A History of Resort and Leisure Ministry

Pete Owen

First Thoughts
It is difficult to put a finger on an exact date that  resort and leisure ministry began. If one wanted to stretch  it, we could say that resort and leisure ministry began  back in the serene Garden of Eden of Genesis. Before the  dream began at the Home Mission Board of the Southern  Baptist Convention1, there were many resort and leisure type  ministries going on. Not all of them were a part of the  mission work of Southern Baptists. It is the purpose of  this chapter to attempt to describe the attitudes, the  ideas, and some of the circumstances that led to the dream  of beginning resort and leisure ministry in Southern  Baptist life. For our purposes, we will consider the  beginning of resort and leisure work to be in 1965 when the  Home Mission Board (HMB) began to solidify an effort to  reach people in resort settings.

The early to mid 1960's were a time of change in America.  People who had grown up during the Great Depression were  now beginning to experience economic recovery. Never before  in America had there been such an abundance of earned  leisure time on the part of the American laborer. Vacations  were in every labor contract guaranteeing almost every  employee a specified earned vacation with pay. The 40-hour  work week was the norm and there was talk of a 32-two hour  work week. Leisure time produced entire industries to  provide the necessary equipment to occupy all this free  time.

The "hippie movement" along with the "Jesus people"  movement was on the rise. It brought about new attitudes  about relationships. The sexual revolution was begun with  the development of "the pill." Many of the sacred family  vacation spots or resorts were being taken over by the  hippies, which created a fear of drugs, alcohol, and sex  becoming the norm in those otherwise family-oriented resort  communities. Resort areas such as Vail and Aspen in  Colorado were growing as well as were the beach areas of  the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

National and state governments were developing more and  more campgrounds in national or state park areas. Private  campgrounds were also beginning to develop across the  country. Because of cheap gas, easy transportation, and  more time and money for leisure, Americans were beginning  to enjoy their leisure time in a way they had never  experienced before. There was also a movement to build  flood-control dams on major rivers throughout the country.  The lakes thus created new recreational areas for a large  population of city dwellers.

Other religious groups had already begun doing some work in  resort areas. The Lutheran church, the Presbyterian church,  and the Roman Catholic church were all leading groups  targeting resort and leisure areas. The Methodist church  had produced a small workbook that provided their  membership some guidance on the art of camping. It was  written primarily to assist church members in how to do  camping and get the most out of it. The idea of the current  Campers on Mission came from conversations with people  involved in camping. Perhaps the most significant ministry  going on was the ministry of Warren Ost, founder and  director of "A Christian Ministry in National Parks,"  (ACMNP). Ost was instrumental in helping Southern Baptists  understand the whole leisure phenomenon in post-war  America. He had already begun using students from colleges  and seminaries as "worker-priests" in national parks.

During this period the HMB began to notice the number of  people taking advantage of their new found freedom to enjoy  leisure time. Arthur B. Rutledge, Missions Director and  Executive Secretary of the HMB, gave freedom to the Rural- Urban Missions Department to explore new and creative ways  to spread the gospel in and to resort areas all over the  country. Roy Owen, formerly of the Rural Urban Missions  department, states that the purpose of developing resort  ministry at the beginning was fourfold: "To win to Christ  and minister to the workers and visitors in resort  settings; to provide Bible study and a good worship  experience for workers and visitors; to strengthen Southern  Baptists in resort areas and help dissolve any prejudices  other Christians might have toward Southern Baptists; and  to start churches where possible for the continuing of the  work."

The attitude at the HMB was to be willing to learn from  others and to cooperate with others in small ways. The  dream was to involve state conventions, associations, and  churches in leisure ministries.

In the summer of 1963, Lewis Newman, secretary of the Rural  Urban Missions Department of the HMB, was conducting an in- service guidance conference on the campus of the University  of Corpus Christi. Arthur Rutledge was also sharing at this  conference. After the conference, the two men went to  Rockport, Texas, to visit with Wilson Brumley, pastor of  the First Baptist Church of this resort setting. First  Baptist Church had noticed a large number of people from  Midwestern states came to Rockport for the winter months.  They were called "snowbirds." During the winter months the  members of First Baptist Church became friends with these  visitors and developed ministries to witness and share with  them. Except for a chaplain-type ministry on the beaches of  Hawaii, there were no overt attempts by the HMB to do  resort work before 1964. In May of 1964, Wilson Brumley was  invited to the HMB to discuss a staff position in the Rural  Urban Missions Department that would develop ways to  minister to people through their leisure time. Brumley  began this new work in July of 1964. He offered  encouragement, direction, and resources to the development  of resort and leisure ministries.

Departmental Beginnings
Florida became a priority focus of the new department.  Brumley says, "We began by trying to see what could be done  in Florida during the spring breaks that brought so many  students from northern universities for sun, sex, and suds  on the beaches of Florida. We rented motel rooms in  beachfront motels and hotels and tried to offer some  counsel to the young people who got into trouble with too  much of all three of the reasons for being in Florida. Not  all students had problems, and those were the ones that  usually brought to us the ones that were having problems."

Ministries were started around swimming pools, parks, or  wherever else the young people would gather. Singing groups  performed concerts; one of that group would share a  testimony. Guitars and banjos took the place of pianos and  organs. The new choruses began to be interspersed with the  more explicit Christian hymns. Campus Crusade for Christ  was also at work on these beaches of Florida.

In the spring of 1965, Brumley scheduled a conference on  leisure time in America. The purpose was to create  awareness of leisure in America and make a plan to begin  ministry in these unique settings. All Southern Baptist  Convention (SBC) program leaders that had the slightest  interest in resort work were invited. Woman's Missionary  Union, Brotherhood, and Sunday School Board were all  represented. SBC Executive Secretary Porter Routh and other  agency leaders were present. An ethics professor from  Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was on the program,  and missions professors from other seminaries were asked to  write papers and share them at the conference on subjects  such as: the Bible and leisure, the theology of leisure,  and the sociology and psychology of leisure. Ost was the  main speaker at this first resort ministries conference.  The workbook on camping that the Methodist denomination  produced was discussed.

Many people in America were spending their two-week  vacations camping in pop-up trailers, tents, and motor  homes. They shared their experiences of when they  worshiped, how they worshiped, and where they worshiped. It  was out of these discussions that Campers on Mission3 had  its beginning. As well as an awareness being created and a  strategy developed at this conference, it was also  concluded that it would be in the best interest of  Christianity that the SBC not compete with ACMNP. Rather,  it was thought that there should be cooperation between the  two organizations in attempting to reach people where they  spend their leisure hours. As an outcome of this meeting,  Southern Baptists have had a member on the board of ACMNP  since 1971. It was also decided that similar conferences  should be held across the country.

As resort ministry within the Rural-Urban Missions  Department continued to grow, so did its staff. In 1967,  Brumley invited John McBride to assist the department in  the continuing development of resort and leisure ministry.  His responsibility was to develop resort mission programs  and field them east of the Mississippi River. He was also  to conduct other awareness conferences across the country.  McBride was a leader in bringing the HMB to a point of  appointing career missionaries to resort settings to begin  new work. He also developed the use of student summer  missionaries and US-24 missionaries to establish new resort  and leisure ministry projects. Ministry projects were begun  in Padre Island, Texas; Jekyll Island and Brunswick, Ga.;  Ocean City, Md.; North Carolina; and Portsmouth, NH. Other  states that had resort projects included: New Jersey,  Louisiana, Alabama, and Oklahoma. The beaches of Florida  continued to be a major focus with the use of student  summer missionaries. In 1969, the first year for these  summer workers, 12 students were enlisted as summer  missionaries. In 1970, there were 24 appointed and in 1971,  36 student summer missionaries were appointed.

These summer missionaries were given the command to "go and  find a way to express your faith to the resort people."  Brumley says some approaches were, "coffee houses in many  churches and store front buildings by churches in resort  areas; singing groups from churches near camping areas on  Saturday evenings; Tuesday and Thursday worship services in  areas where the business people were busy on Sundays  selling equipment and gasoline for boats, fishermen,  skiers, and whatnot." This became the new shape of resort  and leisure ministry. Brumley goes on to explain, "One of  the problems that we faced was that many of the churches  near parks and other recreational areas felt that those  people ought to be in a church building on Sunday and that  the HMB was teaching people to desecrate the Lord's Day by  encouraging worship in such a relaxed atmosphere."

Also added to the Rural Urban Mission Department staff in  1967 was Roy Owen, who had been serving as an associational  missionary in Colorado. Owen was given the assignment of  developing resort and leisure work west of the Mississippi  River. New work was begun in the destination resorts of  Breckenridge, Lake City, and Telluride, Colo. McBride and  Owen worked with state conventions and associations in  creating new resort and leisure projects across the  country.

The strategy was developed very early that resort ministry  would be a ministry in resort areas and not to resort  areas. The ministry had to become indigenous. There has  always been a strong emphasis on starting new churches in  resort areas, especially those considered as destination  resorts. Originally there were not appointed resort  missionaries. Those people who were appointed to do resort  work were appointed in other departments such as the Church  Extension or Christian Social Ministries Department.  Ministry models were designed in places such as Jackson  Hole, Wyo.; Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; Waikiki  and Lahaina, Hawaii; and Sun Valley, Idaho. Even though  these models were successful in starting new churches,  there continued to be resistance from those who did not  understand resort and leisure ministry. Veryl Henderson,  Director of Church Extension Ministries for Colorado  Baptist General Convention, said, "All of these ministries  were designed to start new churches with new approaches  because of the type of area and the people who visited  there. It took a long time before worship services were  considered legitimate. There was a strong resistance  because of a perception that resort missionaries were  making Christianity easy by taking it to those at play. The  attitude of many in the church body was anti-resort  missions because it legitimized recreation on the Sabbath  day."

Those people who were considered resort missionaries also  had their frustrations. They were appointed in a department  that did not relate to resort areas and yet they were doing  resort work. No one knew what to do with these  missionaries. The department they were appointed in could  not understand what resort work was really like, so it was  difficult to be a strong support for the missionary.

In 1970 a major reorganization of the HMB allowed for  resort ministry to be transferred into the Special Mission  Ministries Department. Don Hammonds was the director of  this new department. In April of 1971, Joel Land was  invited by Hammonds to give leadership to resort missions  and develop an assignment system for mission youth groups.  The Special Mission Ministries focus was on providing  short-term volunteers for resort ministry projects. They  assigned all of the student summer missionaries, mission  youth groups, most of the US-2 missionaries, and adult  volunteers. One of Joel Land's great contributions was to  move resort missionaries that had been appointed in other  departments into the Special Mission Ministries Department.  This move created better support for the missionaries from  the HMB.

As Special Mission Ministries continued its growth, several  major developments occurred. New resort ministry projects  were started in major destination resorts across the  country. Material for awareness and training was being  written. New and creative ways of presenting the gospel in  outdoor areas was encouraged. National resort and leisure  ministry conferences were being planned. The establishment  of resort ministry became a professional career ministry  position. Southern Baptists across the country were  beginning to hear about resort and leisure ministry through  many articles that were being written about those  missionaries in resort settings. In the spring of 1979, the  first resort and leisure ministry training conference was  held at Grand Canyon. These training events have continued  with others being held in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Land  Between the Lakes, Tenn.; Hilton Head Island, S.C.; Lake of  the Ozarks, Mo.; and Gatlinburg, Tenn. The HMB sponsored  these conferences every three years. The purpose was to  create an awareness of resort and leisure ministries, to  train new people getting involved in resort and leisure  ministry, and to provide a time of support and fellowship  for the veteran resort missionaries.

Resort Missionary Frustrations
Veteran resort missionaries who had been in the field for  several years, began to experience frustrations and  problems that were unique to resort ministers. Isolation  was one problem that became evident. They discovered that  they were usually isolated geographically from large  population bases. Cities that offered cheaper shopping were  many times too far away or during winter times would be  inaccessible due to weather.

Another form of isolation was by job description. The  attitude of many traditional churches was that all resort  missionaries do is play. Many Christian people would not  validate the ministry being done with resort people. There  was a lack of understanding of what resort and leisure  ministry was about and why it was important. Psychologists  tell us that if people do not understand something they  will withdraw from it and ignore it. So it was with resort  mission work. It was not understood, therefore, more  traditional churches ignored it and withdrew from it.

Resort missionaries also began to feel isolated from each  other. These missionaries shared a unique calling, a unique  ministry, and many times shared a love for those at play  and for play itself. A sense of family was created when  they would get together at the national conferences held  every three years. Another frustration came as a result of unreal expectations  placed on them by the HMB, state conventions, or  associations. The normal means of church growth was to look  at numbers in church membership and baptisms. Resort areas  are very transitional in nature. Therefore, there would be  times that the numbers recorded would show growth, but the  next month might show a large loss. Also, many times a  person might make a profession of faith but was not  baptized and so was not considered in monthly reports. Many  of the churches that have lasted through the years have  been "rebuilt" every four to five years with new people.

Attempts to network with other Southern Baptist churches in  more traditional areas also led to frustration. One resort  missionary led a person to the Lord. As the new believer  went back home, the resort missionary attempted to call a  local pastor where the new believer lived. The missionary  was met on the phone with suspicion, and no follow-up visit  was ever made to the new Christian. Many of these  frustrations led to stress that could not be understood by  more traditional pastors or churches.

The Association of Resort and Leisure Ministers
In the fall of 1990, the HMB held its triennial resort and  leisure ministries conference at Hilton Head Island, S.C.  Many of the veteran missionaries that attended this  conference were feeling a need for their own growth as  professionals and also personal growth. At this meeting the  veterans were used to lead conferences. After several years  of ministry experience, they had become the authorities in  the field. Since they were all leading conferences, little  time was left for them to have fellowship together, play  together, share ideas, or even share each other's burdens.  As this was discussed among these veteran resort  missionaries, the idea was suggested that a professional  organization was needed to provide for some of the needs of  the veterans. In January 1991, Bill and Cindy Black, co-directors of  Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries in Gatlinburg, Tenn.,  invited veteran resort missionaries, Bo Simms of South  Carolina, Sam and Betty Anne Schlegel of Florida, and Pete  Owen of Colorado to a meeting in Gatlinburg. This  "formation group" took upon itself the responsibility to  initiate the planning and implementation to form a  professional organization that would be for resort  ministers and those who are interested in doing resort  mission work. The goal of this committee was to involve as  many people as possible in providing the association's  basic design and purpose. This organization would be  separate from the HMB while working in close cooperation  with them.

In a paper Black wrote entitled The Case for The  Association of Resort and Leisure Ministers he states: "The history of resort and leisure missions is a history  marked with strong individuals who were not afraid to  follow God's call into the secular world of play.  Wonderfully creative ministries have developed across our  land because of the willingness of these people to invest  themselves for Christ's sake in resort and leisure  settings. Through the years, however, those of us involved  in these ministries have experienced the special  geographical isolation of resort settings. We have both  struggled with and celebrated in the cultural detachment of  leisure lifestyle people. Further, we have contended with  the misunderstanding of our work by many in the church. We  are strong in our individuality but we have needs in our  isolation. For these reasons we have come together in the  Association of Resort and Leisure Ministers. In this  organization we accept responsibility for growing our  family.6

Across the country the veteran resort missionaries, feeling  a need for growth both personally and professionally,  banded together for the first time. September 20, 1991,  fifty-two resort and leisure ministers attended the  formation meeting for the Association of Resort and Leisure  Ministers in Atlanta, Ga. John Ferris, a long time resort  minister in Missouri, made the motion to organize as an  association and a unanimous vote followed. The time had  arrived for resort and leisure ministers across the country  to take responsibility for their growth and development.  Bill Black was elected as the first president of the  organization. Along with him, Christy Hansen was elected  vice-president of administration; Bo Simms was elected  vice-president of membership; Jeff Wagner was elected vice- president of programs and services; and Randy Cowling was  elected vice-president of publications.

The new organization adopted its purpose statement to be: "Our vision is to encourage and celebrate the revelation of  God's presence in resort and leisure settings. As persons  who minister in such settings, we join together to enhance  the effectiveness of our own ministry and to promote the  understanding of resort and leisure ministries. We seek to  equip, nurture, and challenge those involved in resort and  leisure ministries through the sharing of ideas and  resources and by strengthening and undergirding  professional and personal growth."

During the first year of the ARLM much was accomplished.  The membership grew to 75 people. Three fellowship meetings  were held, two newsletters were mailed out, and the  membership of ARLM were involved in administrative  decisions. A working policy and procedure for the  collection and distribution of resumes was established.  Work also began on the standards of recognition and  accreditation for members. Finally, ARLM was asked to serve  in an advisory capacity for the HMB's 1993 Resort and  Leisure Ministries Conference. Bill Lee and Joel Land of the Special Ministries Department  of the HMB offered incredible support to the new  organization by representing the HMB on the executive,  council, and financial assistance committees. The two  organizations began to work in concert with each other in  providing for the needs of resort and leisure ministers. An  agreement was reached that the ARLM could hold meetings in  conjunction with the triennial National Resort and Leisure  Ministries Conferences provided by the Special Ministries  Department. The joining of these two meetings would allow  greater participation of resort missionaries due to travel  assistance provided to the national conference by the HMB.  September 29, 1993, was the first triennial meeting of the  ARLM at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

ARLM has continued to grow and take responsibility for its  growth. With support and encouragement from the HMB, the  association continued to encourage and provide regional  ARLM fellowships. Usually these meetings were attached to  other conferences that the resort people would normally  attend. Fellowship meetings were held on college and  seminary campuses and others were held at the Southern  Baptist conference centers in Ridgecrest, N.C., and  Glorieta, N.M.

ARLM produces professional journals for its membership. A  resume file is maintained for those areas that are looking  for resort and leisure trained professionals. An  accreditation for professionalism has been established by  ARLM. Resort and leisure ministry classes are being offered  on college and seminary campuses. These classes are being  taught by accredited ARLM ministers. More people are  familiar with resort and leisure ministries now than ever  before. There is greater understanding by more traditional  churches. More traditional churches are beginning to reach  out in resort and leisure ministries to destination resorts  or local recreational events.

Resort and leisure ministers have a family that has been  brought together by a greater purpose. Networking among the  ministers has continued to grow. Bill Black writes, "In the formation and action of ARLM, there is a bond of  community. With great joy, we have discovered that there  are other people like us who do the same things we do.  There is a sense that family matters (fellowship); that  what we do is important (extending the kingdom); that how  we do it is also important (professional development); and  that who we are is to be encouraged and celebrated (call  and meaning). As we have become friends, we have affirmed  each other and given meaning to our individuality and  community."7

Whether one believes that resort and leisure ministry was  founded in the Garden of Eden or through the work of people  following the call of God into a secular world of play, it  must be agreed that resort and leisure ministry has had a  strong and inspiring heritage. This heritage has provided a  strong foundation for resort and leisure ministry as it is  today. As strong as the heritage is, so is the future of  resort and leisure ministry. For the most part, resort  ministers are strong-willed and highly motivated people who  believe in their calling to these settings. They are  creative people, unafraid to reach out with the gospel to  those people who live leisure lifestyles. They are  committed to continuing to reach people in resort and  leisure settings.

Endnotes:
1The Southern Baptist Home Mission Board merged with two  other Southern Baptist agencies in 1997 and became the  North American Mission Board. 2Questionnaire response to Pete Owen; October 1996. 3Campers on Mission is an organization to bring those who  enjoy camping together in ministry and fellowship. 4The name was changed to US/C-2 after the formation of the  North American Mission Board. 5Questionnaire response to Pete Owen, October 1996.  6The Case for The Association of Resort and Leisure  Ministers; Personal papers, Bill Black, 1991. 7Why We Do What We Do; Bill Black; The ARLM Journal, Vol. 2,  No. 1, February 1996.

Adapted from Chapter 1 of A Christian Ministry in Resort  and Leisure Settings by Joe B. "Pete" Owen. Copyright ©  1998, Colorado Baptist General Convention Press. All rights  reserved. Used by permission.