FAQs about the Executive Director role and A Christian Ministry in the National Parks

Q:

Is A Christian Ministry in the National Parks a big or small organization?

A:

Both! Our national office is staffed by 6-7 people and our annual operating budget is just over $500,000. So by those measures we are small. However, given the number and diversity of the constituencies ACMNP engages to fulfill our mission, we rival much larger organizations. These constituents include college and seminary students, the National Park Service and their superintendents at each of the parks, the concessionaires at the parks who hire our ministry staff, the Ministry Support Committee at each park that welcomes, encourages, and mentors our ministry staff, our 80+ board members, and the individuals, businesses, churches, and foundations that support our ministry. Additionally, the scope of our work is national in size. Students and seminarians are recruited from schools across the country and then placed in more than 25 national parks that range from the Everglades to Alaska and Death Valley to Maine.

Q:

What terminology do you use to describe the various groups of people involved with ACMNP?

A:

• ACMNP National Office Staff are the 6-7 full time ACMNP employees.
• ACMNP Park Ministry Staff are the students and seminarians who work and serve in the national parks.
• ACMNP Ministry Staff Leaders are usually seminarians who lead the teams of Ministry Staff at each of the parks, or locations in the bigger parks.
• ACMNP Ministry Support Committees (MSCs) are local volunteers who live and work in and around each of the national parks and annually welcome, encourage, and mentor the ACMNP ministry staff at their location.
• ACMNP Board Members are the 80+ individuals that represent the various constituencies that ACMNP engages in its work. Board members represent different denominations, national parks, the MSCs, the concessionaires, ACMNP alumni, seminaries, and include a number of member-at-large nominees.
• ACMNP Board Trustees (~24) are a subset of the Board, chosen by a nominating committee, serving a three-year term, in three offset classes of eight to ten trustees each.
• ACMNP Board Officers (5) are a subset of the Board Trustees.

Q:

How much travel is involved for the Executive Director?

A:

The common expectation is between 25 and 33% of time. Actually, given the national nature of the recruitment process and the location of the parks, most of the national office staff undertake quite a bit of travel.

Q:

Is it true the ACMNP national office will move from Freeport, Maine in the near future?

A:

Yes, the new Executive Director will oversee the selection and establishment of ACMNP's national office in a new location. It is expected that the location will better serve ACMNP's mission and the travel needs of the ACMNP's national office staff. ACMNP's trustees will oversee and approve the location of ACMNP's office.