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Thomas S. Bremer

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San Antonio Missions

Missions of San Antonio as Places of Possibility

February 17, 2017 by Thomas S. Bremer Leave a Comment

Mission Concepcion

San Antonio’s Spanish colonial missions attract local residents, tourists, and others. As the Alamo City approaches its tri-centennial celebration, this may be an apt time for some collective reflection on the importance and value of the historic missions. New possibilities are in the making in this place once called Yanaguana, a place that has become a busy modern city in an uncertain world. ♨

Filed Under: Places Tagged With: Catholics, National Parks, sacred places, San Antonio, San Antonio Missions, Texas, tourism, Yanaguana

The Sacred and the Secular at San Antonio’s Historic Missions

February 6, 2017 by Thomas S. Bremer Leave a Comment

Mission San José, San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas, boasts a magnificent World Heritage treasure in their Spanish colonial missions. These places serve both religious purposes and tourist pleasures. Which raises the question, are the San Antonio missions sacred or secular? ♨

Filed Under: Places Tagged With: Alamo, Catholics, missions, National Park Service, National Parks, sacred, San Antonio Missions, secular, Texas, tourism, Trinity University

Los Pastores: A Religious Pageant in San Antonio

December 18, 2016 by Thomas S. Bremer Leave a Comment

Los Pastores pageant

The traditional Christmas pageant Los Pastores at Mission San José in San Antonio, Texas, recounts the tale of the shepherds’ journey to witness the newborn savior. The annual performance connects family, parishioners, and even outsiders in a liminal moment of common experience. ♨

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Christmas, community, heritage, pageants, San Antonio Missions

White privilege in the national parks: remaking parks as inclusive spaces

September 26, 2016 by Thomas S. Bremer 3 Comments

Tourists in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Can we move away from the master narratives of white privilege in our parks? Can we begin thinking of our park system as places of reconciliation? Can they become spaces for listening to what the myriad voices—human, natural, spiritual—have to teach us? Can we move from narratives of conquest to queries of connectiveness?

Filed Under: History Tagged With: African Americans, Alamo, civil rights, Great Smoky Mountains, interpretation, National Park Service, Native Americans, race, San Antonio Missions, Sand Creek, Selma, Stonewall, white privilege, Women’s Rights

Bucket List of National Park Service Units

September 12, 2016 by Thomas S. Bremer Leave a Comment

Yosemite

National parks are popular destinations on many travelers’ bucket lists. It seems that everyone who has been to a national park has a secret desire, or sometimes a very public intention, to visit every national park. All 59 of them, from Acadia to American Samoa, from Gates of the Arctic to Virgin Islands, and all […]

Filed Under: Places Tagged With: Alagnak Wild River, Antietam, Apostle Islands, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, battlefields, Big Bend, Big Cypress, Big Hole, Big Thicket, Blue Ridge Parkway, Brices Cross Roads, Buffalo National River, Cape Cod, City of Rocks, Delaware Gap, Devils Tower, Ebey’s Landing, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Gettysburg, Great Smoky Mountains, Gulf Islands, Hawai’i Volcanoes, heritage, history, Indiana Dunes, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Jr. Memorial, Katahdin Woods and Waters, Kennesaw Mountain, Lake Mead, Lincoln Memorial, Manassas, Manzanar, Martin Luther King, Memorial Parkway, memorials, Minuteman Missile, monuments, Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, Natchez Trace Parkway, National Capital Parks, National Mall, National Park Service, New Orleans Jazz, New River Gorge National River, Obed Wild and Scenic River, Olympic, Pictured Rocks, Point Reyes, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, Richmond, Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, River Raisin, Saint Croix Island, San Antonio Missions, Shiloh, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Stonewall, Theodore Roosevelt birthplace, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Valley Forge, Vicksburg, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, Whitman Mission, Yellowstone, Yosemite

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I write about religion and tourism, especially in regard to national parks. I am currently working on a history of religion in Yellowstone National Park. Read More…

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Acadia America American west AmWriting art birds colonialism creativity Elvis Presley geology geysers Graceland history hot springs Lincoln Manifest Destiny meditation memoir Memphis Montana Moon National Parks National Park Service Native Americans nature Ohio Oregon pilgrimage race religion religious tourism rivers sacred places sacred space San Antonio San Antonio Missions spirituality Springfield student learning teaching tourism Travel trees Yellowstone Yosemite

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