of Montreat Board of Adjustment to begin work on a new lodge in Montreat, the conference center’s first significant new building in 30 years.
Erdelyi Family’s Montreat Story
The First Visit The Erdelyi family first discovered Montreat when Mike volunteered to join his church’s youth director, Michelle Thomas-Bush of Riverside Presbyterian Church – Jacksonville, FL, at the 2000 Montreat Youth Conference. It was the Sunday after leaving his job at UPS to be a stay-at-home parent, allowing Susan to focus on her role as the City Attorney for Jacksonville Beach. So, he packed their two girls, Alexis (8) and Laura (6), into the car and headed to the mountains. Their first impression was of both excitement and welcome. As they pulled up to the Currie Craft Center, the first person they saw was Ann Laird Jones, their church’s former interim youth minister. She joyfully shouted, “Welcome, Erdelyis!” From that moment on, they were “totally in heaven.” The girls felt like rock stars playing on stage in Anderson Auditorium, and they loved their time in clubs. Mike was really impressed with how well the …
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the life of James Alexander “Jim” Bryan, II
Dear God, we are grateful that we have the desire this evening to come to you with thanksgiving for the life of James Alexander “Jim” Bryan, II. What an appropriate place – Montreat – to lift up our hearts in celebration for the life of this dear friend and family member. Oh God, even here, in this quiet place of rest and reflection, we have neither the sufficient time nor the words to do justice to our man, Jim. We thank you for the family that raised him and surrounded him – his parents, Harry and Peggy, his brother, Ned, …
An Update on MRA’s Lodge Project
An Update on MRA’s Lodge Project – an update from Richard DuBose, president of Montreat Conference Center.
Rev. Dr. Jerry L. Cannon: August 8, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 8/8/2021 was Rev. Dr. Jerry L. Cannon. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
“A Life-changing Week in Montreat”
That was the title of the article that Dolly Jacobs, associate pastor for pastoral care of the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, posted before her departure to Montreat in late July. The church’s youth group was planning to spend the week here, and Dolly wanted everyone in the congregation to know how important that week could be. She wrote: “The theme for that 1986 Montreat Youth Conference was ‘Branded.’ The adult leaders guided us through what it meant to be ‘branded’ by society: athletes, intellectuals, introverts, extroverts, popular kids, etc. As the week unfolded though, those labels were …
Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli: August 1, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 8/1/2021 was Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – August 1, 2021
View PostOn the Importance of Prudence and Caution
We have enjoyed a remarkably good and healthy run this summer at Montreat Conference Center. On Tuesday, however, one of our participants at youth conference began experiencing symptoms, was immediately isolated, and later tested positive for COVID-19. Yesterday, a second positive was discovered in a different group, and again, appropriate precautions were taken. This morning, we received the news that four more youth from that same group had tested positive. This particular group has left Montreat and is returning home today. For the remainder of this week’s conference schedule, activities have been adjusted to reflect even greater caution. One of …
Dr. William G. Jones: July 25, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 7/25/2021 was Dr. William G. Jones. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – July 25, 2021
View PostA Purpose That Grows as Generosity Flows
This week’s message is longer than usual, a message adapted from the address given to Montreat Patrons at last week’s reception. I always have a glad and grateful heart when I attend the annual Patrons Reception to honor the donors and leaders who make Montreat’s mission and ministry possible, and when we gathered this past Saturday night, I think my heart set a new record for gladness and gratefulness. As I told those assembled, “Thank God we are here, thank God we are together!” This gathering was an important opportunity to say thank you to the people who have made …
Dr. Howard Edington: July 18, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 7/18/2021 was Dr. Howard Edington. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – July 18, 2021
View PostWith Gratitude
Gratitude is the word of the upcoming weekend. On Saturday evening, the conference center will host the annual Patrons Banquet to honor and express appreciation to those donors who generously supported our programs and operations over the previous fiscal year. This year’s casual evening will include food trucks, supper under a tent, and Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, Asheville-based musicians now drawing national attention. Any review of the previous year must include praise of decisions made by our Board of Directors just as the pandemic was dawning. As stated several times in this space and elsewhere, at the spring …
Rev. Christopher A. Henry: July 11, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 7/11/2021 was Rev. Christopher A. Henry. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – July 11, 2021
View PostThe Future of the Huck
I don’t have a lot of childhood memories of The Huckleberry, Montreat’s snack bar at Moore Center right on Lake Susan. I do remember being in there once as a teenager with some friends, awaiting milkshakes on order, and the poor server being so distracted by all the chatter that the machine sprayed ice cream all over him and his work station. We feasted on the story far longer than we did the ice cream. Otherwise, I really hadn’t given The Huck much thought in recent years, and yet the pandemic has prompted a new focus on community spaces on …
Rev. CeCe Armstrong: July 4, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 7/4/2021 was Rev. CeCe Armstrong. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – July 4, 2021
View PostOn Calling and Remembrance (Guest Starring The Toe River Valley Boys)
A few days ago, while sifting through a box of Montreat keepsakes, I came across an LP recording that I recognized instantly: “Square Dancing In The Blue Ridge Mountains” by the Toe River Valley Boys. The album, I believe, deserved its keepsake status because its bluegrass music had accompanied the square dances that my home church once hosted for local youth on Friday nights during my early teen years. My father, our church’s minister, organized these dances and invited the youth groups of other congregations to join us (the dancing congregations, at least). On those Friday nights, our fellowship hall …
Rev. Dr. Jessica R. Patchett: June 27, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 6/27/2021 was Rev. Dr. Jessica R. Patchett. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.
This Week in Montreat – June 27, 2021
View PostWelcome Back, Presbyterian Friends in Ministry!
With the summer conference season of 2021 about to conclude its third week, we have welcomed back this week a long-standing and valued conference partner. We began the season as we typically do, with two weeks of youth conferences, and are following with two weeks of Worship and Music conferences, planned and executed by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, simply and widely known by their acronym, PAM. Founded in 1970, PAM is a national organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for people who are involved in the areas of worship, music, and the arts. Its influence has been felt in …
Rev. Dr. Alton B. Pollard III: June 20, 2021
The guest preacher for Montreat Conference Center’s Summer Worship Series on 6/20/2021 was Rev. Dr. Alton B. Pollard III. You can view a portion of the video recorded worship service! Click here to view the archive of sermons.