Ridgecrest Conference Center (and note the lack of the word “Baptist” in the name, we will certainly take non-Baptist dollars), LifeWay’s venerable Smoky Mountains location for retreats, conferences and the like seems to be doing just fine. So fine that more free labor is needed. Baptist Press reports on it: Volunteers needed as Ridgecrest attendance climbs. Yeah, I’ve give a week to menial labor at Ridgecrest for room and board.
I was at Ridgecrest last July for a night and was surprised at how things had improved. Now, the executive director of Ridgecrest says, “It was the most people we’ve seen in almost 30 years…” The numbers last year were around 70,000. Back in the mid-1980s and 1990s When I was younger, more energetic, had more stamina, thought a week with teens was fun, I’d be at Ridgecrest for a week and the place was hopping. One visit around the turn of the millenium showed me that things had changed for the worse. It was shabby.
I’m pleased to see them doing well. Jay Adkins found time to tweet about Ridgecrest. Seems he was there this Summer.
Are pastors and staff giving Ridgecrest fresh looks as a destination these days?
