Holy Hikes

Holy Hikes - Southwest Pennsylvania

St. Michael’s of the Valley, Ligonier and St. Francis in the Fields, Somerset have partnered to launch an official chapter of Holy Hikes in the Diocese, known as Holy Hikes of Southwestern Pennsylvania. We piloted a series of hikes in 2024, as a way to test how the ministry would go and to understand how congregations might collaborate. After a successful initial season, we are ready to launch the ministry diocesan-wide. 

We are an official ministry of Holy Hikes®, an eco-Ministry network committed to rebuilding Communion between all of God’s Creation. It was started as a ministry of All Saints Episcopal Church in San Leandro, California several years ago. Through Holy Hikes we worship God in the beauty of God’s creation, in what John Muir called God’s “first temples.”

The hiking season runs from May to October, although our official launch is delayed until June this year, and the hikes take place in the morning on the third Saturday of each month. We will start the hikes at 10 a.m., but some of the team will be there about 15 minutes early to welcome hikers. (If the weather is forecast to be hot, we may move the start time to 9:00 a.m. Please look for announcements on Facebook from the diocese.

The hiking schedule for 2025 is:

  • Saturday, June 21, 2025 - 10:00 am

  • Saturday, July 19, 2025 - 10:00 am

  • Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 10:00 am

    • Johnstown Flood National Memorial - Carriage Road Nature Trail  - 1.15 miles - easy - with an optional .10 mile trail to the South Abutment and a .34 mile trail with lots of steps to the bottom of the dam (more difficult) 

  • Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 10:00 am

  • Saturday, October 18, 2025 - 10:00 am

During the hike, we hold a service of Holy Communion, stopping along the trail to read the scripture and say the prayers, while sharing the Eucharist at the end of the hike or at another appropriate setting along the trail. It’s a lovely way to have a worship service!

If you or your congregation are interested in participating–and, perhaps, hosting hikes in your part of the Diocese, we invite you to join us for one of our hikes over the summer to see how we do them and learn more about how we determine which trails to use. Once you decide to host your own hike, we will coordinate communications about the various hiking locations for those third Saturdays during the hiking season. Our hope is that each monthly Holy Hike Saturday will have 3 or more options for hikes in different areas of the Diocese, and we encourage groups of congregations to partner with each other to host them. 

In addition, we believe this is an important opportunity for members of the Diocese to invite friends, family, and neighbors–especially those who might not want to attend a Sunday morning service–to something a bit different. We have found it’s a wonderful way to build community beyond our four walls. 

If you are interested in participating this year, please contact our ministry team member Katie Ong. You can also look for information about upcoming hikes on the Diocese’s Facebook page, in the “Events” section of the St. Francis website and St. Francis Somerset Facebook page, as well as on St. Michael’s Holy Hikes webpage and its Facebook page.