This Week in Montreat - Issue #10

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Crossroads in a Cul-de-sac
Montreat is not the center of the world — not even the center of the one church of Jesus Christ. But in the small sliver of the one church we know well, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), it remains a key place of exchange, conversation, encounter — a crossroads, so to speak.

People across this Presbyterian Church sometimes complain that Montreat is not a place of easy accessibility. There is no hub airport here; there is no train service. In fact, unless you hike out the back, Montreat is, quite frankly, a cul-de-sac.

But this summer, in this cul-de-sac, besides the thousands of conferees from congregations stretching from Bismarck, North Dakota, to Sarasota, Florida, and international church leaders from Havana, Cuba, to Seoul, Korea, I have spotted the following: four presidents of seminaries related to the PCUSA (there are ten in all); the current Moderator of the General Assembly; one former Moderator (and I know of two more former Moderators on their way); the editors of at least two major church periodicals; a former president of the National Council of Churches of Christ; the current president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches; the Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council; perhaps a dozen college or seminary professors of Bible, theology, mission, and church history; plus more pastors, Christian educators, church musicians, missionaries, and elders than can be easily counted.

Where is there a more convenient place to engage in conversation about what God is doing in and through this communion of the one church of Jesus Christ? What better cul-de-sac for pausing to garner fresh vistas on the challenges and the callings we have as Presbyterians or to network with church leaders who will become resources for us when we go back home?

Admittedly, Montreat is not at the center of everything, but what a crossroads this little mountain cul-de-sac has become and remains for so many!

Grace and peace,
Pete

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Courtney Kovacs is the Creative Assistant at Montreat Conference Center. She works on This Week In Montreat and the Sunday Worship Bulletins. This is her second year on Summer Staff.

Courtney can be reached at creativeassistant@montreat.org.