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“Experience Alaska” Team to Present at Westminster College Vespers

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Posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016

Westminster College students and staff of the “Experience Alaska” team will participate in the vespers service Sunday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. in Wallace Memorial Chapel. The worship service is open to the public.

Led by the Rev. Jim Mohr, chaplain, and Dr. Kerri Duerr, assistant professor of biology, the group spent May 16-June 2 celebrating the six components of the trip:

  • Spiritual development, which included leading worship in a Presbyterian and a Baptist church and evening reflections on the day’s highs and lows.
  • Vocational discernment, asking each other “What does God want me to do with my life?”
  • Service that included planting over 450 trees in areas that suffered from forest fires, leading worship services, learning about eco-sustainability homes, cleaning up around homes, and engaging homeless individuals at First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage.
  • Environmental concerns, including a day spent with a National Parks worker at Exit Glacier learning to think about global issues in a new way.
  • Alaskan culture through conversations with native Alaskans, including two Alaskan Secretaries of State, the founders of the Iditarod dog sled race, and the mayor of Anchorage, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
  • Travel that included “firsts” for many of the students: first time in an airplane or on a boat; first time eating native Alaska food; first time square dancing.

“Trips like Experience Alaska have the potential to transform one’s life as you celebrate creation, think about your life goals, meet people from other cultures and do things you never imagined you would ever get an opportunity to do,” Mohr said.

Funded in part by a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) Chaplaincy Implementation grant, the trip provided opportunities for personal and spiritual growth, leadership development, and conversations and reflections about vocational discernment, along with environmental sciences and conservation experiences.

“Thanks to funding provided by a Westminster family we will be able to sponsor Experience Alaska 2 during the summer of 2017,” Mohr added.

The team will make an additional presentation Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m. in the Witherspoon Maple Room of the McKelvey Campus Center.

Contact Mohr at 724-946-7116 or email morhjr@westminster.edu for additional information.