Gunnison was not a typical Christian Camp

[Thomas Loy Bumgarner]

I just got back from a Music Conference at Lutheridge in the Asheville, NC mountains that was well runned. Wierwille had no business background running Gunnison, same like the Corps(thinking Marines but we thought Peace), WOW Ambassadors(now Way Disciples/Fellow Laborers/Lights), etc.Gunnison Ranch was suppose to be an outdoor ministry, sort of a dude ranch with horses, but his vision was far different than denominational Bible camps, Conference Centers, and retreats(hated the term advances). The typical Christian Camp/Conference Centers have fine detailed workshops open to any Christian believer. North Carolina has several Lutheran and Episcopalian locations, not counting Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Disciples of Christ, or the Cove/Billy Graham Training Institute near Montreat/Black Mountain. The others are located in rural Piedmont and the beach. TWI comes nowhere near this level of hospitality.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Thomas Loy Bumgarner

[Thomas Loy Bumgarner]

What, no reply to this? Have any of you attended church camps/conference centers?

 

[Rocky]

2 hours ago, Thomas Loy Bumgarner said:

What, no reply to this? Have any of you attended church camps/conference centers?

 

Not since leaving twi more than 30 years ago.

[waysider]

9 minutes ago, Rocky said:

Not since leaving twi more than 30 years ago.

Ditto

[Twinky]

As with every event, you had to be a TWI follower to attend.  Maybe RoA was "open" to anyone who paid the fee, to begin with, but certainly not by the time I was there.  All closed off lest the local hoons came to disrupt it, and they wouldn't want to buy a ticket.  You wouldn't get into Gunnison unless you were a Wayfer.

As to the hospitality itself, when I was at Gunnison for summer camps, we did whatever we could to help people enjoy themselves.  We (in rez corps) were always very busy and didn't have a lot of time to fraternise outside those in our immediate orbit (for myself, it was kiddies 3-5 dropped off by their parents after breakfast).

Though I did find myself thinking that I wouldn't want my own summer hols to be spent in group teachings all morning, a group meal, a little free/family time, another group meal and then yet another teaching session.  There were age-suitable activities for the younger ones and teenagers.  Some trips to the river for rafting; that was popular.  A dance on say, Friday night, might have been fun, but it never happened.