy.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 20 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.