Well, this is interesting. I think the statement “the Methodist Church has appointed a trail chaplain” isn’t quite correct, though. It’s one particular annual conference (Holston, which basically covers a chunk of the southern Appalachian Mountains, which the AT happens to run right through the middle of). But who knows where the funding comes from (if any), which is kind of the real tell.
(https://app.robly.com/archive?id=f4b105b9244a9af5216a8b4f126ff58d&v=true)
Here, Read This 