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Million Dollar Gift Funds Environmental Stewardship at Montreat Conference Center
To honor her grandmother’s influence, which passed on her love for God’s creation, Gayden R. “Sissy” Jones of Memphis, TN has created the Ella Redhead Robinson Endowment for Environmental Stewardship Fund at the Montreat Conference Center, Montreat, NC, through the commitment of a $1 million gift to the conference center. This gift also memorializes her mother, Helen Robinson, and her aunt, Julia Norwood Redhead, who reinforced that great love for the natural world.
“My grandmother, Ella Redhead Robinson,” said Jones, “is the woman whose love of and respect for the environment opened my eyes and heart to the majesty of God’s creation and our call to be responsible stewards of our world. My hope is for Montreat Conference Center to be known as a place where people of all faiths can come together to learn about God’s call to be faithful stewards of creation and celebrate the remarkable beauty found in this place ‘set apart.’ Montreat has always been a place of inspiration and challenge for me as I have grown in my own understanding of our Christian responsibility for our natural environment. I hope the conference center will draw together all God’s people, who share in this critical call, for education and inspiration.”
The Jones family commitment to the environment has a proud multi-generational tradition at Montreat Conference Center where the board of directors established the Walk C. Jones Wildlife Sanctuary in 2000 to memorialize the interests and spirit of Sissy’s husband and former Mountain Retreat Association board chair, Walk C. Jones, III. “This gift marks the fourth endowed gift from the Walk Jones family,” said Bill Straughan, Executive Director of the Montreat Conference Center Development Foundation. “This extended family’s dedication to the environment touches the lives of thousands of people who come to Montreat for renewal and rest each year. Hundreds of people make their way to the Walk Jones Wildlife Sanctuary where they find a place set apart for prayer and quiet reflection while others hike trails through acres of protected wilderness and gain new reverence for God’s creation. Our passion to care for the environment is a precious work that allows us to transcend our differences and cross societal boundaries in ways that draw us closer to the very heart of the mission of the gospel.”
“As a national conference center of the Presbyterian Church USA,” said conference center president George Barber, “Montreat is a place where people gather from across the country for spiritual renewal and commitment. True to our Reformed tradition, the conference center is a place of education where we prepare one another for God’s mission in the world. Educating and inspiring people are what our conferences are designed to do. Since environmental education is a key component of the Ella Redhead Robinson Endowment for Environmental Stewardship Fund, we expect the lives of thousands of Presbyterians to be influenced by this gift.”
“Devotion to the environment is often common ground for people of all faiths,” said Peter Boggs, MRA Wilderness Committee chair. “Our love for the natural world around us brings diverse people together to celebrate its beauty and join forces, reaching beyond those walls that divide us, to protect it for generations to come. We are indeed grateful to people like Sissy Jones and others who have established funds to protect and maintain our wilderness areas in Montreat. This gift will further that important work. We want to invite those who share this commitment to join Sissy and others in supporting this crucial work.”
According to Gilmour Lake, chairman of the conference center’s endowment campaign “Let Your Light So Shine,” this gift moves the endowment to $17 million. The endowment was at $2.5 million when the campaign began in 2004. “We invite others who love Montreat, care about its future, and want to see the conference center’s ministry flourish for generations to come to join us in this vital effort and contribute to Montreat’s endowment and insure Montreat’s future,” Lake said. “We are deeply grateful to Sissy for this remarkable and generous gift which passes on to all our children and grandchildren her deep love for this special place—Montreat.”