Hikers at the Corner of Kindness in Sheffield. Photo: Erik Karas
Meeting Seekers on Their Way in Sheffield The Rev. Erik Karas Christ Trinity Church, Sheffield
P
eople who set out on the Appalachian Trail are pilgrims, whether they would call themselves that or not. Everyone who steps onto a path like that is searching for something. They may know what they are searching for (or think they do), or have no idea whatsoever. The journey itself will undoubtedly reveal much more along the way than just the end of a trail. But it isn’t our ministry to help them find what they are looking for. Our ministry is simply to support them with generous and unconditional hospitality along their way. Caring for pilgrims “Along the Way” is an ancient, holy, and powerfully rewarding ministry. On the Camino de Santiago in Portugal and Spain (a
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pilgrimage recently taken by our own Bishop Doug), volunteers have been caring for the pilgrims walking that trail for over a thousand years. Here in the Berkshires, we give that ministry our own special twist by doing that ancient and holy work from comfortable chairs in the shade on a beautiful summer day. Two years ago, we received a Ministry Development Grant from the diocese to set up a Corner of Kindness next to the Appalachian Trail in Sheffield. With money for tents, chairs, tables, a grill, cell phone chargers, food, and water, we set up this little outpost in the summer of 2018 with our UCC friends from across the street and waited for hikers to happen upon our spot.
With a bit of research, we knew that most northbound hikers (which are the vast majority), start at the beginning of the trail in Georgia in March. They continue north, coming through Sheffield between the middle of June and the middle of August, on their way to the end of the trail on the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine. We also learned that the hikers who use the camp site just to our south would arrive at our little spot between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. With those target dates and times, we set up twice a week during that first season. Each day, we saw between 6 and 30 hikers. We welcomed them under the shade, gave them snacks, cooked them a burger, had them sit in a chair with a back, and listened to their stories. Some had just graduated high school. Others were transitioning from the military into civilian life. Some had quit their jobs to hike the trail, and still others were fulfilling a retirement dream. We met hikers from literally all over the world, like a couple from Ireland who needed to finish the hike before their six-month visa expired. Each hiker has a unique story, and
