Post #6 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
This Week in Montreat Summer Post #5 | 07/03/2020
Post #5 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
This Week in Montreat Summer Post #4 | 06/26/2020
Post #4 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
This Week in Montreat Summer Post #3 | 06/19/2020
Post #3 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
This Week in Montreat Summer Post #2 | 06/12/2020
Post #2 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
This Week in Montreat Summer Post #1 | 06/05/2020
Post #1 for our This Week in Montreat summer publication.
Finding Love in Montreat
Thank you to everyone who submitted stories through Community Announcements to our question, “Did you find love in Montreat?” We received stories from as long ago as 1932 to as recently as 2009. Four of our stories came from one family alone! Here are some excerpts from the stories we received. From Mary Jo Wright: Jean Wright first met Jon Moore during high school when they both worked at Assembly Inn, he was a bellhop and she worked in the dining room. Then they lost track of each other for four years but re-connected on summer staff in 1982 where …
June 2020 FAQ
Why are we moving the first two youth conferences (alpha) to an online format? Even in the most optimistic recovery scenario, the reopening guidelines set forth by state leaders will not allow us to host participants on a youth conference scale in early June. At the same time, we believe that an online experience will provide our youth conferees a chance to connect to the Montreat community. What is the program for the online youth conference being offered in June? We will offer an experience that’s suitable to a virtual format and customizable by youth leaders depending on local circumstances: …
A Temporary New Normal
A Devotional from Rev. Bridgett Green Temporary new normal. Getting back to normal. In this time of surviving the spread and mitigation of COVID-19, these are common refrains in daily conversations. They help us as adjust to a life of social distancing and staying at home. Maybe in a few weeks or a few months, we will return to normal. Or maybe, we won’t. Lately, I have wondered whether I want to return to normal. Do I want life to return as it used to be? Regardless of my preference, living through this pandemic is changing me. I imagine that it …
A Lenten Devotional
A devotional from staff member Martha Sloan Written from a study her church has been reading, “Lent in Plain Sight” by Jill Duffield. In the book, Duffield takes common objects like coins, sandals, oil, etc. and uses them as the basis for her Lenten meditations. In Martha’s devotional, the object is “coats.” Exodus 28:4-5 “These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, and a sash. When they make these sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests, 5 they shall use gold, blue, purple, …
#ConfessionsOfAPastor – Psalm 51
A devotional from Rev. Dr. Aram Bae I’m tired of this. We’re three weeks deep, and I am over this (truth be told, I was over it after day 3). I’m having a hard time with this stay at home, work from home, take an afternoon stroll, Zoom everything, FaceTime some things, record this and that, email non-stop because everything is an emergency and changes quickly, must stay in front of the situation and not behind, do this and that creatively and online, look at the screen, multiple screens at the same time, grab your earbuds, where the heck are …
“Be still, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10
A devotional from Lewis Galloway March 24, 2020 One of the hardest things to do in a crisis is to be still! As a confirmed extrovert, I have never found, even in easy times, stillness and quiet to come easily. Being told to be still is a bit like being told to calm down when the mind, heart and body are on fire with anxiety. The words of W. B. Yeats, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world… (The Second Coming)” fit our time. The lives of loved ones are threatened by a …
Montreat Conference Center Statement on COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
As the story of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) evolves, the Montreat Conference Center is monitoring the situation at the national, state, and local levels. At present, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Buncombe County or North Carolina, and all of our programs are continuing as planned.
This Week in Montreat
A Montreat weekly update from Richard DuBose, president of Montreat Conference Center.
SO, WE DO NOT LOSE HEART
A devotional from the Rev. Eileen Lindner The following is a reflection on 2 Corinthians 4:7-18. Offered at the MRA Board Meeting, March 17, 2020 In this fraught moment of the coronavirus pandemic Paul reminds us that we “have these treasures in clay jars…” Today all over the globe these clay jars are sickened, shattered and broken by the coronavirus. We know that as the clay jars break so to do human hearts. For such a time as this did Paul write these words of courage, faith and hope. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but …
A Thin Place
What does a thin place mean to you? Reflect by Lake Susan, worship in Anderson Auditorium, relax over breakfast in the Galax Dining Room… It’s easy to see the natural beauty of a thin place when the conference center is nestled in between the rolling hills and tall oaks… Read more.
Giving Tuesday at Montreat!
On this Giving Tuesday, join us in celebrating generosity and the spirit of Thanksgiving! Give to the Montreat Fund today!
The Rev. Dr. Steve Eason to Preach on August 4
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series concludes on August 4 with the Rev. Dr. Steve P. Eason as guest preacher. Dr. Eason recently concluded a call as interim pastor of Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN. His longest tenure as pastor and head of staff was at Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, …
The Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgill to Preach on July 28
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series continues on July 28 with the Rev. Dr. Alice Ridgill as guest preacher. Dr. Ridgill is founder and pastor of New Faith Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, SC. Prior to this she served as pastor of the former Washington Street Presbyterian Church in Abbeville, SC, as adjunct professor of …
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson to Preach at Montreat Conference Center on June 30
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series continues on June 30 with the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson as guest preacher. Dr. Nelson serves as stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Prior to becoming stated clerk, he served as director of the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C. …
The Rev. Tom Are to Preach at Montreat Conference Center on June 23
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series continues on June 23 with the Rev. Tom Are as guest preacher. Rev. Are is pastor of Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS. A sixth generation Presbyterian minister, he previously served churches in Charleston and Columbia, SC, as well as Jacksonville, FL. Rev. Are’s sermon is titled …
The Rev. Denise Anderson to Preach at Montreat Conference Center on June 16
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series continues on June 16 with the Rev. Denise Anderson as guest preacher. Rev. Anderson is the coordinator for Racial and Intercultural Justice with the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and served as co-moderator of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She is a graduate of the Virginia …
Park Update from the President
FROM THE PRESIDENT I’ve got a children’s story for you. Sometime in June, weather permitting, we expect to reopen Robert Lake Park to the young at heart, closing a year-long tale that began with flood waters from Tropical Storm Diego in May 2018. The story includes chapters that are inspiring, others confounding, and still others that are just exasperating. We have “all the king’s horses” in the roles of government representatives and engineers. There are scary parts, like a year of record rain that washes away some good progress, and cost estimates, and multiple delays. (Here’s a terrifying phrase: “You …
The Rev. Dr. Damon P. Williams to Preach in Montreat on Sunday, June 9, 2019
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals, musicians, and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series continues on June 9 with the Rev. Dr. Damon P. Williams as guest preacher. Dr. Williams is senior pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, and previously served in several ministerial roles at Second Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, MI. He is a graduate of Georgia …
Montreat Conference Announces Summer Worship Series Lineup for 2019
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programming is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual art professionals and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community. All are welcome and all are invited. The 2019 Sunday series begins on June 2 with the Rev. Dr. Sharol Hayner as guest preacher. Dr. Hayner is an ordained Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister, and is a worshiping member of Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison, WI. She previously served as associate pastor for discipleship at Peachtree Presbyterian Church and parish associate …