Camp Menotomy, Meredith, NH
Continued from page
5
of their congregations. The association brought together
Sunday school officers and teachers from many denominations
and organized them into local, county, state, and national
units.
From the years 1922 to 1950, the International Council
of Religious Education had title to the property, and
managed it through a Geneva Point Administrative Committee.
As the camp grew, improvements -were gradually made to
meet the needs of the growing community. Campers and staff
stayed in the inn and some of the cottages that were on
the original farm property. There were also tents with
wood floors. Electricity did not reach the inn until 1926,
and then only for the kitchen, dining rooms, and meeting
rooms. Kerosene lamps were used in all of the sleeping
quarters.
Until 1930, the largest meeting place was the old chicken
house of the Roxmont Poultry Farm, which could accommodate only 150
persons on a level floor.
According to a reminiscence of Dr. Erwin Shaver in 1947,
he wrote, "The first chapel services were held in
the Chicken-coop—a conglomerate structure with rain-stained
and -whitewash walls; the floors were part board, part
dirt, and the original exits for the poultry still preserved!
If one wanted to support the argument that the spirit
of reverent worship can be had under the most ugly and
incongruous surrounding, here was irrefutable evidence."
Eventually, a new chapel was dedicated on August 5, 1930.
It was a white, two-story structure with four white columns
across the front porch. There was a stage and auditorium,
plus six classrooms. Later the two on the second floor
were opened to permit a balcony into the main auditorium,
and two on the first floor were opened to enlarge the
auditorium.
In 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ
of America was formed and the International Council of Religious Education
(ICRE) became the Division of Christian Education of the
new council, and brought with it the property at Lake
Winnipesaukee. This Division Unit Committee, comprised
of representatives of all the denomination cooperating
in the division, elected the Geneva Point Committee, which,
in turn, administered the camp on behalf of the division.
Geneva Point has become a resource for many as a center
for conferences and leadership training laboratories.
In recognition of this increasing role, and to more accurately
identify its function, the name was officially changed
to Geneva Point Center in 1966. Because the center was
continuing to grow, particularly for its youth, there
was a need for more adult housing. In 1966, the Lake View
Lodge was built, which provided ten double bedrooms. In
1981, another complete ten-bedroom facility was constructed
and was dedicated to Dr. Emily V Gibbes in honor of her
years of service as associate general secretary for the
National Council of Churches.
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