50 Years Ago – God’s New Direction

By Rev. Doug Skinner

Fifty years ago, God spoke to the Cragmont Board of Directors and said it was time for a new direction in the camp ministry.  Up to this point, Cragmont was open only from May through the end of October.  His plan for Cragmont Assembly was to become a year-round facility.  Under the leadership of Chair Rev. Willis Wilson, the Cragmont Board followed God’s leadership and set a plan into motion.  One of the first steps was to hire a full-time camp manager.

At the same time, God was also speaking to me about a new direction in my ministry.  I was a young pastor in an active church, but I felt God nudging me to apply for the new manager position.  I was a Cragmont lover, having attended camp since I was nine years old and also serving as a counselor for AFC and YFA conferences.  Hard work was not strange to me since I had worked in tobacco fields and in construction while growing up.  I even washed dishes in the cafeteria while attending college!  I believe that God directed the Cragmont Board to give me a chance, along with my co-manager Franklin Vester, and my wife and I moved to Cragmont in April 1976.

For the first year, we lived in the old Main Building, in the manager’s small apartment.  Thanks to Daisy Tripp and Pluma Sullivan, we learned to cook for 100+ people.  At the end of October we winterized the buildings and moved back home to Wilson for a few months.  Between November and April, I was busy speaking to churches and groups about God’s new direction for Cragmont’s ministry.  Along with representing Cragmont, the Board and I were in discussions with a contractor and an architect to begin plans for a new Main Building.

In April 1977 Cragmont’s landscape began to change when the walls of the old Main Building came tumbling down.  Where a proud historic building once stood became a large open dirt lot where God’s new direction would soon be carried out.  A highlight of that summer was a groundbreaking and dedication service led by the August Woman’s Conference, asking God to bless the new building and the many souls that would be drawn close to Him there.  Early in 1978 walls for the new building started going up and excitement mounted for what God was going to do at Cragmont.

For two camp seasons, my wife and I lived in a mobile home that we purchased and set up at the end of the motel.  Camp life went on as usual, always with the Cragmont motto in mind, “Inspiration, Instruction, and Recreation.”  Bedrooms were a bit cramped due to less space and there was no front porch to rock and gather for fellowship, but no one seemed to mind.

With the completion of the new Main Building in 1979, Cragmont was considered to be a year-round facility.  The crowds began to come in May, anxious to be among the first to stay in the new building.  Conference weeks were full to the brim, and meals were served in shifts.  Thanks to an excellent staff, we cooked six meals a day!  But glory to God, we had a wonderful first year in the new building.  Campers seemed happy to have a new front porch and rocking chairs and a new chapel space.

In the fall of 1979, God began to speak to me again.  This time He wanted me to take yet another direction in my ministry.  I had completed my purpose as the manager of Cragmont Assembly, and I needed to return to pastoring a church which I did in January 1980.

As the Apostle Paul stated in 1 Cor. 3:16, I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  Former camp managers planted, I was honored to water, and God is giving the increase through the managers who came after me.  I thank God for the opportunity to serve my denomination’s campground/retreat center as the first full-time manager for four short years and help begin God’s new direction for the camping ministry.  Cragmont will always be “home to me.”