Longtime UMCRM member Heather Withrow (President of Jumonville Camp & Retreat Center, Western PA) credits Lu Harding with saving her life by keeping her from falling overboard on a whale-watching tour at the 2003 National Camp & Retreat Leaders’ Gathering. Lu remembers that incident less dramatically, but she tells her own story about being “saved” in the fellowship of camp/retreat colleagues.
As a new Retreat Center Director, she had her own feeling of “floundering” that had nothing to do with falling off a boat. She had served in local church settings for 26 years as a trained Christian Educator, but had no prior experience managing a ministry site.
Joining the UMC Camp & Retreat Leaders’ Certification program helped her develop a sense of competency as an Executive Director. In the “Ecology & Theology of Common Ground” class, students were asked, “What is the purpose of your site?” Contemplating that question while sitting on a rock gazing across the landscape at Mount Eagle Retreat Center (AR), Lu came to a realization about why the church would want or need a thousand wooded acres in the heart of the Ozarks. Her answer, “To provide Christian hospitality and opportunities for holy listening,” became the new Center’s tagline that still defines its mission today.
Being a part of the first Certification cohort helped Lu to form lasting friendships with fellow Directors and Executives in the UMCRM community. Her certification classmates became trusted confidants and a support system of people she could call for advice or to share struggles. Those connections with experienced ministry leaders also pushed her to keep growing personally and professionally, bolstered by a community much broader than her isolated mountaintop in rural Arkansas. UMCRM clergy colleague Gary Lawson from Lakeshore Camp & Retreat Center (TN) was instrumental in introducing UMC Creation Care legislation, inspiring Lu to live out her own environmental commitments through her center leadership.
Her network of professional relationships led to Lu’s election several years later to the National Camp & Retreat Committee (the predecessor of the UMCRM Board of Directors) at a time of strategic planning. She served on the transition team that envisioned and helped to form the UMC Camp & Retreat Ministries Association, expanding the resources available to support effective, sustainable camp and retreat leadership. Paying it forward, she’s helped keep other new leaders from “floundering.” The new director who once needed trusted colleagues to call has become one of those trusted colleagues for others.
Retirement did not end Lu’s connection to the community that once helped rescue her from floundering. Lu continues to serve in camp/retreat ministry across the UMCRM connection as an Interim Director, Association committee member, Intentional Leadership Group leader, mentor, donor, and volunteer. “I wish more retired leaders would get on the Interim list!” she says, noting the deep expertise within our community that could be shared while smoothing tough transitions and providing much-needed respite and mentorship.