Church of the Woods

After three decades as an environmental activist and religious agnostic, Reverend Steve Blackmer had a series of visions that lead him to divinity school, and then to the wilderness, where he decided to bring back the spirit of nature that's often lost in religious practice. And thus, the Church of the Woods was born.

The Church of the Woods is a place where the Earth, rather than a building, is the bearer of sacredness, and where people of all different faiths, beliefs, and traditions, can come together and enjoy the natural world around them. Located on 106 beautiful acres of forest in Canterbury, New Hampshire, it bills itself as "a new kind of church," where the focus is on the holiness of all ground, rather than the holiness of one place.

While the Church of the Woods is technically a church, religious faith is flexible. According to Reverend Blackmer, the church is "both Episcopal and ecumenical, both Christian and multi-faith, and devoted to both God and Earth." It was founded with the hope that people who didn't feel comfortable in a traditional place of worship, or were simply seeking to feel more in touch with Mother Nature, would be able to come to the church and feel grounded in a sense of community and spirituality. The regular congregation boasts an atypical amount of advanced degrees, doctors, and ecologists.