Wilderness survivor, pastor, officiant, husband, and father, Duke Edwards lives in Pinedale, WY and is the pastor of Wilderness church. His goal in all of life is simple but intentional, “love and serve.” This mission is prevalent in every facet of his life, from officiating weddings in rodeo arenas and national parks to going on deep wilderness hikes to hunt for big game and expose people to a world of survival and unseen natural Wyoming beauty.

Growing up in Aberdeen, Washington with a family who spent time fishing and camping, Duke developed a deep love for the outdoors. As a 6’ 4” teenager, he became a champion bull rider. After a memorable, successful, but short lived career that ended after a broken wrist which led doctors to discover a destroyed vertebrae, he retired from that wild life and wondered what’s next.

After a move to Wyoming in 1998, Duke found a desire to minister to the cowboy community that he was deeply connected to and, along with his wife, started to plant and grow cowboy churches across the United States. In 2011, he settled his family into Pinedale, Wyoming and planted the Wilderness Church. The church mission is simple and much like the personal mission that Duke takes with him into every situation: love God, love people”. The church is intended to feel welcoming, and to fit into the culture of Pinedale; to be a second home and a safe place for the outdoorsy and wilderness style living of people in the small mountain town.

With a life that has included such intense elements of survival and wilderness expedition, I had to ask for one thing, since you guys would be dying to here an extreme story from the kind and cheerful cowboy officiant at your wedding. “What’s the most wild wilderness experience you’ve had?”. Duke jokingly had me assure him that this untamed wilderness story wouldn’t scare couples from enjoying his company or having him officiate weddings.

While guiding in Alaska, Duke was making a routine trip down the river between the town and the outfitter, alone. On his way back up river he diverted to a small channel and due to the coastal nature of the area, the channel slowly drained with the tide and his boat sat on dry land. Instead of spending the day on the beached boat, Duke began to walk along the bank of the river, only to become aware of noise and movement coming from the hip high grass growing just a few feet from the waters edge and a few feet from himself. After ruling out the possibility of the noise being a bear, he started to back towards the water, only to be rushed by 2 wolves, and then a third. As he turned and shot both while continuing to back away, a wolf rushed from behind and clung to his back, as he shot the third wolf in front of him. While falling onto his back from the weight of the wolf on his back, another wolf pounced, the barrel of his shotgun sinking into the wolf’s belly as he fired. After rolling the last wolf on his back off and killing it, he discovered that the last of the pack was rushing away in the tall grass, and that the final and fifth wolf laying dead on the ground had received the last slug he had with him. Fearing the fast arrival of bears, who would be drawn to the scent of so much blood, he pulled the wolves into the river, allowing the moving water to carry them downstream. After washing off his waders and trying to remove as much of what had just happened, he made his way safely to his destination. 

Living a life that includes situations most of us only read about on the pages of books, Duke has always been acutely aware of his mission in life. Love and serve. Love God, love people. This desire to love, to be available, to serve, has led him to be an officiant who always hopes the couples that he works with feel comfortable reaching out to him if they ever need help, guidance, or encouragement in their marriages and life.