“If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton On Friday, June 7th, during the first square dance of the year, we will pause to celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Barn, Montreat’s longest serving facility for the conference center’s ministry of recreation. If you are there, you will see immediately some of the physical upgrades – to the surfaces and windows, to the sound system, to the bathrooms. You may notice another upgrade when you dance – the foundation has been strengthened. It is still the Barn, but it’s …
This Week in Montreat – June 2, 2024
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Kicking off Summer
“Okay, folks, summer is here, and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get busy!” Over the last ten years, I’ve learned not to say such silly things, having long ago learned that each and every summer in Montreat represents the product of hard work over months of preparation by staff and volunteers here and afar. Thankfully, we have a promising summer ahead, with programs, recreation, arts, and worship – something for everyone. Some predictions: The conference schedule remains the same and will attract a similar number of participants as did the summer before. A newly renovated Barn will …
MRA Board of Directors: Meeting Summary for Spring 2024
An update and overview of the spring board meeting of the Mountain Retreat Association (MRA, d.b.a. Montreat Conference Center), held in March 2024.
Navigating Periods of Transition in Youth Ministry
Building a thriving youth ministry can be hard work, and it can feel even harder when your church or ministry is experiencing a significant change. In this article, we outline some helpful resources for groups in periods of transition.
What to do in Your Free Time During Montreat Youth Conference
While Montreat Youth Conference offers many structured events and recreation opportunities, you will occasionally find yourself with a moment of free time and will be eager to find a way to spend it. In this article, we have collected some of our favorite ways to spend your time in Montreat and beyond.
MRA Board of Directors: Meeting Summary for Fall 2023
An update and overview of the fall board meeting of the Mountain Retreat Association (MRA, d.b.a. Montreat Conference Center), held in November 2023.
Mountain Retreat Association Files Notice of Appeal
Mountain Retreat Association files notice of appeal regarding new lodge permit.
This Week in Montreat – July 30, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
A Tale of Two Projects
This August we will celebrate a birthday of sorts, the one-year anniversary of the reopening of the new Huckleberry at Moore Center. The milepost will prompt renewed appreciation of what the Huck staff has accomplished, and also an evaluation – of food and beverage, certainly, but also the quality of and general atmosphere of the dining experience, the ease and efficiency of operation, and financial performance. Planned to open by June of 2022, the new Huck’s debut was delayed last summer for a variety of reasons, including an inspection that concluded, rather late in the timeline, that the project’s scope …
This Week in Montreat – July 23, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Revisiting Patrons 2023
For the third year in a row, the Annual Patrons event was too large to host in its traditional setting, and so the event took place out under a tent on Moore Center Field. For the third year in a row, organizers did a masterful job. The intergenerational 390 individuals and families in attendance enjoyed the casual and festive atmosphere and fare, and all were lucky that the weather cooperated (for the most part). Vice President for Development Seth Hagler kicked off the short program by thanking all attendees and donors, and by paying particular tribute to the 315 …
Remarks and Thank Yous from Montreat’s Patrons Event
Good evening, and welcome to the Montreat Patrons Reception. It continues to be such a privilege to stand before our Montreat Patrons and express thanks on behalf of the staff and board and hundreds of volunteers who make Montreat possible for our conferees and retreat groups, for children and youth and families, for campers and hikers, and literally thousands of others. I want to express directly to you how much your support means to everything we do here. This year, I’m here to thank you for helping us complete a fiscal year that was, seemingly, perfectly normal! We outperformed our …
The Living, Breathing Spirit of Montreat
Written by Montreat Conference Center’s 2023 Marketing Assistant, Molly Fore Six months ago, I had never heard of Montreat, North Carolina, let alone Montreat Conference Center. It wasn’t until the head of my department in college forwarded an email to me about a summer staff position that I heard of such a place. Upon reading the email, I was shocked to find out that Montreat was not a town in my humid, yet comfortable home state of Georgia, but rather is a small community nestled in the mountains of North Carolina. I felt stuck by the stagnancy and familiarity of …
This Week in Montreat – July 16, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Going Clubbing in Montreat
My colleague, Kathy Russ, returned from her lunchtime walk the other day full of cheer, this time having happened upon the gleeful sounds of children coming from a neighbor’s porch. She’d walked by a home and heard the sounds of two happy Clubbies, delightfully recounting their morning’s activities with much excitement and singing a Clubbie chant – “Hear me roar!” – at the top of their lungs. Through the years the magic of Clubs in Montreat endures…which makes the following story a little awkward, I guess, because I remember well my first week of Clubs. Back in the summer of …
This Week in Montreat – July 9, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Supporting Our Youth in an Changing World
A few summers ago, a parent scheduled a meeting with me to deliver a message. When we sat down, he opened directly and succinctly: “Montreat failed my child.” I won’t share details, but in a moment like that, you don’t argue the point. You accept it, empathize with it, and apologize as you are able. I hope I did all three, but I mostly remember feeling as if I had been struck across the face. Ultimately, I believe that feeling led me into closer attention to a question that now attracts national notice: What’s happening with American teenagers? It’s a …
This Week in Montreat – July 2, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Longevity and Legacy: A Mid-Summer Appreciation
One of the annual customs in Montreat that I most enjoy occurs beyond the view of many. At the fall meeting of our Board of Directors, we host a lunch and acknowledge the work anniversaries of long-term employees. Such recognition is given for every five years each staff member has served as a part of our team. Obviously, the five- and ten-year anniversaries outnumber the others, but mention and applause is particularly warm for the longest-serving staff members. A good many have served for more than a decade, including Jane Bannerman, manager of the Montreat Store, who has surpassed forty …
A Montreat Worth Preserving
This Sunday morning will mark the fourth service of the conference center’s summer season of worship, and we will welcome to the pulpit the Reverend Anna George Traynham, pastor of the Shallowford Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s a joy on many levels, one of those being that Anna is about as “Montreat” as a Montreat preacher can be. The daughter of cottagers Beverly and Harry George, Anna’s roots here run deep. She spent several summers working for the conference center and has continued to serve in various ways over many years, as has her sister, Claire, and many other …
This Week in Montreat – June 18, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
On Wildlife and Hospitality
Over my first thirty-or-so summers in Montreat, I never saw a bear. This summer alone I’ve seen several, including the little dipper that parked itself in a tree outside our office window the other day. Generally, the number of bear sightings is up around town. Bear-related anxiety seems to be on the rise, too…as is, paradoxically, the desire to spot a bear. Last Sunday’s preacher, tongue in cheek, professed that the family had yet to encounter a bear despite almost 24 hours in the valley. Clearly, bears are a hot topic. What’s actually happening here? In setting out to answer …
This Week in Montreat – June 11, 2023
This Week in Montreat is a weekly publication by Montreat Conference Center of events, activities, and notices in the Montreat Valley during the summer months (late May through early August).
Shaping a New Story Together
Once again, the arrival of the first youth conference of the summer has surprised me with its power to lift our staff, our campus, and community into higher gear – in activity and in spirit. The sight of youth groups walking our streets with laughter, the sound of voices singing in unison in Anderson Auditorium, and the energy of their presence sends a charge through me and I hope it does you, too. For me, the charge was amplified by an exchange I had on Sunday morning with our preacher. Just as the service was about to begin, he relayed …