Members of Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Grand Marais gathered to celebrate the church’s fifth birthday recently. Joining the congregation at the Maple Hill Church was Vicar Alex Logan (second from left in front) visiting from England. The church has accomplished a lot in its short life.
Five years ago this month, Layne and Rolf Lindquist put an ad in the paper: “Are there any other Episcopalians out there?” A number of folks responded and that group started meeting for worship and to share their faith journeys. The name—Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal—seemed to come out of the sky. Our motto also seemed to just arrive: “Inviting mystery, embracing compassion, encountering Christ.”
During that first winter, numbers sometimes dipped to a handful, but the core was faithful— meeting to hold Morning Prayer services and to hear each other’s words and prayers.
Fast forward five years: on Sundays Spirit of the Wilderness has 35-50 people worshipping at Maple Hill Church. Some are cradle Episcopalians; some have been away from any church for decades; some have wanted a church but struggled to find one where they felt accepted.
As one member said, “We were just going to visit and check it out, thinking of Spirit of the Wilderness as a ‘temporary stop.’ But, now we wouldn’t leave! We found a real church family, friends, and so many opportunities for spiritual growth.”
Others have felt called to this community. Reed and Barbara Holaday moved to Grand Marais from Tucson (in winter!) to be more fully a part of Spirit of the Wilderness. Mary Ellen Ashcroft felt called to move full-time up here to support the new church. Another Episcopal priest, Carolyn Schmidt, moved with her husband Milan to Grand Marais.
After a few years, Spirit of the Wilderness became an official part of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota—a mission church—with Mary Ellen as vicar.
How is Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal different from other churches?
We focus on the welcome of Christ—since Christ welcomes us we can welcome all to our worship. Although we use liturgy and hymns that may seem fairly traditional, they are used with the understanding that they anchor us in a historic and worldwide tradition, rather than the need to believe everything literally. In other words, Episcopalians believe in mystery. To quote a recent Sunday sermon—Howard Hedstrom said, “When you open up your mind to the possibilities, then small things start creeping in. The grace we feel here at Spirit of the Wilderness, how we are touched by a reading, homily or hymn or the magic of a new child. That to me is the faith part. Not knowing for sure, but having faith, supported by these small things. Bonnie Gay [Howard’s wife] calls it ‘Spirit.’ Others call it the mystery.”
Spirit of the Wilderness meets at the historic Maple Hill Church, with such a lovely setting, without having to focus on buildings and grounds. Instead we can concentrate on what we believe matters most—welcoming the community and caring for those inside and outside Spirit of the Wilderness.
For example, several members of the community at Spirit of the Wilderness felt God’s call to start a “Reaching Out” ministry, in which we give 10 percent of our income to those in our community in need, through Cook County Health and Human Services. This group also began a book group, which is reading novels by Native authors to increase our understanding.
Spirit of the Wilderness has worked with the Grand Marais Art Colony on three annual spring collaborations. Plus we have monthly socials— sometimes hiking up the Trail followed by dinner at Trail Center, sometimes a barbecue and swimming on Greenwood Lake.
One of the ways Spirit of the Wilderness is different from many churches (including most Episcopal churches) is its strong lay involvement. At least half of Sundays, the message is given by a gifted layperson from the church.
Two weeks ago Lee Stewart spoke on the gospel in which Jesus heals the woman with the hemorrhage of blood. She talked about how we at Spirit of the Wilderness are, like that woman, “reaching out to God, uncertain, vulnerable, and full of desire, looking for community, full of hope, touching the hem of God.” She shared (as she was giving her homily in front of all of us) about her lifetime terror of public speaking: “How did I do it? I can only say that I was desperate, frightened, brave, hopeful, excited—for church and community—so by faith, that is, by that very desperation, desire, hope, fear, love, spirit—and especially community—by touching the hem of Christ in this church community, here I am.”
Spirit of the Wilderness is celebrating its five years in a number of ways. We’ve just had a visit from Tim Hodapp, Missioner for Mission of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. Dwight Zscheile, an expert in the missional church who teaches at Luther Seminary, will be visiting in August. And of course, Spirit of the Wilderness expects that our dragon boat team—while it may not be the fastest—will serve up great food, make fine music, and generally celebrate!
Leave a Reply