Pursuing the Ultimate Adventure: Ross Graveling

Few people are able to turn their passions into a full-time calling, but Kuyper College Graduate Ross Graveling certainly has.

As Executive Director of the non-profit organization Sportspersons Ministries International (SPM), he combines his love of the outdoors with his commitment to ministry, helping connect nature lovers with God through ministry-focused outdoors events and programs.

“I feel very blessed that I get to take my passions, talents, and experiences and turn them into a job,” said Graveling, who graduated from Kuyper in 2006 with a degree in youth ministry before completing a church planting residency and becoming ordained in The Reformed Church in America in 2023.

And his time at Kuyper helped him envision this work as a possibility, he says.

“My classes exposed me to a worldview that all of life has the opportunity to be ministry,” recalled Graveling. He also helps pass that perspective on by supervising a Kuyper student as part of an internship at SPM.

SPM began as a Kelloggsville Church program in the early 1990s before shifting its focus to aiding other congregations in their outdoor ministry efforts, hosting outdoors events, and connecting businesses desiring to make a difference in the lives of outdoorspeople people.

Now an ordained minister who also serves on the leadership team at his home congregation, Buck Creek Church, Graveling became involved with SPM during the 12 years he spent as a youth pastor. That’s where he met the organization’s founder, Maury DeYoung, who helped his then-church launch a men’s outdoor ministry.

The two men connected over their shared passion for the outdoors – which, for Graveling, began at a very young age, tagging along with his deer-hunting father – and the rest was history.

“We got to know each other, and I started speaking at different wild game dinners and things on the ministry’s behalf. When Maury started to think about retiring, the board asked me if I’d be interested in taking over,” he said.

Graveling stepped into his current role in 2019 and now, depending on the season, might spend his days overseeing hunting and fishing events, planning retreats, or coordinating a whole host of other events and programs.

“The heartbeat of our organization is coming alongside people, especially guys, and using the outdoors to build relationships,” he said. “Most of the time, these aren’t people who are going to come to church on a Sunday morning, so we meet them where they’re at.”

While deer hunting remains Graveling’s favorite activity in nature – his tool of choice being a bow – hiking, camping, backpacking, canoeing, and fishing with friends and family are some of his other favorite pastimes.

More than just recreation, these activities reflect the heart of his work with SPM, creating natural space for the kind of connection and conversation that opens the door to deeper discussions about faith and purpose.

“I never have to convince outdoorspeople that there’s a creator, and I get to help connect them to The Creator,” he said.