Title: Lutheran Pastor Completes 50-State Unicycle Trek
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 16, 2002
LUTHERAN PASTOR COMPLETES 50-STATE UNICYCLE TREK
02-291-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A one-wheeled odyssey that began April 9 in
Alaska concluded Nov. 16 in Hawaii. The Rev. Lars J. Clausen, a
pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), rode his
unicycle on a route that took him through all 50 states of the United
States and into the Guinness Book of Records.
In Alaska, Clausen began training for "One Wheel -- Many
Spokes," which was to be a cross-country trip to raise money for the
Seward Peninsula Lutheran Endowment Fund and to raise awareness of
the Inupiat Lutheran Eskimos. The trip began April 29 at the shore
of the Pacific Ocean in Neah Bay, Wash.
When Clausen reached the Statue of Liberty in New York on Aug.
10, he had ridden for 111 days and traveled 5,032 miles -- breaking
the Guinness world record of 3,876 miles for distance on a
unicycle -- but he did not reach his goal of raising $5 million Seward
Peninsula Endowment Fund. So, he turned his unicycle around and
headed back for the Pacific Ocean on a route through all the states
he hadn't visited already.
Clausen arrived back at the Pacific in Santa Monica, Calif.,
his boyhood hometown, on Nov. 12, after pedaling a total 9,136 miles.
From there he boarded a plane Nov. 16 for Hawaii and the completion
of his 50-state trek.
"It is finished," Clausen wrote in his Internet journal. "It
feels weird not to be getting up for a day-break day-long ride on the
unicycle everyday."
"It's a good thing, though, that we didn't start our ride in
Hawaii. We never would have left the state. What a wonderful trip,"
said Clausen.
At stops all along his journey, Clausen spoke about the ELCA's
ministry on the Seward Peninsula, jutting out 200 miles into the
Bering Sea from west-central Alaska, and about the endowment fund to
provide a consistent funding source for that ministry.
The ELCA "would do well to recognize Seward Peninsula Lutheran
Ministry as a unique treasure and do everything it can to support the
needs of this ministry and to learn from the wisdom and experience
embodied in this ministry," said Clausen.
An avid runner, Clausen developed plantar fascitis -- an overuse
injury to the soles of the feet. So, he diverted his energy toward
unicycling.
"On one of my first rides out I had such strong remembrances of
bicycling across the United States in 1987 that I started dreaming
about unicycling across the country," said Clausen.
In 1992, Clausen's first parish as a pastor of the ELCA was Our
Saviors Lutheran Church, Nome, Alaska -- one of six parishes that
make up Seward Peninsula Lutheran Ministry. The ministry there dates
back to 1894, when the Rev. Tollef Brevig came to Teller, Alaska, to
serve as pastor for transplanted Norwegian reindeer herders.
Clausen and his family fell in love with the people and their
culture. "People shared their lives with us and included us in their
traditions," he said. "Our two children have Eskimo names -- Ayayat
and Kooyoruk -- that were given to them there."
The hunting-gathering culture there is entirely renewable and
exists "only at the margins of the agricultural-literate culture that
dominates the globe," said Clausen.
Inupiat people "offer us a window into the past as well as
cultural values that can be an important resource for the whole
world. Respect for elders and traditional wisdom, care for children,
community values of sharing are but a few of the resources which
Seward Peninsula Lutheran ministry can offer to our global world,"
said Clausen.
"They have also adopted Lutheran Christianity as an integral
part of their lifestyle," he said.
The six ELCA congregations in Alaska's Seward Peninsula
Lutheran Ministry are:
+ Alaska Native Lutheran Church, Anchorage
+ Brevig Memorial Lutheran Church, Brevig Mission
+ Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Nome
+ Shishmaref Lutheran Church, Shishmaref
+ Teller Lutheran Church, Teller
+ Thornton Memorial Lutheran Church, Wales
-- -- --
The "One Wheel -- Many Spokes" campaign maintains a site with
route and donation information at http://www.onewheel.org/ on the
Web. There are also pages with information about the ministry and
culture of Alaska Natives.
The ELCA Foundation is at http://www.elca.org/fo/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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