Story of the Week: The Thread
The Lord has carried Doug Olsen through mountain tops and valleys.
“There’s a thread,” Doug Olsen says. “A thread that can be seen throughout my whole life — one that represents God’s provision, direction and goodness.”
It’s a thread Doug traces through decades of leadership and ministry, but also through one of the most unexpected, life-altering moments he would ever face. But long before that moment, Doug’s story was already being carefully woven together.
THE LONG VIEW
It was a warm August morning in 1974 when Doug first stepped into a classroom. Newly married and freshly graduated from college, he stood in front of a room full of students, steadying his nerves and trusting that God would lead him.
That simple beginning would unfold into a lifetime of leadership. Over the next four decades, Doug served in a wide range of roles — teacher, principal, superintendent, entrepreneur and pastor.
God’s path eventually brought him to Woodmen, where Doug spent 18 years serving in leadership roles. As an executive pastor and campus pastor, He helped shape the direction and growth of the church across multiple seasons.
Before retiring in 2022, Doug played an integral role in opening Woodmen’s Monument campus. He shepherded the community from meeting in an elementary school through building their own church home — a hub of ministry to reach and serve the people of the Tri-lakes region.
Through it all, God guided Doug and his wife, Doreen, through every mountaintop and valley. But one particular day in the mountains stands out as a moment when the Lord wove a miracle into the fabric of Doug’s life.
IN THE WILDERNESS
In 2016, what began as a familiar adventure in the mountains quickly turned into something far more ominous.
Doug and his friend, Dan, backpacked deep into the Sangre de Cristo mountains, over six miles into the wilderness. It was the kind of trip Doug had done many times before. After camping overnight, the two set out to summit a nearby peak. Then another.
“It was so much fun,” Doug recalls. “We thought we’d climb a second one.”
Everything was going smoothly until their final descent. They made a cautious decision to avoid an avalanche chute. Instead, they walked alongside it on safer ground. But in an instant, something went wrong.
“I don’t know what happened,” Doug says. “But suddenly I went flying.”
Dan watched in horror as Doug tumbled head-first into the chute, somersaulting 200 yards down the steep, rock-filled slope. Doug’s head struck a jagged rock, leaving a gruesome wound.
The fall was so severe Dan assumed the worst. But just seconds later, against all odds, Doug regained consciousness.
“I think this was a miraculous day,” Doug says. “I sensed the presence and intervention of God.”
Amazingly, despite the violent fall Doug had no broken bones from the neck down. With Dan’s help, he was able to stand. Dan realized that with no cell service, the only way to get help would be to hike out.
Doug was critically injured and disoriented as they began the slow hike down the mountain.
STEP BY STEP
As they walked, Dan prayed urgently: God, send someone. His desperate prayers turned to yells, crying to God for help.
Out of nowhere, a hiker approached. Not only was he a believer, he had medical training and a full first aid kit.
“Everybody was in the right place at the right time,” Dan said later. “My prayers were answered.”
After stabilizing Doug as best they could, Dan ran ahead to find cell service and call for help. Rescue teams were dispatched, but the terrain made extraction difficult. Doug still had to keep moving.
Finally, after hours of hiking, they reached a point where an ATV rescue team met them. But just as they arrived, Doug collapsed.
“My body was literally shutting down,” he says.
UNEXPECTED ANSWERS
Doug was transported to a hospital in Pueblo, where doctors quickly realized the severity of his injuries. The entire left side of his face had been crushed. Emergency surgery followed.
Even in the hospital, the thread Doug had seen throughout his life remained unbroken. Through a series of connections, his wife was able to reach a top cranial surgeon who performed surgery. During the eight-hour surgery, ten plates were inserted to reconstruct Doug’s face, piece by piece.
“I have, by God’s grace, defied all odds,” Doug reflects. “Everything that happened that day, I see clearly as His intervention.”
In the weeks that followed, Doug experienced what he describes as one of the greatest lessons of his life — how God works through people. As a pastor, Doug spent years caring for others. Now, the roles were reversed.
“The body of Christ ministered to me,” he says. “Hundreds of cards, letters, emails … people constantly saying, ‘We’re praying for you.’ For seven weeks, the congregation was the arms and the legs and the heart of God to me. I’ll never forget that.”
THE THREAD AHEAD
Today, Doug finds himself in a new season. After years of faithfully pouring his energy into serving and leading at Woodmen, he fully recognized the joy and the weight of that calling. It was deeply meaningful work, but also demanding. And when the time came to retire, the Lord gave Doug a clear sense of peace: His role was complete.
Yet retirement didn’t mean stepping away from the Woodmen community. Doug and Doreen built deep relationships through the church family. Freshly retired, Doug slipped into services quietly and sat in the back, hoping to go unnoticed. But over time, something shifted. Instead of leading from the front, he began to experience the church from within.
“It’s been wonderful,” he shares, “to see how the Lord is working.” Doreen serves as a mentor through Mom2Mom and Doug participates in a men’s Bible study. As a couple, they’re invested in a Community Group.
“Retirement doesn’t mean you step back,” Doug says. “It means you step aside.”
For Doug, retirement is an act of trust, recognizing that the work was never his to carry alone. “I need to step out,” he explains, “so that others can play their part.” He still loves being part of the Woodmen story, just from a different place, watching firsthand how God continues to bless and grow the church.
LEANING IN
And beyond church life, retirement has opened up more space for joy.
Doug hasn’t slowed down. If anything, he’s leaning further into the things he loves. Skiing. Hiking multiple times a week. Rock climbing. Riding his motorcycle. He’s climbed fourteeners and even summited the highest mountain in Africa.
“Retiring doesn’t mean you disconnect from the things you love,” he says. “And you don’t need to feel guilty about enjoying them.”
Doug continues, “If you’re only retiring to stop working, then you shouldn’t retire. But if you’re retiring because you’ve completed what God’s called you to, that’s different.”
Doug is fully embracing this new season of life. And through it all, the thread of the Lord’s goodness remains.
The God who guided Doug through decades of leadership, the God who carried him through a fall that might have taken his life, is the same God who now leads him into a season marked by joy and continued purpose.
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