WILDERNESS MINISTRY TRAINING FOR CHURCHES
Equip your church to make disciples in the wilderness.
We train churches and faith communities to build thriving wilderness ministries. The methodology is rooted in theology, forged over decades of practice in the field, and used by churches and ministries across the country and beyond.
TRUSTED BY CHURCHES LIKE
Central Community Church • Seattle
Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole • WY
+More case studies coming
Custom training for your church.
Annual immersion for individuals.
WHAT WE OFFER
Two distinct ways to work with us, built for two distinct audiences.
CUSTOM • BUILT FOR YOUR CHURCH
Wilderness Ministry Training
Starting at $1,850 · One weekend → five days · At your church or Snoqualmie Pass
✔ Custom-scoped to your church's stage, team, and theology
✔ Theology, formation, trip systems, risk management
✔ Hosted onsite at your church or with us at Snoqualmie Pass
✔ Discovery call to design the right scope
ANNUAL COHORT • WITH RICHARD DAHLSTROM
Ancient Paths Certification Week
$350 per participant · 5 days at Snoqualmie Pass · Once per year
✔ The full Ancient Paths curriculum, deep immersion
✔ Co-led by Richard Dahlstrom (founder) and John Wayne Seitzler
✔ Cohort of individuals and small teams from multiple churches
✔ Certification + lifetime content library access on completion
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The final five sessions were fantastic. Teachable moments, trip logistics, stewardship and creation ethic, intro to risk management, trip and content creation.
Haley E.
Core Lead Wilderness Volunteer • Outdoor Central • Central Community Church, Seattle
Churches putting the methodology to work.
PROOF POINTS
Real congregations, real outcomes, real change in how people meet God in creation.
FLAGSHIP CASE STUDY • SEATTLE, WA
Central Community Church → Outdoor Central
One beloved annual backpacking trip transformed into a thriving, year-round, multi-modal wilderness ministry serving 150 participants in its first year.
RECENT ENGAGEMENT • JACKSON HOLE, WY
Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole → Wilderness Together
A full-weekend ministry launch: leaders trained, congregation taught, vision preached from the pulpit. PCJH stood up Wilderness Together the same week.
SEE ENGAGEMENT DETAILS →
We teach what we actually do.
BUILT BY PRACTITIONERS
Wilderness Formation isn’t a consultancy. It’s a renewed nonprofit with deep roots. The organization was founded in 1989 as Alythia Fellowship by Richard and Donna Dahlstrom, beginning as a Bible school in the North Cascades that used God’s creation as its classroom.
John Wayne Seitzler was voted in as Executive Director on September 20, 2021, and renewed the work as Wilderness Formation to bring this tradition to churches across the country. John Wayne brings his own wealth of experiences: sea kayaking expeditions, mountain guide teams, and his current role as Pastor of Wilderness Ministry at Bethany Community Church in Seattle, where many of the rhythms WF teaches are tested in weekly practices. Richard, now Founder and Emeritus Board Member, continues to train and write alongside us.
The frameworks, safety protocols, and Ancient Paths rites of passage we teach didn’t come from a textbook. They were forged across two generations of real ministry, in real terrain, with real people, season after season.
THEOLOGY OF WILDERNESS
We believe faith is an experience, not just a set of doctrines. Christ longs to reveal Himself through the text of God’s good creation.
Christ longs to take us and our communities into a new depth of relationship through formative experiences in the outdoors.
Start exploring before you commit.
FREE RESOURCES
Free tools, teachings, and primers used by hundreds of leaders considerings wilderness ministry for their churches.
DOWNLOAD
Theology of Wilderness Primer
A 12-page introduction to wilderness ministry theology.
READ
Spirit Soul Body
Long-form writing on faith, formation, and creation from Richard Dahlstrom, WF's founder. Now on Substack.
DOWNLOAD
Gear List
What we actually stock for participants. A gear closet starter list.