Yes! I’m planning on a Yosemite Summit 2021. This will be the 14th year of Summits I’ve organized.
Yosemite Summit 2019
Last year, due to COVID-19, I did a backpacking trip with a friend, but here is the highlight video from 2019:
Yosemite Summit 2019
If you are interested in the 2021 Summit, I expect it to fill up quickly, so poke around the site for details, and then contact me for more info. OR you can go ahead and make a deposit to snag your spot.
I am not doing much promotion for 2021 as I expect it to fill from repeat Summiteers and word of mouth – so if you are on this site, there is likely a reason you found your way here.
I’m praying for God to bring together just the right group of guys, just as He has done for over a decade. Perhaps you are one of them! If so, I’m already praying for you.
Yosemite Summit 2020 is now full. If you have an interest in joining us, please contact Karl or get on the waiting list. The event is closed with four going right now, I can expand it, but would need two more attendees to cover the upgrade to the vehicle size.
I’m so late getting YS2020 live! But I don’t need to whine about how busy kids ministry, those who join me on the Summit, know all about that! But it is why I’m behind in getting the next one booked and live for registration. ONLY SIX guys can join me for this epic week, if that’s you, register ASAP!
I still haven’t even made the highlight video yet! (See previous years) But I did whip one out when I got home to show the kids at my church. So, it’s a little more of me than I usually include and less of the other guys, but I hope to make another one before YS2020 arrives. But you can still get a great idea of what an AMAZING YEAR 2019 was on the Summit!
NEW DATES for 2020!
The past few years late snow melt has prevented some of the hiking locations I love along Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road, so I bumped the Summit out two weeks from the usual spot of the week before Memorial Day to the week after.
May 31st to June 4th, 2020
(Travel on the 30th and 5th)
I’m already praying about who God will bring on the 2020 Summit!
Here are the links you need to learn about about it, then REGISTER SOON!
Just got back from the 12th Annual Yosemite Summit! The forecast was for storms and rain all week, but God’s unmerited favor was upon us as we hiked in clear skies avoiding the stormy areas and even saw a bear along the trail!
When we visited the Giant Sequoias, it snowed and a few guys were sure they saw Aslan or a Fawn off in the distance!
Then, the following day, while hiking around Mirror Lake and the Tenya Canyon Loop, a 77 year old lady tipped us off to a major water fall just a short hike off a side trail at the end of the loop. The Snow Creek Fall isn’t even listed on the official Yosemite website list of waterfalls! We took her advice and what an amazing waterfall it turned out to be:
Enjoy this video I made for my kids at church Sunday morning:
Guys, pray about joining me next year on Yosemite Summit – the UNconference for Children’s Pastors! As I like to describe it:
No workshops – Just God working.
No resources – Just relationships.
No networking – Just God Working.
It will be the best investment you can make, not only in your ministry, but your walk with God, your marriage and your parenting. I can’t describe what this week does to rewire men. You just have to experience it for yourself. There is a reason nearly 50 men have gone, and many three, four or five times!
There are no updates yet about the 2020 Summit, but there will be one! Poke around the site and read about this year’s Summit to learn more about it. Be sure you are subscribed the Kidology Newsletter so you can be the first to know when Registration Opens this fall for the next Summit!
These are the guys headed to the 2019 Yosemite Summit! Pray for Doug, Frank, Matt, Ted, Paul and I as we set out to meet with God. Pray for safety, beautiful weather, release from everything we leave behind, our families without us and for God’s agenda to be accomplished!
So, just HOW excited would you be to get AWAY from your job for a week?
You can only IMAGINE… no e-mail, no texts, no meetings, no phone calls, no to-do lists, no boss dropping in with some new task… how excited would you me? Maybe as excited as this guy from Yosemite Summit last year:
Yosemite Summit is a week long sabbatical retreat for men in the heart of Yosemite National Park. This is not camping. This is a week at a relaxing lodge for refreshment, renewal and recharging away from the hustle and bustle of fast-paced ministry life. You can leave your watch behind as there is no schedule other than eat breakfast, hike, chill, and return for home cooked dinner in the evening enjoying fellowship with other men during the day.
Oh, and there is only ONE SPOT LEFT for the 2019 Summit. Explore this site to learn more or register here!
I’m praying for that one guy who really needs to join me on this 12th annual Summit. Will it be you?
The 12th Annual Yosemite Summit is now OPEN for registration. This unique sabbatical event for men in ministry is unlike anything else you have ever experienced. Limited to a small group of men, Yosemite Summit is a chance to walk away from everything, quite literally, and spend a week in one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth enjoying focused time with God with some other men who share your passion for ministry.
Yosemite Summit 2019 will be limited to six men, so register soon if you would like to join Pastor Karl on this incredible event.
The dates are May 19th to 24th, 2019 with travel on the 18th and 25th. Complete details are on this site. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Karl.
Every Summit is amazing. There has never been a “bad” Yosemite Summit. Each is unique, but the 11th annual Summit was uniquely special. The weather was great, the hikes spectacular, the fellowship rich and we had some hysterical fun! Some of the crazy memories aren’t even for sharing here on the website, they are just for the guys who attended to cherish, which is probably why so many guys have come on the Summit year after year – several have come three to five times! As I head into the second decade of leading these, I can’t help wondering how many of these I will do until I head to the final eternal Summit.
The annual group shot at the Yosemite Entrance Sign
Of course, we always try for what we call our “Album Cover Shot” too.
But the fun starts well before we get to Yoosemite, we meet up in Sacramento and everyone is eager to get to In-and-Out Burger
Ever seen a bunch of guys in a giant warehouse store stocking up on food for a week of cooking? I’m sure our wives would find it very entertaining as we wander the store with walkie talkies making sure we have everything. No, worries – we’ve got it down to a science after ten years. The first year I had my wife on the phone the whole time we were shopping!
Soon we are in Yosemite and ready for some great fellowship and prepared to see some amazing things you just can’t see at home!
One of the best things about Yosemite Summit is the friendships that are formed and deepened over the years.
No, that isn’t a green screen backdrop. It’s just that incredible in Yosemite.
The variety of the scenery is incredible – sometimes a quiet walk through the forest…
Other times you are standing next to a thundering waterfall.
Later, you are on top of the world!
And then later, you are chillin’ next to a peaceful river.
(This is actually called Pastoral Valley, seriously!)
It’s a time for quiet reflection away from the constant interruptions from smart phones, meetings, and yes, even people… so you can hear from God.
When is the last time you got to just sit and think. And ponder. And reflect. And pray.
….without distraction or interuption?
When you gave at God’s magnificent creation that is pretty much unchanged from how it looked when Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt gaved upon it, it gives you a powerful perspective on God’s timelessness and demonstrates just how much not in a hurry He is to accomplish His purposes in your life.
I can’t even describe how nice it is to read God’s Word while enjoying His Creation.
Or to just take a nap listening to the symphony of creation.
A few guys have brought hammocks over the years.
Finding that perfect spot each day to pause, meditate and reflect is the goal.
Everyone wants that mountain top experience, even if it really is just a ten foot rock that makes a great picture. But spiritually, there are many mountain top experiences that occur!
Walking with God and walking with others who share your passion for ministry and discipleship makes for insightful conversation.
I love to chill and just take in the vast vistas. I’ve been trying to figure out how to freeze time while I’m there, but so far I’ve had to settle for just living in the moment and savoring every minute knowing that the experience is rich but limited. It’s amazing to me how long the week feels when you take in every hour deeply. The week truly does not feel like it rushes by as normal weeks do. I am so refreshed at the end, I feel like I’ve had a month off.
Yosemite Summit is a time of reflection – on your own life, relationships, ministry and future goals. It is a time when you can hear God so clearly because all the normal noise of life has been removed.
Yosemite Summit helps you gain new perspective on life and ministry!
I can’t believe that next year will will be the 12th Summit! I’m so curious who God will send with me on the Summit – it’s always so fascinating to me to see the group that God assembles. I enjoy my primary ministry as a children’s pastor, and I thoroughly enjoy the opportunities I get serving leaders in children’s ministry through Kidology, but I must say, Yosemite Summit has got to be one of the most surprisingly enjoyable blessings in my life. It was born out of my own need for renewal and refreshment over a decade ago, and the fact that it has since impacted over fifty other men is both humbling and an honor.
Recently, I was going through some old personal papers in the garage – much of it was useless and finally was tossed out, but hidden in the ancient folders, binders and loose papers I found an art pad with some drawing in it from when I was fourteen years old… that would be 34 years ago. While I’ve never been much of an artist, I was surprised at how good these were. I obviously must have spent some focused time doodling these. I now commit them to the Internet for Eternity!
Tunnel View
Here is another:
Half Dome from Mirror Lake
I am so thankful that I dated these, otherwise I’d have no idea when they were drawn. I am so thankful for this incredible place that has become my Sanctuary where I travel every year to spend some focused time walking with God and listening to what He has for me. I’ve always known that Yosemite had a special draw for me… now I know that I did a special drawing while I was there as a young boy falling in love with my Creator and His amazing displays of beauty He collected here.
Know what might be the best thing for your ministry right now?
A new resource?
A new program?
A new book?
A new curriculum?
A new conference?
A new idea?
A new volunteer?
A new senior pastor? :0)
This may surprise you – but the best thing for your ministry right now may be to get as far away from it as possible – and to get a close to God as possible.
That is what Yosemite Summit is all about. It is about focusing on what matters most to your ministry: your walk with God. Your soul. NOTHING is more important and nothing will impact your ministry more than your private walk with God. Come join a few other children’s pastors and walk with God for a few days and let Him speak you directly. Through nature, though worship, through fellowship, through the Word, through the quietness you may only find at a sun rise at Glacier Point or in the midst of a thousand foot water fall.
You will never be the same after meeting God here. Cast off the excuses, and allow God to provide if He is hinting in your spirit that He wants you to get away with Him soon.
