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 …

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 …

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 …

A fittingly Scottish rainy morning greeted the annual gathering of Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan Worship Service in Anderson Auditorium on Sunday morning. Summer staff are landing and settling into lodging arrangements, adjusting to new work responsibilities, and making new and renewed connections with each other. Memorial Day has been observed, and despite the chill in the air, the green flag of summer is waving everywhere. Summer in Montreat is here. As always, the conference center’s programming portends much of the familiar. The conference schedule remains very much the same, highlighted by a Women’s Connection in early August that promises to …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …