Greetings from Montreat! I come to you with news from this beautiful valley and want to highlight to items that are particular areas of emphasis this October.
First, our current schedule confirms that Montreat’s commitment to youth ministry doesn’t end when summer does. For many on our staff, youth and young adult work is a year-round calling. Throughout the year, planning teams gather here to prayerfully collaborate and prepare for the season ahead. Staff create curriculum, guide group leaders through conference registration, help groups make travel plans, and recruit leadership for upcoming events.
October has become known (at least internally) as “Youth and Young Adult Takeover Month” Our communications focus on youth and young adult ministry, we send out photos and videos from past events, reveal the themes for next year’s youth, middle school, and college conferences, and officially open registration for these events to come.
This October, we’re also hosting “Come to the Mountains” with the Presbyterian Youth Workers Association (PYWA). For more than two decades, PYWA has been dedicated to developing and sustaining healthy youth ministry leaders across the country through in-person gatherings, theological and curriculum resources, youth worker networks, and online meetups. I’m grateful for this partnership, which lets us support youth ministry in another way: by caring for the helpers. Our hope is that participants find laughter, renewal, inspiration, and most importantly, connection to God and to one another.
Second, many of you have asked about our proposed new lodge. On October 8, we will return to the Montreat Town Council to continue a presentation of our proposal for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the lodge site. After the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the plan in August, it went to the Town Council in September. Council members raised important questions about parking and pedestrian circulation, and we have prepared our responses. These conversations continue to shape and strengthen our plan, and we’re grateful for the careful attention of town staff, officials, and our neighbors.
If approved, the plan would allow us to develop lodging that includes 40 new guest rooms with private baths, meeting spaces, green space, and on-site parking. It’s an important step in welcoming guests young and old, and a natural extension of our core value of “embodying hospitality.”
You can learn more about the project here.
More to come,
Richard DuBose
President, Montreat Conference Center