Greybull, Shell, and Bentonite - September 14, 2015

Greetings from the Historic Hotel Greybull,  located, as might be expected, in Greybull, Wyoming. Here it is.

Today I spoke  with Pastor Becky Anderson and several elders at the Presbyterian churches in Greybull and Shell. Greybull has a population of about 1700 people. Shell, fifteen miles east, in the shadow of the  Big Horn Mountains, has 84 people. Becky pastors both churches, conducting worship in each of them every Sunday, in addition to working as a substitute teacher and a staff member in an adolescent group home. She is one busy person.

Both churches are small. Both pride themselves on being family- like, with a strong sense of community. Both have excellent facilities, Both are worried about their aging congregations and the lack of young people and children.

Since this is a theme I have encountered often, I am posing the question, indeed, I am crowd sourcing the question, and I really encourage  readers of my blog to post an answer in the comment section  below. The question is: WHY DO SO FEW YOUNG PEOPLE ATTEND CHURCH? Please give  me the benefit of your opinion.

Greybull, I am told, has the biggest bentonite mines in the world. I don't know what bentonite really is, but I am told it is very important and has lots of uses, among which are for drilling mud (???)  and making walls. Someone also told me it is in chocolate.

I await your thoughtful answers.

Worship in Shoshoni , followed by buffalo September 13, 2015

I worshipped this morning with the small congregation in Shoshoni. There were thirteen of us altogether. Joe Norris  is ending his term as the Commissioned Ruling Elder. (Presbyterian ministers are technically called Teaching Elders. Members of the congregation who are elected to the session, the congregation's governing body, are called Ruling Elders. Occasionally, when  a church can not support a Teaching Elder, a Ruling Elder is given special training and is commissioned  to lead  the congregation in worship: i.e., s/he is a Commissioned Ruling Elder. Such is Joe.) I was privileged to worship with them during one of his  final services. Joe has a very quiet and dignified way of leading worship. The small congregation sings well (a pianist from the Baptist church worships with them every week), and the service is traditional Presbyterian. This means they say the traditional version of the Apostles' Creed, use debts instead of  trespasses, and are in general, not attuned to the importance of gender neutral language. I am old enough to find the familiar words easy to say and  do not take umbrage. I understand that other people may prefer more inclusive  language. But this is seldom a great issue in a congregation. Still, more traditional congregations generally use more traditional language.

This congregation also sang hymns from the older (1955) hymn book. It had been a long  time since I sang "Wonderful Words of Life."

After worship, the  entire congregation sat around a large table for coffee and  peach cobbler, with ice cream What more can one ask?

The drive  from Shoshoni to Greybull, where I am now, was spectacular.  There have been very few drives in my itinerary that have not been  spectacular. Spectacular is the Wyoming normal.  I know that I annoy other drivers by poking along at 60 miles an hour, trying  to watch the road while I watch the scenery.

I  stopped in Thermopolis to have a look at Hot Springs State Park, home of the  largest mineral hot springs in the world, they say. It was part of the Shoshone reservation until early in  this century, and had served as a sacred spot for them, until it was purchased by the US Government for $60,000. Chef Washakie had carved out his own bathtub there. Part of the purchase agreement was that the springs would always be open to everyone for free. I forwent soaking, but I did a lot of walking, buoyed by the invigorating smell of sulfur.Then  I took a drive in the bison preserve ("Buffalo are dangerous" the sign says) where I got as close to a buffalo as I ever want to. You will see from this picture how close. I took the picture from the safety of my car.

There was a whole herd of them, including calves, behind this one.

Now I am ensconced in the Historic Greybull Hotel, and I will visit the Greybull and Shell churches tomorrow.

Wind River Reservation - September 12, 2015

Today was a free day, so I chose to spend a good portion of it driving along some of the mainly empty highways that run through the vast Wind  River Indian Reservation, which covers as much territory as the state of Delaware. As I explained yesterday, it was created as an Eastern Shoshone reservation in 1868, but the Northern Arapahoe were also forced onto the  same reservation as a temporary measure that has endured. The two tribes were historic enemies. I was advised to stay on the main highways as I crossed the reservation, which I did.The landscape is often stark and beautiful, but there are also acres of  irrigated crops.The towns like Pavilion and Fort Washakie (named for the revered Shoshone chief who helped keep peace between Indians and settlers) are neat. A monument in  Fort Washakie says that Sacajawea is buried nearby. Housing looks very much like housing in other small Wyoming towns. However, tensions and poverty persist on the reservation. Competing casinos run by the  two tribes exist at the edge of the reservation.

One thing you can  say about Presbyterians is that they do not gamble. They know the odds! But, encouraged by the kind owner of my motel, I stopped for lunch at the Shoshone owned Shoshone Rose Casino. Nice meal, nicely served, reasonable price. It was not crowded.

My observations on  the Reservation were very limited. There have been articles that characterize the Wind River Reservation as particularly troubled. However, for most of the tourists speeding through to Yellowstone on Highway 26, the only impression is beauty.

There is a Presbyterian Church in Riverton, the largest  town adjacent to the reservation. Riverton  was once part of the reservation, but its territory was "ceded" to the  settlers years ago. I will meet the pastor there at the presbytery meeting in Powell next week.

Shoshoni September 11, 2015

I have spent today in  Shoshoni and Thermopolis, visiting with the pastor of  each church. Shoshoni is a very small town, and the church congregation is small and elderly. (See the picture of the building below). The pastor, Joe Norris, says that the 12 members of the church "are just happy to still be here." Joe is retiring this month after nine years of constant pulpit supply, following upon his previous retirement from a Navy career. He has grown very attached to this congregation - one of the few where the average Sunday attendance of  12-18 exceeds the church membership of 12. The church, the oldest in this town of 600, is well maintained and inviting. There are also a Mormon church and Baptist Church in town.Their congregations are somewhat larger.

The church in  Thermopolis, a town of 3000, is larger. It is a federated Presbyterian-Methodist Church, and has been so since 1921. The current pastor, a retired Methodist minister, is anything but retired. The church has three services every Sunday - each different in style and content. It boasts an active youth  program, music program,theater program -  as well as being  heavily involved in  community activities.

The road that connects Shoshoni and Thermopolis runs  through the beautiful Wind River Canyon - most of  which is part of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The canyon is spectacular, and it is easy to see why it is considered sacred in native American tradition. The Wind River Indian Reservation  is very large, and it is now home to Shoshone and Arapaho, two tribes, I am told, with historic hostility toward each other. The two tribes were forced by the US government to inhabit a single reservation on a supposed temporary basis 125 years ago. I have learned that there is little interaction between the reservation communities and the towns surrounding it, although the Arapaho have constructed a casino in Riverton. As we learned from Longmire, the tensions about jurisdiction are still alive, not only between Caucasians and native Americans, but between the two tribes. Memory is long and  deep. 

The South Pass, Wyoming on My Mind - September 10, 2015

Today I drove from Alpine, near Jackson, southwest, over the South Pass, through Lander and Riverton to Shoshoni, where I have found another charming motel. The Desert Inn, it's called. The South Pass was "discovered"in  1812, when a trapper named Robert Stuart was escorted to it by an Indian. This pass through the Rockies was totally unknown to white people. Its discovery was essential for the westward expansion. All of the overland trails came through it, and then  dispersed to Oregon or California or Salt Lake  City. Though it  is surrounded by mountains, the pass itself is so subtle that pioneers were not  sure they had  actually crossed over the continental divide. But they had.

The drive from Alpine was characteristically beautiful. Majestic mountains, amazing prairies. I stumbled upon a radio station that alternately played sentimental hymns and  sentimental western songs. I confess I was taken by "Wyoming on  My Mind." No pictures today, but have a listen to the song, if you can.

Wyoming on My Mind

I was very  melancholy today, having just learned of the death by suicide of a dear student friend, whom I have been talking with regularly for several years. I was among the last persons to speak tohim. He read this blog every day. The sadnessis unspeakable. He would have liked this song. It's for him. I will miss him very much.

Yellowstone - September 9, 2015

I was fortunate to be able to spend today in Yellowstone Park with Bruce and Nancy Hunt, friends from Alabama who by happenstance and arrangement were in the area today. Yellowstone reveals its beauty slowly. The first twenty miles into the park from the south are only roadway lined by dense evergreen trees. Then the terrain becomes beautiful. We caught Old Faithful just as it spewed; two minues later and we would have missed it. We saw a few buffalo; no bears. Our favorite part was the Yellowstone River canyon. We took many pictures. I share only one, taken by Nancy. 

Jackson Hole - at last! September 8, 2015

It was a beautiful, wonderfully clear clear morning as I drove from Alpine to Jackson this morning, up through the Snake River Canyon. The mountains all along the way, and especially as one approaches Jackson, are majestic. Jackson itself  is a tourist/resort town, with all that implies. After some effort, I found a parking place and began my customary walk around. I pretty much saw Jackson by walking five blocks  in each direction  from the square (pictured below). It reminds me of Bar Harbor and other places like that, with mountains instead of ocean. Many people with cameras walking around. Lots of shoppy shoppies. Galleries galore (who buys?). Still, it was interesting to walk around. Highlights for me: an exceptional thrift shop connected to the  Episcopal church (it's adjacent to the Episcopal church; the best thrift shop I've seen in a while; definitely make a stop there if you go), where I picked up a brand new copy of John Updike's last book of short stories, which will keep me  company for  the  rest of my trip. I was also impressed by Moos ice cream shop. Delicious cone of Swiss white chocolate hazelnut. One scoop - $3.95. But come on, it's Jackson Hole!  - You can see Moos through the antler arch on the square in the photo here.

In the afternoon, I met with  Ben Pascal, the 38 year-old senior pastor of the  Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole. This is a new church, fonded in 1994, with a modern building constructed in 2000 and doubled in 2008. The church  building itself says: non-traditional, mega-church influenced, trendy, evangelical. No organ, but piano, drums and other instruments,  Large jumbo-tron screens at the front. No hymnals. Very friendly. Large staff. I must have been greeted and  asked if  I needed help by at least five people. Very large parking lot. Great location,  across the street from the junior high. (see picture below).

The Church has become, I am told, the community church of Jackson, with outreach far exceeding its 400 members. Like Jackson Hole itself, which I was told is listed as among the richest per capita income towns in the nation, the church is very prosperous. Jackson is one of the more politically liberal towns in Wyoming, and the congregation is politically diverse. The  sense of being a Presbyterian Church is fairly weak. While the session  is aware of the  controversial decisions  of the  General Assembly regarding marriage and divestment, there has been little discussion of  these issues in the congregation. I got the impression that their very popular young pastor, who first came to Jackson Hole to ski and stayed to do youth work in this church before he went to seminary and returned as a pastor, will have to cross those bridges eventually, but there is no pressure for him to do so now.

I can see why many people like this church. It has a more traditional service on  Sundays at 8 AM for those who want "no frills so they can get to the hills",  and a more contemporary service (i.e., drums and amplified music) at 10:15.  It's about as "with it" as Presbyterians get.