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).
The Perfect Church
Back in the 1980s, right after I moved to Atlanta, I attended a lot of Braves games. The route between home to stadium was quick and passed by a Krispy Kreme calling out with “Hot Donuts Now.” The most notable landmark, however, sat at the corner of Gordon Street and McDaniel Street. Above its front door, in white lettering, read the sign: “The Perfect Church.” If I was traveling with a companion, The Perfect Church never escaped a mention. To my father, an active pastor over four decades, I’d sometimes point at the sign and suggest, “I’ll bet you always …
This Week in Montreat – July 24, 2022
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).
The Gift of Being Together
Among the books, photos, and flotsam and jetsam that accumulate on my office shelves, one item qualifies as an automatic keepsake. It’s a framed certificate presented to “Miss Jane P. Holt” from 1962, signifying her status as a “Charter Patron” of Montreat. Signed by Tom Belk, the original chair of the Patrons program, the certificate reminds me of Jane’s enduring commitment to Montreat, just as it represents for me the generous, faithful commitments to Patrons on the part of so many others over the last sixty years. The certificate reminds me that the true strength of our ministry lies in …
This Week in Montreat – July 17, 2022
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).
Reality Check
As you may know, roughly one year ago the conference center announced its intention to pursue a special use permit (SUP) from the Town of Montreat to build a new lodge on its campus, replacing three lodges on the same site. A year later, signs and fliers still dot the Montreat landscape. This summer’s edition includes the claim that pollution to our valley will occur if the lodge comes to pass. This is simply not true. The stringent ordinances and regulations that apply to this project, along with the inspections and reviews that are part of any modern construction process, …
This Week in Montreat – July 10, 2022
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).
Thank God for Model Trains
Once upon a time, model train sets represented one of the crown jewels of a toy store’s inventory. Ads for train sets took up pages in every Christmas catalogue. Alas, the sun long ago set on the heyday of model trains. Today, in the minds of my own adult children, the words “model train” are more likely to conjure memories of this scene from the movie “A Mighty Wind” than of any playtime on the den floor. So, I was intrigued when I learned that a new model train display was attracting attention at the Presbyterian Heritage Center (PHC) this …
Happy Fourth and the John Collins Society
One morning in early June while driving down Assembly Drive, I slowed as I approached Pratt Park on the right, eyeing a car parked just off the pavement not where a car usually parks. As I passed, I saw two volunteers knee-deep in a garden area outfitted with gloves, tools, and plenty of sun protection. I knew immediately that the John Collins Society was again hard at work attending to its duties. For those unfamiliar with its existence, the John Collins Society was established to honor and foster our appreciation for the reverend John Collins, justifiably considered the founder of …
This Week in Montreat – July 3, 2022
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).
This Week in Montreat – June 26, 2022
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).
No Two Days Alike
As much as Montreat seems changeless for some, the one constant at the conference center is this: no two days are alike, and the opportunities and challenges sometimes present themselves from the most unanticipated angles. Stuff happens. I recently spent a morning, for example, reading up on Canada geese because a family of them has decided to summer in Montreat around Lake Susan. While Canada geese are found in Canada, of course, they are also prevalent in the United States. Numbers of Canada geese were in serious decline in the early 20th century, but a recovery program has proved successful. Thanks …
This Week in Montreat – June 19, 2022
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).
Who was Lake Susan named for?
In the spring of 2015, I was giving a tour of Montreat to leaders of other Western North Carolina conference centers. As we walked across the dam, one of my peers asked a perfectly reasonable question: “Who was Lake Susan named for?” I turned around, searching memories of a lifetime in Montreat: “Um…Susan?” If you ever find me on Jeopardy, bet against me. Embarrassed enough, I vowed never to take Lake Susan for granted again. You can read a short history here about the boating and the swimming and Lake Susan’s place in our community life. Just as rich is …
We’ve Come a Long Way
On a Sunday afternoon last August 1st, I had just gotten home from church when I received a text from a staff member reporting that several of our Clubs’ groups and their counselors should now consider themselves exposed to Covid. It had been a quiet summer to that point but now the Delta variant was announcing its arrival. I soon found myself back at the office, meeting with staff, consulting with a health department official, and ultimately making decisions that led to the testing of dozens of staff and the cancellation of several activities the following week. We’ve come a …
This Week in Montreat – June 12, 2022
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).
This Week in Montreat – June 5, 2022
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).
Looking Forward, Together
Welcome to the summer of 2022 in Montreat! As the season beckons us together, our staff and volunteers are making ready for a season that should look and feel remarkably like summers past. Thanks be to God! While gratitude is in order every summer, we are particularly mindful of our blessings now in consideration of what togetherness meant over the past two years. In the summer of 2020, being together often was confined to a passing greeting on the street – at a distance. 2021 brought us more together, but often behind a mask. This summer, we anticipate further steps …
An Update from Richard DuBose on the Lodge Permit and Huckleberry Renovations
Greetings from Montreat! Today I write to share an update on two important projects that the conference center is currently undertaking. First, those in Montreat will notice extensive activity at the Moore Center as we begin renovations of the Huckleberry Café space. While it was closed during 2021, we developed plans to revitalize and create a more welcoming gathering space for all who come to Montreat. The initial construction phase will be completed by early June, and we look forward to welcoming you all back for ice cream and coffee this summer! Over the next two years, a larger vision …
Montreat Announces New Endowment
The Marilyn Jones Endowment has been established to honor and appreciate the 53-year leadership role that Marilyn Jones played in Montreat Conference Center from 1965 through 2018. In the 60’s she brought banners into worship in the auditorium. In 1974 she reopened the Craft Shop at Montreat, with a pottery called the “Upper Story,” later renamed and dedicated “Sally Jones Pottery.” This ministry continues today, celebrating her commitment to the ministry of arts and crafts in Montreat. The purpose of the Marilyn Jones Endowment is in support of the creative use of the arts in Montreat’s summer programs, in hopes …
Board of Adjustment Approves Application for Montreat Lodge
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.
“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 …