Church Planting in National Parks
National parks provide a unique and strategic context for church planting. Though their gateway cities tend to have a small permanent population, they host millions of seasonal visitors every year. And many of these seasonal visitors are uniquely open to spiritual experience. For those who come to experience the beautiful creation, there is a missional opportunity to share the good news of our beautiful Creator God.
This article is the first in a projected series, each of which will identify ten places for church planting under a shared category. Subsequent entries will cover other strategic categories, such as college towns, state capitals, and the fastest-growing counties. These ideas are illustrative, not exhaustive, and intended to spark conversation. So please join the discussion by sharing your own ideas in the comments!
Sponsored
10 Places to Plant
Here’s a chart of ten gateway towns to ten national parks, organized by annual number of visits to the respective national park.
| # | City / Town (State) | National Park Served | Permanent Population (2020) | Annual Park Visitation (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gatlinburg, TN | Great Smoky Mountains | 3,577 | 12,191,834 |
| 2 | Springdale, UT | Zion | 514 | 4,946,592 |
| 3 | Tusayan, AZ | Grand Canyon | 603 | 4,919,163 |
| 4 | West Yellowstone, MT | Yellowstone | 1,272 | 4,744,353 |
| 5 | Estes Park, CO | Rocky Mountain | 5,904 | 4,154,349 |
| 6 | Mariposa, CA | Yosemite | 1,526 | 4,121,807 |
| 7 | Bar Harbor, ME | Acadia | 5,089 | 3,961,661 |
| 8 | Port Angeles, WA | Olympic | 19,960 | 3,717,267 |
| 9 | Jackson, WY | Grand Teton | 10,760 | 3,628,222 |
| 10 | Kalispell, MT | Glacier | 24,558 | 3,208,755 |
Notes
- The visit numbers come from the National Park Service recreation estimates, and the population from the Census and/or Wikipedia.
- During peak visit season, the town populations swell both from visitors and from seasonal employees who serve them. For example, at Acadia National Park in Maine, December, January, and February see about 15,000 visitors per month, while July and August each see more than 750,000!
- For the sake of simplicity, I have only included one gateway town per park, but many parks have multiple gateway towns. Yellowstone, for example, has five park entrances. Though West Yellowstone, Montana, welcomes the most visitors and is closest to Old Faithful, the East Entrance at Cody, Wyoming, would also be a strategic place to plant.
Creation Theology
Many are familiar with Genesis 1 and other scriptures that depict God as Creator of the creation. Less well-known, but especially important for this ministry, are those passages that begin with the creation and then point back to the Creator. For visitors to national parks, these passages can be especially helpful because they begin with the natural beauty that everyone sees and connect it back to the beauty of God. Consider, for example, the opening of Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
The skies are one of the glories of the national parks, not only at dawn, day, and dusk, but also with the abundance of visible stars at night. And according to Psalm 19, there’s a reason the skies are so glorious: they set forth the glory of God!
To go even deeper into this creation theology, consider one of the phrases we say in the Nicene Creed every week: through him all things were made. Remarkably, this line refers not to the Father, but rather to the Son, who John calls the eternal word of God, and about whom John confesses, “all things were made through him” (John 1:4)!
In her profound article reflecting on this phrase in the Creed, Elizabeth Demmon explains the deeper meaning ofJohn’s language:
The Greek word translated here as Word is Logos, a rich and weighty term that John assigns to Jesus. It describes a spoken word, but also carries a much deeper sense of meaning, reason, order, and wisdom. It is where the word logic comes from. Logos connotes the governing power, order, and wisdom we can find throughout all creation.
In other words, there is a deep logic at work in the order of creation, and when we experience its beauty and its power, when we are overcome by awe, it is because our heartstrings are resonating with the harmonics of God.
Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls.
Psalm 42:7
Creation Themed Ministry Ideas
Because of this spiritual dynamic, church plants near National Parks could explore a variety of creation-themed ministries, such as:
- Made by the Maker (Art Workshop)
- From Mountain to Mountain (Scripture Study)
- Let All The Earth Rejoice (Psalm & Hymn Sing)
- Our Eyes Behold the Vesper Light (Sunset Evening Prayer)
- Walking With God (Prayer Hike)
Opportunities & Challenges
National parks offer church planting a unique set of both opportunities and challenges. The opportunity is to build out a ministry that, by serving both local residents and seasonal visitors, can have an impact far beyond its own location.
The challenge is that visitors provide very little support to the institutional development of the church. Though a service with 100 seasonal visitors might feel vibrant, a church of 25 regular members has more institutional heft.
The church planter near a national park must therefore seek to serve the crowd, while simultaneously putting special focus on his core of local members. A good model in this regard is Jesus himself, who healed the crowd, taught the crowd, and fed the crowd, but spent the bulk of his time in personal ministry with his core group of disciples.
A Missionary Funding Model?
In light of these dynamics, church planters in national parks might consider using a missionary funding model, asking individuals to offer monthly support over the medium-to-long term. While the ultimate goal would be a self-sustaining local church, missionary funding would both support ministry to park visitors and also provide a way for park visitors who benefit from the ministry to support it.
Finding Mission Partnerships
Any endeavor of this sort should begin by exploring partnership opportunities with existing ministries and mission opportunities. Within the ACNA, there are precious few parishes in these locations. The ACNA church map lists only one parish in any of the listed towns above, Restoration Anglican in Kalispell, Montana, a gateway to Glacier National Park. (A reader also noted Christ Church in Oakhurst, CA, about thirty miles from Mariposa, CA, and another gateway to Yosemite).
There are, however, a number of parishes in other towns near these parks or other parks not listed. Please share these in the comments, and include examples of how these churches connect with visitors to the parks.
Beyond the ACNA, there are both churches from other denominations, as well as non-denominational ministries. One of the most important parachurch ministries is called A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, which coordinates seasonal ministry opportunities and worship services held in the parks, often outdoors.
A Personal Note
Iʼll conclude on a personal note. Part of the reason I write this article is that I want such churches to exist! From a young age, Iʼve loved national parks. I visited with family when I was growing up, with friends in my student years, and now I go back with my own wife and children. My idea of a great summer is one that includes a visit to a national park.
What a joy it would be to find fellow travelers, to share the gospel of our beautiful Creator, and join together in his praise. If national parks are the cathedrals of creation, then summer vacation can be a pilgrimage in honor of our Creator God.
Image of Yosemite Falls by Casey Horner, courtesy of Unsplash.
Published on
Hymn Guide: How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place
“How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” is a hymn of longing and spiritual ascent. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 84 and began in the ancient Hebrew practice of pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Sacramental Church Planting
By the Rev. Canon Dan Alger, Provincial Canon for Church Planting, Anglican Church in North America “If You Are Into That Kind of Thing” I once accompanied a friend to visit a church plant with roots in a non-denominational tradition. He was excited to take me because his church shared the Lord’s Supper weekly and…
