MONTREAT, NC — The Mountain Retreat Association, Inc. (MRA) has announced that its chief financial officer, Richard Sills, plans to retire in January 2027 after more than 22 years of service. Throughout his tenure, Richard has played a significant role in the financial stewardship and stability of the MRA. His experience, work ethic, sound judgment, and deep knowledge of the organization have helped guide the conference center through some of the most consequential and challenging periods in Montreat’s history. “From his earliest days on our staff, Richard was instrumental in the conference center’s efforts to move from a model of financial …
You’ll Love Fall in the Mountains, Too!
As summer fades and the mountains begin to transform with the colors of autumn, we find that fall in Montreat offers a beautiful invitation to slow down, breathe deeply, and make space for renewal. Our culture often rewards constant activity. Between work, family commitments, and everyday responsibilities, it can be difficult to step away long enough to truly rest. But by taking a break from our usual routines, even for a few days, we can create room to listen more closely for God’s presence and return to our lives with renewed clarity and purpose. Montreat’s Fall Sabbath Getaways offer a …
Thank You for a Wonderful Summer!
Montreat Youth Conference has officially concluded for the 2026 summer season. As we look back on this year’s event, we are filled with gratitude for everyone — attendees, volunteers, and staff members alike — who helped make it such an unforgettable experience. We would like to take some time today to say thanks and to provide you with an update about next year’s conference! First, for each conferee who showed up ready and willing to participate, we are immensely grateful! Your energy, laughter, creativity, and courage brought each conference to life. We hope that by participating in worship, connecting with friends, and exploring God’s …
What Are We Searching For? Finding Healing and Home with Earth & Soul
A few years ago, during the 2022 John Philip Newell book signing at Montreat, a Celtic violinist and bagpiper began to play. Before long, people were dancing. What started as a simple line for signed books became something communal and embodied. I watched a room full of people remember that spiritual life can live in music, movement, laughter, and community. I have carried that memory with me, and it returns now as Montreat prepares to welcome John Philip Newell and Cami Twilling for The Great Search 1, the first retreat in a three‑part journey of Earth & Soul practice. You …
This Week in Montreat – July 31, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about the Harry Bryan Bridge restoration project, the Clubs program, and end of summer activities. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
Day in the Life of a Clubbie
Every summer, the sounds of laughter, cheering, and camp songs fill Montreat as hundreds of kids spend their days exploring with their counselors, playing games with their friends, and engaging in a Christian community. For many families, Montreat Clubs isn’t just a place to spend the day while parents attend conferences. It’s a tradition. Kids come back year after year to reunite with counselors and friends, and before long, Montreat starts to feel like a second home. Montreat Clubs & Child Care is designed for children from two years old through recently graduated high school seniors. Whether families are visiting …
Bridging Gaps
One morning earlier this summer, I happened to glance out my office window just as a construction vehicle was making its way slowly up Assembly Drive. So slowly, in fact, that its cargo immediately caught my attention: an enormous steel I-beam, nearly 60 feet long, carefully balanced and escorted up the hill toward Lake Susan. It looked like quite an undertaking. I was curious – but, apparently, not curious enough to leave my desk and investigate. As it turns out, that beam was just one of four beams destined for the Harry Bryan Bridge repair, where work crews were installing …
This Week in Montreat – July 24, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about swimming in Flat Creek, the Summer Worship Series, and getting crafty in Montreat. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
Protecting What Is Still Healing
One of the enduring realities of Hurricane Helene is that it changed our landscape in significant ways. Almost two years later, we’re still adjusting to those changes. Some changes have been heartbreaking. The loss of mature trees, damaged trails, and altered streambanks left some familiar places no longer quite the same. There have also been surprises of unexpected beauty, as when, for example, the removal of a tree has revealed a long-obscured vista and granted a fresh perspective down the valley. Even in difficult seasons, grace sometimes peeks through. Not every change, however, reveals a silver lining. The swimming hole …
Where Music, Art, and Worship Meet
Every Sunday morning throughout the summer, hundreds of people gather in Anderson Auditorium for worship at Montreat Conference Center. Guests experience inspiring music, meaningful liturgy, and a thoughtfully planned service, but what many do not see is the preparation and creativity that happens behind the scenes each week. Each service features a guest preacher whose unique message is supported by music and liturgical art. Together, these elements create a worship experience that engages people through sight, sound, and reflection. Planning for worship begins well before Sunday morning. Once the scripture and sermon themes are selected, members of the worship planning …
Experience the Beauty of Fall at the Montreat Family Campground
As summer begins to wind down, we are already dreaming of fall in the mountains! And with its crisp mornings, vibrant fall foliage, and the soothing sounds of Flat Creek, there’s no better place to experience the peaceful beauty of fall than the Montreat Family Campground. If you’d like to start planning a visit, we are currently accepting reservations for our 2026 season. Located just around the corner from the Graybeard Trailhead, the Montreat Family Campground features 29 campsites available from May through the end of October. Campsites are best suited for tents and small pop-up campers, providing a simple and comfortable way to immerse yourself in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit, …
This Week in Montreat – July 17, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about our recent Patrons Reception, the Katherine McKay Belk Dining Room, and summer hymn sings. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
Behind Every Meal: The Heart of the Katherine McKay Belk Dining Room
Long before the first guests file into the Katherine McKay Belk Dining Room for Sunday lunch, a dedicated team has already spent months preparing for the season ahead. While visitors see a welcoming dining space filled with familiar favorites and homemade desserts, behind the scenes is a staff whose thoughtful planning, teamwork, and commitment to hospitality make every meal possible. Planning for the summer begins in the spring. Each April, the dining room leadership team gathers to map out menus for the entire season. Every Sunday lunch is carefully designed to offer variety while avoiding repetition. They review past menus, monitor food prices, consider ingredient availability, …
Open-Eyed Blessings
Saturday night, many of Montreat’s most faithful supporters gathered under a tent at Moore Center Field for our annual Patrons Reception. This occasion is one of the highlights of my summer, an evening built around a simple purpose: to say thank you. Gifts to Montreat make possible so much more than budgets or buildings. They make possible the quiet, often unseen work of ministry that happens here every day. A young person discovers a calling. A weary pastor finds renewal. A family connects and reconnects. Friendships are formed. Faith is deepened. Moments like this are the reason Montreat remains a …
You Can Have an Impact on Future Events
Every summer, thousands of young people travel to Montreat, NC and Maryville, TN to experience worship, recreation, music, and meaningful connection during Montreat Youth Conference and Montreat Middle School Conference. What many participants don’t know is that these events have been years in the making, directed by passionate groups of volunteers serving on conference Planning Teams. Montreat Youth Conference and Montreat Middle School Conference would not be possible without them! Planning Teams are made up of youth and adults who work together to shape nearly every aspect of the conference including selecting the theme and designing worship services, recreation events, keynote experiences, and small group activities. Organized approximately two years before each conference takes place, Planning Team members collaborate through virtual …
This Week in Montreat – July 10, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about Montreat’s hurricane recovery, interesting history exhibits, and bear safety. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
The Flag Question
After worship on a recent Sunday morning in June, a gentleman approached me and noted the absence of an American flag in Anderson Auditorium. Didn’t there used to be one? What happened to it? The questions raised are worthy of a deeper dive. Once upon a time, the presence of American flags in U.S. sanctuaries was trending upward. The practice increased during the middle part of the 20th century following two world wars as recognition of the sacrifice of national service. Over time, many Presbyterians came to see the flag as an expression of thanksgiving for the blessings of liberty …
Faithful Stewards of the Forest
The morning air is cool, but you just know that it’s going to be hot and muggy in the next few hours. Birdsong and the sounds of other little critters are echoing through Montreat Valley. You hear the echoes of music being sung in the auditorium. While most visitors are still eating breakfast or making their way to programs, the Montreat Wilderness Rangers are already sharpening their tools and planning their day out in the woods. Spend the day with the Rangers, and it quickly becomes clear that their work is more than hiking and maintaining trails. Every task they …
Celebrating the Strength of Small Churches
Serving a small-membership church is a special type of calling. Pastors working with these congregations often wear many hats as they preach, teach, care for their congregations, and engage their communities. One day may involve leading worship, the next visiting members in the hospital, organizing outreach events, or managing the practical needs of church life. While these responsibilities can present challenges, they also create opportunities for deep relationships, meaningful ministry, and lasting impact. With the right encouragement and support, ministry in a small church can be incredibly rewarding. That’s the heart behind the Wee Kirk Conference at Montreat Conference Center. …
This Week in Montreat – July 3, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about Montreat’s hurricane recovery, interesting history exhibits, and bear safety. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
More than Setting the Stage
When I spent a week shadowing Montreat’s Facilities Crew, better known as the Aud Crew, I quickly realized just how much work happens behind the scenes to keep the conference center running smoothly. Guests often notice the beautiful mountain views, welcoming facilities, and well-prepared meeting spaces, but many never pay attention to the people responsible for making those experiences possible. From the moment I arrived each day, the crew would already be hard at work. No two days looked the same. Throughout the week, I helped with trash runs at lodges and facilities, delivered supplies across campus, answered guest questions, and checked restrooms to make sure they were stocked …
What We Celebrate
Had Norman Rockwell ever spent the Fourth of July in the mountains of North Carolina, I suspect he would have found his way to Montreat. Each year, a surprisingly large crowd gathers for Montreat’s Independence Day parade. Clubs groups paint faces and wear costumes while decorated bicycles and vintage cars navigate the route and crowds. Neighbors and friends greet one another along sidewalks lined with chairs. Thousands watch, celebrating a tradition that reminds us of what can be sustained – relationships, community, patriotism – by simple rituals repeated year after year. Preserving that spirit is not always as simple as it sounds. Several years ago, a group of young adults registered to participate in the parade, arriving in a classic convertible and taking …
This Week in Montreat – June 26, 2026
Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you This Week in Montreat, our summer publication which provides weekly updates and information about activities in the Montreat valley. This week, we are talking about Montreat’s hurricane recovery, interesting history exhibits, and bear safety. Find these, along with other important announcements, using the link below. Read This Week’s Edition Sign Up for the Email Version
Connection: One Cable at a Time
Have you ever been in a room when a microphone suddenly stopped working, a presentation slide wouldn’t load, or the sound cut out unexpectedly? If you have, then you’ve seen firsthand how quickly technical challenges can impact an event. When everything is working as it should, those behind-the-scenes details often go completely unnoticed. Microphones should be clear, slides should appear on cue, and lighting should be perfect for every moment. What most people don’t realize is that none of these things happen automatically. During my time shadowing the Production Crew (also known as the AV crew) I gained a new appreciation for the people working behind the scenes to make …
Talking About The Birds and The…Bears?
A month ago, I came across a worn and tattered field guide that sat for generations in our family home: Birds: A Guide to the Most Familiar American Birds. Now literally in pieces held together by a rubber band, the book brought back a flood of memories. As a small child, I would comb the pages of this field guide to identify each visitor to the bird feeder placed just beyond a nearby kitchen window. I’d check out the picture of the bald eagle and imagine the day a member of this majestic species would pick our bird feeder for his noonday lunch. (Still waiting). So taken with nostalgia, I impulsively ordered a new one on Amazon. By new, I mean I ordered the exact same 1960s-era edition. Not until the new purchase …