Sunday, June 14, during worship in Anderson Auditorium, the Rev. Dr. Albert G. “Pete” Peery, Jr. will be installed as the sixteenth president of Montreat Conference Center. Called to the position in September, 2008, Peery took office November 1. The formal installation is scheduled to coincide with the start of the conference center’s high summer season. Peery has served congregations in Georgia and North Carolina for over thirty years and comes to the conference center after fourteen years as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Asheville, NC. For over a decade, he has been serving on the Board of Trustees of St. Andrews Presbyterian College and was the first alumnus to be elected board chair. Peery’s service to the denomination ranges from service on the General Assembly staff as a Peace Associate in Europe to a five year term of service on the General Assembly’s Nominating Committee. “I believe God is not yet finished with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that is emerging – a church that is different than the one we have known in the past,” said Peery when asked about his new position. “Montreat Conference Center remains in a unique position to imprint young and old alike, and I rejoice in the opportunity I have been given.”
The installation service, a part of the Sunday Summer Worship Series at Montreat Conference Center, will also feature the Rev. Dr. Agnes Norfleet, pastor at Shandon Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC, as guest preacher. A graduate of Davidson College (Davidson, NC) and Union Theological Seminary (Richmond, VA), she received her Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, GA) in 2001. She is an acclaimed preacher in the denomination, and in addition to frequent visits to Montreat Conference Center, is often called to serve as guest preacher at churches, seminaries, and national conferences. Her sermon for this Sunday, “Scattered Seeds,” is taken from Mark 4:26-34. When asked about the conference center’s new president, Norfleet replied, “Pete Peery is uniquely poised to serve Montreat as a visionary and energetic leader.” She continued, “His love for Montreat runs deep, and he will connect well with constituencies far beyond the Montreat gate to further the mission of the conference center’s service to the church.” Following a study of Psalm 107 by Mary Miller Brueggemann at 9:30 AM in the Presbyterian Heritage Center, this Sunday’s worship and installation service begins at 11:00 AM in Montreat Conference Center’s Anderson Auditorium. Child care is available for children six months through completed kindergarten at the Updike Child Care Center on Texas Road. Following worship, a lunch buffet will be served at the Galax Dining Room in Assembly Inn, 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM. The public is also invited to a reception celebrating Peery’s installation Sunday afternoon 4:30-5:30 PM, in the upper lobby of Montreat Conference Center’s Assembly Inn.
Montreat Conference Center is a mission center serving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in western North Carolina. Throughout its century of service to the church, it has been a place of renewal, inspiration, and rest for thousands of visitors annually. It continues today as a place for and experience of celebrating relationships, nurturing congregations, and deepening discipleship through conferences, retreats, vacations, and sabbatical.
Learn more about the Summer Worship Series at Montreat Conference Center.
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