A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: MINISTER WILL TEST GEAR FOR HIKING MAGAZINE

Five hundred Lutheran women convinced Backpacker magazine that the Rev. Jeff Sippy should take a hike.

At a Lutheran Women's Missionary League convention last summer in Columbia, Mo., the women signed a petition that helped Sippy win a contest sponsored by the magazine. The pastor of Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau is one of four who leave Dec. 29 for a seven-day backpacking trip to Jamaica.

They will test backpacking gear, and the results will be published in the magazine's June 2001 issue.

Though Backpacker magazine is for people who are serious about trekking in the wilderness, Sippy acknowledges he's more of a weekend backpacker. Kristen Hostetter, the magazine's Portland, Ore.-based equipment editor, promises an arduous experience. "It's a tough trip. The packs are heavy, and we hike all day for seven days. We have a ball, but physically, people are always tired."

The group will include the contest winners, Hostetter, one of her colleagues and a photographer.

The magazine prefers experienced people for its gear tests, Hostetter said. "Sometimes the novices we have had work out great. No doubt Jeff will."

How the gear testers do depends on the individual, she said. "It requires physical fitness. But largely it's about attitude."

The 40-year-old Sippy likes to try new things. When he and his family first arrived in Cape Girardeau and met members of the congregation who rode horses, they bought their own horse and started breeding horses. When Sippy's sons wanted to take up hockey, he learned to ice skate with them and now plays in a hockey league.

"To me, the spiritual side of life is starting over and doing something you haven't done before," he said. "By God's grace, we start over each day."

He hiked as many as 15 miles a day when he lived in Seattle, but Sippy attributes his new interest in backpacking to a seven-hour drive with backpacking congregation members Pam and Woody Woodruff and only a Bible and a copy of Backpacker to read. He entered the magazine contest and bought gear for the other four members of his family. They started taking weekend trips to places like Sam A. Baker State Park and other destinations.

He knows Jamaica won't be anything like Sam A. Baker State Park, but each time he tries something new he asks himself a question: "What's the fine line between being adventurous or being impetuous?"

The theme of the Lutheran women's convention was "Walking with a Timeless God." In his presentation, Sippy used walking in the wilderness as a metaphor for walking with God, illustrating the importance of what you take with you and whom you walk with.

He wrote an essay for the magazine about why he should be chosen for the trip but is sure the petition titled "Tell Pastor Sippy to Go Take a Hike" got him in. He's correct.

Hostetter has been running the annual contest for five years.

"I've seen a lot of gimmicks and creative attempts," she said. "This was definitely an original one. It made me chuckle."