Anyone curious enough to explore the North Fork of the Shoshone River, leading to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park, might encounter a clearing in the woods with wooden benches and a simple stone altar.
Every Sunday during the summer, people from around the world find a spot on those benches to enjoy a simple moment of faith and contemplation in nature, while hoping a grizzly doesn’t join the congregation.
The Wayfarer’s Chapel of Christ Episcopal Church in Cody is a sacred spot of worship situated on the Shoshone National Forest. It’s also one of the only chapels where your Sunday Best should be supplemented with a bear spray holster.
“We had a grizzly bear stroll through during our Father’s Day service about 25 years ago,” said Reverend Douglas Sunderland, the priest in charge at Christ Episcopal Church. “He didn't pay any attention to us and walked on by. That was rather exciting.”
Cody’s Chapel
There are many wayfarer’s chapels in the world, including a handful in the mountains of Wyoming. They’re often situated on national forests or more secluded spots where the grandeur of stained glass, marble and incense is substituted for sunlight, warm breezes, and the smell of spruce.
“They're outdoor spaces for worship,” Sunderland said. “Christ Church has a lease on the land. We own the benches and the altar, but there’s pretty much nothing else there.”
The chapel is surrounded by pine trees. One, growing behind the altar, is called “The Trinity” because it has three separate shoots.
The Cody Wayfarer’s Chapel has been a fixture along the North Fork since 1964. Christ Episcopal Church has been holding 10 a.m. Sunday services there every summer since then.
They are non-denominational services,” Sunderland said. “They follow an Episcopal liturgy, but anyone is welcome.”
People of all faiths and creeds can stop by, and many do. Many who attend the Sunday services are Yellowstone visitors intrigued enough to stop and see why people are sitting in the middle of the forest.
Regular attendees tend to be those who live along the North Fork, permanently or temporarily, who find the chapel more accessible than an hour’s drive into Cody.
“We get a lot of people who are staying or working at the lodges up there,” Sunderland said. “Some people stop when they see the sign or come back later after seeing the sign earlier.”
Considering how much it costs to maintain a large church, keeping up the Cody Wayfarer’s Chapel is extremely economical.
“We have somebody who goes up in early June to cut the grass that's grown up under the benches and moves any debris that's fallen on the path,” Sunderland said. “We sand the benches every few years, but that’s really about it.”
The downside is the Wayfarer’s Chapel is only open for as long as the weather’s warm. That means strictly summer services.
Unless you want a particularly rustic wedding ...
In Good Times And In Bad
Christ Episcopal Church only holds Sunday services at the chapel during the summer, but it’s open to weddings any day of the week, whenever the blushing bride and groom would like.
“Anyone can be married there,” Sunderland said. “They just need to register the date and time that they would like to use the space. We don't charge anything, but they need to let us know that they'll be there.”
Cody resident Anne Young is one of many people who’ve tied the knot at the Wayfarer’s Chapel. She married her late husband, Jim, there in 1994.
“Jim was a very outdoorsy person, and so was I,” Young told Cowboy State Daily. “We used to take pack trips into the mountains just by ourselves for a week with our horses. We wanted an informal wedding in a natural environment because that’s where we had our best times.”
Young described her wedding as “a lovely wedding in the woods,” free of any pomp or circumstance. That’s the allure of the chapel as a wedding venue and a place of worship, she said.
“It’s a simple service with a short sermon and no music,” she said. “In my opinion, the Episcopal Church often has a way of winging it, even though it's very traditional. Every service is different, but it doesn't go on and on. There are no long announcements or golden crosses. Donald Trump would hate it."
Weddings have been booked throughout the year, even when there’s snow covering the ground. The couples who are married there see that as a plus rather than a minus.
“Our wedding was on October 22,” Young said. “The night before, it snowed, but we were so determined to have it at the chapel that we scurried up there to get the snow off all the benches. We prevailed, and it was a lovely service.”
The Wayfarer’s Chapel is a sacred spot to worship on the Shoshone National Forest between Cody and Yellowstone. It’s also one of the only chapels where your Sunday Best should be supplemented with a bear-spray holster. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Wayfarer’s Chapel is a sacred spot to worship on the Shoshone National Forest between Cody and Yellowstone. It’s also one of the only chapels where your Sunday Best should be supplemented with a bear-spray holster. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Wayfarer’s Chapel is a sacred spot to worship on the Shoshone National Forest between Cody and Yellowstone. It’s also one of the only chapels where your Sunday Best should be supplemented with a bear-spray holster. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Wayfarer’s Chapel is a sacred spot to worship on the Shoshone National Forest between Cody and Yellowstone. It’s also one of the only chapels where your Sunday Best should be supplemented with a bear-spray holster. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)
Heyday And Mayday
The current Wayfarer’s Chapel isn’t the original Wayfarer’s Chapel. There was a moment when it disappeared, and almost didn’t reappear.
When the original chapel opened in 1964, it quickly became a destination vacation for leaders in the Episcopal Church.
“When clergy from other churches had a month’s vacation in the summer, they’d come out west,” Sunderland said. “They'd stay at one of the lodges on the North Fork and serve on Sundays at the chapel. All they had to do during their vacation was one Sunday service.”
That practice has since fallen off for reasons Sunderland didn’t know. Today’s services are led by local clergy and faith leaders.
Then, in the 1990s, the Wyoming Department of Transportation wanted to widen U.S. Highway 14-16-20 to accommodate more traffic to Yellowstone. The original chapel was situated in a spot that would be leveled for the project.
That raised questions about its future.
“The U.S. Forest Service didn’t want to give us a new permit,” Young said. “They told us that they only allow recreational sites, like zip lines or lodges, so being stubborn Episcopalians, he said, ‘Oh no, you're not going to take that away from us.’”
The Forest Service was concerned about disruptions to the landscape and wildlife habitat. Christ Episcopal Church argued that a non-denominational place of worship qualified as recreational.
Young joined the effort to get a recreational permit for a new chapel. It was led by Brad Smith, a member of the Cody congregation and a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency, who drafted all the legal arguments.
“I can't remember all the legal arguments that Brad had, but we were finally granted permission to pick out a new site,” Young said. “A group of us went up into the woods and finally found a terrific new site. That was the fun part after all the arguing.”
That site is where the Wayfarer’s Chapel remains today. Young and Sunderland hope that’s where it will always be found.
“I haven’t heard anything to suggest it’s going anywhere,” Sunderland said.
Quiet Moments
As long as there’s a Wayfarer’s Chapel between Cody and Yellowstone, there will be rustic weddings and summer Sunday services.
The chapel isn’t as accessible as many would like. The pathway from the gravel parking lot is steep and rugged and often gets the worst of any wet weather.
“It's a little hard for older people to get up the hill,” Sunderland said. “It’s uphill and a little rocky.”
As for weddings, Sunderland recommended that interested couples book two venues. Just in case.
“In case the weather is inclement and they can't be up there, they should book a reservation at the Poker Chapel on our property in Cody,” she said. “We do charge for that, but it gives you a place for their wedding.”
Cody’s Wayfarer’s Chapel is remote, rugged, and usually not in any shade. That’s what makes it so special to the thousands of people who have been there, whether for a simple Sunday sermon or one of the most poignant moments of their lives.
“The best aspect of the chapel is a worship service out in the wilderness, in the forest, in nature, and experiencing the beauty of creation and God's creation,” Sunderland said.
Young agreed. She attends the summer services whenever she can because it’s a sacred spot in a natural setting where one can find peace and calm in one of the most beautifully situated spots in Wyoming.
“Even when there’s not a service, a lot of people just like stopping there, taking a minute to appreciate the outstanding and unique beauty of our whole Yellowstone ecosystem,” she said. “Most tourists go roaring through. They don't spend enough time just sitting and enjoying it all. It restores the heart and the soul.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
