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Susanne is founder and director of Holy Paths, Inc. She has years of experience walking with people on their faith journeys as a spiritual director and retreat leader.

She received a Masters in Child and Family Studies from the University of Tennessee and founded three preschools before completing the Certificate of Spiritual Formation at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, and a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She will complete her Doctor of Ministry at SFTS in 2012.

Susanne is the mother of three grown children in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jonathan, Sarah, and Paul. The Hassell family is committed to offering hospitality and fostering unity, cooperation, and love within the church community and others who seek to know God. The family has spent countless days hiking and camping in the woods, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains near their home.

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Paul Hassell is based in Knoxville, Tennessee near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. He travels to breathtaking lands around the world, but the Smokies always call him home. Paul has a contagious love for life, adventure, and celebrating light. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in May 2008 with a customized major in Freelance Photography and Writing for the Natural Environment.

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Mothers and sons rarely find a project about which they can both be passionate, yet Susanne Hassell and her son Paul have done that very thing, collaborating on Pilgrim Walk in the Woods, a “field guide” for those seeking to explore the spiritual side of nature.

Pilgrim Walk has been in the making for over a decade. A nature-lover, Susanne has always enjoyed hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains, but only after formalizing Holy Paths, Inc. as a non-profit in 2006 did she begin doing something simple, yet profound: she invited people on “pilgrim walks” where they spent more time observing than talking.

Some of the walks were short. Some of them were long. But all of them shared a common purpose: to notice nature’s gifts—a fallen leaf or a periwinkle butterfly—and find spiritual reminders in them. These quiet exercises seemed to strike a powerful chord with Susanne’s friends and supporters, and they started asking her to write a book, or “field guide,” that they could use to re-create the experience on their own.

While working on her Doctorate of Ministry at San Francisco Theological Seminary, Susanne realized she was really on to something. A professor invited her to lead her colleagues on a pilgrim walk, and the response was overwhelming. Over the following weeks and months, the emails kept coming in: “Is Pilgrim Walk finished?” “When can I buy a copy?” “I want that book!” Susanne followed these “nudges”, then asked her youngest son Paul, a professional outdoor photographer, to enhance the book with his photographs.

The result is a beautiful, practical book for growing closer to God through His creation.

“I don’t want Pilgrim Walk to gather dust on a coffee table,” Susanne said. “It is intended to be a thoughtful guide that people can carry in a pocket or backpack, and take into the woods or even their backyards.” In other words, Pilgrim Walk in the Woods just begs to be used. It is available at a special preview rate at www.holypaths.org, and will be available in bookstores in January 2011. All proceeds go to support the non-profit ministries of Holy Paths.