We exist to reclaim the wealth of people’s identity and purpose in Christ through wilderness ministry.
Our Mission
COR was founded in 2016 out of the desire of its founders to share transformational encounters with Christ with individuals from around the country through backcountry experiences and outdoor education. Each of the founding team members had experienced deep personal conversion through their time spent in creation and were hungry to invite others into similar encounters with Christ.
COR was also born out of a desire to facilitate these spiritual encounters through professionally instructed outdoor activities and deep wilderness experiences. The spiritual passion of the team, paired with the desire for excellence and professionalism in the backcountry, is fundamentally at the service of the Church's mission to “preach the Gospel to all nations” and strives to help all those who come on a COR course, whether seminarians, religious, Catholics, converts, Christians, or secular, to come to know Christ as the source of their being and identity.
Why Wilderness
Wilderness is at the heart of COR’s ministry for many reasons, but first and foremost because of the exhaustive spiritual tradition of the Church - every major figure in scripture and many of the saints, including those of recent times, have spent time in wilderness in preparation and renewal for the mission that God has called them to. We believe that wilderness has always been a place of meeting God because it is a direct encounter with His creation and the work of His hands. Our modern lives are often surrounded by the work of man’s hands - buildings, suburbs, technology, etc. - and exposing ourselves to wilderness exposes us in a more direct way to His Heart for us as revealed through His ‘First Book’ of creation.
Wilderness, as God’s first book, also provides a much-needed removal from the artificial buffers of modern life, such as technology and social media, that distract us and keep us from forming authentic connections to ourselves, our community, and God. It further allows for deep personal learning and growth because it is fundamentally an encounter with the unknown; wilderness removes us from certainty and known outcomes and allows us to grapple with a world that is outside of our control.
Value of Risk
Working in a wilderness environment and providing high adventure activities necessarily incurs risk. Often these activities and locations have a high ‘perceived’ risk compared to our day-to-day activities, even though statistically speaking rock climbing under our protocols is significantly less risky than driving a car. Awareness and management of risk are top priorities of our organization, and we encourage our participants to embrace the challenges that these remote locations and activities present as opportunities for personal growth. Often it is precisely because the wilderness comes with unknowns, or takes us out of our comfort zone, that we see both personal and spiritual transformation occur in students. Experiencing and engaging with these risks in a well-managed environment enables our participants to encounter hardships in their daily lives with resilience and confidence. For more information on our excellent risk management record and policies, please see our Risk Management page.
Four Pillars
Every participant on a COR trip is invited to reflect on what are known as COR’s ‘four pillars,’ or underlying principles of ministry: wonder, community, leadership, and identity. These pillars are both uniquely experienced in the wilderness and widely under attack throughout today’s culture; by intentional reflection on each of them and the role they play in our lives, we hope to invite participants into a fundamental renewal of heart and outlook.
Further, each of these pillars is considered through our foundation of ministry, faith. Through faith, reflections on wonder, community, leadership, and identity become means of encounter with Christ and transform a participant’s perspective of themselves, the world around them, and their role in it. Through this invitation to personal conversion, we strive to renew our wider culture and fulfill the invitation of Pope St. John Paul II to ‘Set the world on fire.’
Explore Upcoming Trips
Join us for an open enrollment course, featuring backcountry activities, spiritual formation, and more.
Awakening our hearts to the beauty found around us in creation, ourselves, and others and reflecting on God as the Source of that beauty.
Wonder
Building awareness of the impact our actions have on ourselves and on others and utilizing that impact to promote the common good.
Leadership
Intentionally engaging with and recognizing the value of human connection through shared experiences, prayer, teamwork, common goals, and trust in one another.
Community
Examining our own misconceptions and beliefs about ourselves and reflecting on the Father’s invitation to fundamentally see ourselves as His beloved sons and daughters.
Identity
Reflecting on our relationship with God and His relationship with us as the primary ordering principle of our lives and examining the impact of that reality on our thoughts and actions.
