After a deadly shooting at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas, David Gill and others pined for a way to aid students in their emotional and spiritual recovery. He began delving into the idea of holding a healing camp at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, where he worked a few hours away.
Carman Pimms, who for the last several years was the executive director at The Campbell Farm, a retreat center in Wapato, Washington, died in her sleep on Saturday, according to information provided by Campbell Farm board president Michael Friedline. Pimms, a member of the Yakama Nation, was 58.
Thanks to a half-dozen gap year staff members, all recent high school graduates, and Patrick Alfieri, an intrepid emerging leading intern, more than 400 children and youth with ties to Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center in the northwest corner of New Jersey are celebrating Advent through Advent kits lovingly and thoughtfully prepared and distributed by the camp’s seven staffers.
When the Rev. Dick Powell was tapped as a candidate for the job of President and CEO at Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, he had one demand: “If I can’t stay in the Board of Pensions plan, I’m not coming.” More than a decade later, Powell and every other full-time employee at the camp and conference center in the Texas Hill Country is a member of the Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
The fact that the 2020 Presbyterian Association of Musicians Worship & Music Conference, which is being held online this week with live broadcasts from Montreat Conference Center, is happening at all is “kind of a miracle,” said conference co-director Eric Wall.
In the early days of the pandemic, Joel Gill, the executive director of Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, gathered staff together for a brainstorming session.
Like most organizations, PC(USA)-affiliated camp and retreat centers were blindsided by the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has swept through the country and world over the past several months. Stay-at-home and social distancing orders struck the very heart and infrastructure of summer camp and retreat resident ministries. But amidst it all, associate for Christian Formation Brian Frick — who has oversight of PC(USA)-affiliated camps and retreats — sees positive outcomes for 2020 that hopefully carry over into 2021.
Mound Ridge Retreat and Mission Center, Inc.executive director Christy Foster knew the end was coming. She says God placed it on her heart soon after she arrived at the Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in the Missouri Ozark countryside. Mound Ridge like many of the churches it served was going through a transformation.
“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.
