Before this summer, Montreat was a place I visited. It was tied up with youth conference during my high school years, packed into church van rides with people I grew up with, small group name games, and the stillness of candlelight at Lake Susan. It felt like a time capsule I stepped into every year and left too quickly. But this summer, it became something entirely different. When I drove through the gate in May, I was alone in a car packed to the brim, stepping into ten weeks and I didn’t know a soul.
I unpacked my bags in a lodge full of strangers, stepped into a job I had never done before, and found myself immersed in a place I had only ever seen the surface of. I came to Montreat, this time, as the Marketing Assistant on Summer Staff, which on paper meant writing, photographing, and sharing stories of this place. Throughout the summer, when I explained my job to people, they would always respond with “you have the coolest job in Montreat” and honestly, I couldn’t agree more. One day I was writing at my desk and the next I was climbing a mountain with the Rangers, playing games with Clubbies, moving chairs with Aud, or folding t-shirts at the store. I had the chance to step into nearly every department with my camera in hand.
What I once thought of as just a conference center turned into something alive and dynamic. I saw the early mornings and the late nights, the spreadsheets and hiking trails, the water coolers being filled and communion bread being bought. I now realize that Montreat doesn’t just happen, it is built daily by the hardworking staff who believe in the mission, community, and in this magical place.
That community became my family. We lived together, danced under the string lights in the Barn, piled into cars to get ice cream, ran from bears, hiked Lookout, and stood shoulder to shoulder during worship. There is a song Summer Singers, the Sunday morning choir made up of Summer Staff, kept going back to this summer: “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen. The lyrics go: “I can be your mountain when you’re feeling valley low… I want a house with a crowded table, and a place by the fire for everyone.” Those words feel like the heartbeat of Summer Staff. We built a community together, one small moment at a time.
It’s funny how quickly strangers can become some of your favorite people. How traditions like tacky prom, craft night, and moose meals can become sacred. How an old lodge can feel like home. How Montreat, this small tucked away town, can stretch you, mold you, and send you back into the world different than when you arrived. Being a part of Summer Staff means your days are full, but your hearts are fuller. It means committing fully to the work and to the people beside you. There is a string connecting all of it, running between the joyful dancing and the quiet comfort of sitting together on the porch after a long day.
Now, my view of Montreat has shifted. It’s no longer just a place where I went to a conference. It’s a place I lived, worked, laughed, cried, and grew up in. It’s not just a backdrop to old memories; it’s a dynamic community of people who keep showing up. I thought I knew Montreat, but I didn’t know its heart until I spent ten weeks living in it. I see the crowded table behind the magical moments. And I know that even when I leave, a part of me will always stay, somewhere between the porch light and the mountains, in a summer I will never forget.
Kayden Foyles is the marketing assistant at Montreat Conference Center as part of Summer Staff. She is a rising senior at North Carolina State University studying Communication Media.