I arrived at Ferncliff late at night, eager to hear of the camp and conference center’s new exploits but exhausted from the journey. I settled down to sleep not knowing that the comfortable mattress was my first introduction to Ferncliff’s Sharing the Goods ministry partnership with Good360.
In what is believed to be a first for a camp and conference center in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe held a five-night healing and learning retreat for a group of homeless persons, physically and developmentally disabled people, and “at risk” young adults.
“What’s working now?” “What’s in the future?” If you’ve found yourself asking those questions, you’re in good company. Leaders from camp and conference ministries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently grappled with those questions at the Heartland Center, a PC(USA) camp and conference center only 20 minutes north of Kansas City International Airport.
Sunday morning worship in Montreat’s Anderson Auditorium is a highlight for many in the Montreat community and greater Swannanoa valley. Every effort is made for these services to model innovative, creative, and new ways to worship and gather in God’s name. Recognizing the talents and service outreach represented within this mountain community, it is a time to celebrate together and hear God’s word from noted preachers and educators across denominational and geographic lines.
As the world tilts towards chaos and we stare down global uncertainty, it is not the mighty armies that make that make me feel safe. Nor does the knowledge coming out of universities bring me peace. Instead, I take solace in the fact that at this very moment, summer camps are preparing to open for business.
Fifty people have been treated for injuries after a second story deck collapsed Saturday afternoon at Glacier Presbyterian Camp on the west shore of Flathead Lake, 100 miles north of Missoula, Montana. Six of the injured were airlifted to hospitals in the region.
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programs is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual and performing art professionals and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community.
For diehard fans of acronyms—of which Presbyterians surely have more than their fair share—the Rev. David Gill has mined something of a GEM. Gill, who will retire on January 31 as executive director of Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, says that throughout his 20-year tenure at the PC(USA)-related camp he has always “looked for things that can be financially self-sustaining for the long haul.”
As of January 1, 2017, the Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center has transferred its operations from the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to the National Ghost Ranch Foundation (NGRF). The NGRF, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation established in 1972 exclusively to support Ghost Ranch as a ministry of the PC(USA), has been providing financial, operational and volunteer resources for Ghost Ranch.
