June in Montreat

Montreat Conference Center is pleased to bring you our monthly newsletter June in Montreat. Please find updates from our president, highlights on programmatic offerings, and ways that you can engage with Montreat below. Specifically, in this issue we are talking about the new lodge project, our Clubs and child care programs, and our seasonal publication This Week in Montreat.

Lodge Site Updates and Progress by Richard DuBose, president of Montreat Conference Center Greetings from Montreat! I wanted to give you an update on the status of the lodge site before we get into our busiest season of the year. As indicated in my most recent post about the new lodge, feedback from our open meeting in April has been positive, especially regarding “Option 2.” Since the meeting, we’ve received thoughtful input from many and last week filed an application for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) for approval to move forward with that plan. Phase One would include the smaller 24-room lodge facing Assembly Drive, with additional residential-style cottages facing Georgia Terrace Road following as appropriate funding and approvals are secured… READ MORE PROGRAMS & EVENTS Montreat’s summer Clubs and Child Care programs begin next week! Registration is available online only, and signing up in advance is strongly encouraged. Weekly activity schedules will be available in the Anderson Auditorium Lobby and online beginning at 4:00 pm the Friday before each session. For help with registering or other questions, the Clubs Registrar will be available in person on Mondays from 8:00–9:00 am in the Auditorium Lobby, by email at clubsreg@montreat.org, or by phone at 828.419.9837. Join us later this summer for our 2026 Women’s Connection conference! Leadership for the event includes Kristen Kobes Du Mez, Khalia Williams, Jihyun Oh, Emily Kampras, Betsy Homer, Camille Core, and Cantey Smith. Limited opportunities for full conference participation remain, so sign up now to secure your spot! Complete your registration. Get in touch with your creative side during Fall Craft Week, held September 27–October 2, 2026. Classes are filling up, but there is still space available in the following courses: wood carving, writing, linoleum printing, basket making, and photography. Additionally, youth between the ages of 13 and 17 are invited to attend the retreat by participating in a special youth track which will focus on creating a mosaic mirror. Learn more. We share updates related to offerings for youth & young adults, adult conferences, and retreats in a series of topical email newsletters each month. Sign up to receive one, two, or all three directly in your inbox by clicking here. EXPERIENCE MONTREAT We will release our first edition of This Week in Montreat (TWIM) on Friday afternoon. If you are not already signed up to receive this newsletter, we invite you to do so by clicking here. This Week in Montreat is only published during the summer months and details seasonal events and activities within the Montreat valley. It also includes weekly messages from Richard DuBose and feature articles written by Montreat’s summer marketing assistant. It’s a great way to stay up-to-date! Celebrate National Trails Day with Montreat’s wilderness rangers! Our staff will lead a special guided hike along Lower Piney Trail this Saturday, June 6, beginning at the Montreat Nature Center at 9:00 am. Kick off the summer season by spending some time outdoors! Interested in other public hikes? View the entire schedule on our website. Columbia Theological Seminary will host a special continuing education event at Montreat this fall called Kintsugi: Recognizing Beauty in Brokenness. The event invites participants to explore how we can honor our imperfections through hands-on activities guided by Dr. Yoko Takamiya, a master of Japanese pottery restoration. Learn more. We share updates for locals, news about the Montreat Wilderness, and information pertaining to spiritual exploration in three monthly email newsletters specific to each topic. Select which ones you would like to receive in your inbox by clicking here. The Montreat Fund Makes Montreat Possible! It’s officially summer here in Montreat and some of your favorite activities can be directly supported by you! Robert Lake Park, big circle mountain dances in the Barn, hiking trails, the tennis courts, crafts and pottery classes, and conferences are all supported by individuals, churches, and organizations who make a gift to the Montreat Fund! SUPPORT SUMMER ACTIVITIES IN MONTREAT You Make Montreat Special! As we kick off our summer season, we are reminded more than ever that Montreat is about community. Thank you for being part of that community and helping to make Montreat the special place that it is! We hope you’ll connect with us this summer during one of our seasonal programs or events. SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS SUMMER IN MONTREAT Montreat Conference Center, a ministry of the Mountain Retreat Association, is a national conference center located in Western North Carolina with roots in the PC(USA). Learn more at www.montreat.org.

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RNS Weekly Digest - These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits.

These houses of worship are older than America. How they outlasted wars, schisms and lawsuits.

On Ash Wednesday this year, about a dozen people attended a noon service at Boston’s Old North Church, founded in 1723. Two days later, a handful of worshippers took part in a Shabbat service at Newport, Rhode Island’s Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763.  Congregations participating in sacred rituals — it is something both houses of worship have been doing longer than the United States has existed. Such places of worship are rare. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research estimates that of the 370,000 religious congregations in the U.S. today, only about 1% existed at the country’s founding. When the country declared independence in 1776,  there were 3,228 houses of worship across the Colonies. The U.S. was already religiously diverse. Congregationalists led the pack with about 670 congregations, or just over 20% of the total. Presbyterians weren’t far behind (18%), followed by Baptists and Episcopalians (each about 15%), and Quakers at nearly 10%. Methodists had a following at 2%, Catholics were just under 2%, and there were a handful of synagogues and more than a dozen Mennonite congregations, according to sociologists Rodney Stark and Roger Finke. Most of them dissolved due to internal conflicts, financial strains, aging membership and/or the impact of war. Many of the places that survived, like Old North Church and Touro, did so by continuing to gather, whether in ornate or simple buildings, or when pews were full or had just a few worshippers. Here are portraits of four that have endured.  Religion & Politics How worship music became the soundtrack of today's political right Catholic sisters push Palantir on human rights as faith leaders rally in New York Trey Falwell sues Liberty University, the school his father once led Photos of the Week: Ebola responses, end of Hajj A Hindu woman performs rituals at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Prayagraj, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) In Opinion I've dedicated my career to soccer. I'm boycotting this World Cup. Why Protestants should read the pope’s encyclical A Mormon father and his gay son, LDS pop culture icons, choose to 'stay in the room' And finally, Kate Bowler on unexpected joy, even in the midst of pain (VIDEO) Kate Bowler spent the past decade bashing the American cult of positivity and the pursuit of optimal happiness. Her experience battling stage 4 colon cancer in her 30s taught her the fallacy of such thinking. Where her earlier books pondered mortality and grief, Bowler’s latest book is, of all things, about joy. Perhaps ironically, Bowler has found that skirting death pushed her to also consider opening herself up to experiencing joy. RNS invited Kate Bowler, who teaches American religious history at Duke Divinity School, to talk about her new book, “Joyful, Anyway.” Support our responsible reporting on religion Forward this newsletter to a friend Make a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit newsroom here Or mail us a check: Religion News Foundation PO Box 1808 Columbia, MO 65205 Email membership@religionnews.com with a news tip or a comment Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Copyright © 2026 RNS, All rights reserved.