On April 16, 1950, Dr. Paul Wright, pastor of First Presbyterian Church from 1943 until 1977, preached a sermon in which the possibility of a new church-owned and -operated retreat and conference center was broached.
In 1914, the church had received a gift of sixty acres of land for the establishment of a farm colony as a retreat for men from the Men's Resort, a ministry of the church for unemployed men, many of whom struggled with addiction problems. When Prohibition went into effect in 1916, many thought that the need for Hillockburn would disappear. However, men with a variety of needs continued to find there a place of renewal, refreshment, and new beginnings. In April 1917, with the United States' entry into the World War, Hillockburn did close and remained so until the end of the war. The transformation of Hillockburn from a facility for men with addiction problems to a camp for children, youth, and young adults began in July 1921 when the First Presbyterian San Grael Christian Endeavor Society spent the Independence Day weekend at the camp. In 1923, a full summer of children and youth camps was initiated. Hillockburn continued to provide opportunities for summer retreats and church activities until shortly before the Second World War.
Dr. Wright had a vision of a renewed retreat and conference ministry for the church. Hillockburn had been considered as the location for launching this kind of ministry. But the facility had fallen into a state of disrepair. Additionally, it was not as accessible as the leadership felt such a facility should be and it was not available, because of weather conditions, more than ten weeks a year. Consideration had been given to renting facilities, yet a rented space would not be, as Dr. Wright put it, "a place of retreat, such as we're thinking of--something that feels a part of a family with a hominess and the rich, dear associations that grow up around it and are part of the preparation for the work of the Holy Spirit."
It was then that the availability of the Julius Meier estate was brought to the attention of the church's leadership. The Meier family country retreat consisted of over ninety acres, with a winding private entrance road, seven buildings, a wide lawn, orchards, gardens, a swimming pool, tennis courts, five miles of roadway leading to various parts of the property, creeks, streams, primitive forests, trails, waterfalls, and a magnificent view of the Columbia River Gorge.
The Meier family purchased the property in 1914. Samuel Christopher Lancaster, the engineer who designed the Columbia River Highway, recommended the site to Julius L. Meier, later Governor of Oregon. The first permanent settlement on the land was in 1874 when a family named Painter fled Hawaii for fear of confinement to a leper colony and homesteaded on the land. The Painter family owned and lived on the property for forty years until the Meiers bought it from "Indian Joe" Painter. Upon purchase of the land, the family burned the shack in which "Indian Joe" had lived in the orchard for fear of contamination by leprosy. It was initially used as an operating farm, but then a lodge was constructed for the family's use. The first residence was much more rugged than the present Wright Hall at Menucha, which was constructed in 1927. It was of the "hunting lodge" style and employed tree trunks with the bark still on them for the beams and support posts. However, dry rot and carpenter ants required the initial building to be razed.
First Presbyterian purchased and took ownership of the property in June 1950. Menucha, which means "ever-changing stillness" in Hebrew, was dedicated July 23, 1950. The service began with the ringing of the bell that had rung for so many years at Hillockburn. William Robert Verry, grandson of W. L. Verry who gave the bell to Hillockburn and who as a child had rung the bell for the Hillockburn dedication, sounded the Hillockburn Bell for the dedication of Menucha. The service concluded with a "Friendship Circle" and the singing of the first stanza of "Blest Be the Tie That Binds":
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
In the early years volunteers from the church and short-term resident managers operated Menucha. Rev. Chuck Knapp and Rita Knapp were directors of the facility from 1965 until 1977. Rev. Merritt McCall and Carolyn McCall joined the Menucha staff in 1974 and assumed the mantle of leadership in 1977. The McCalls retired in 2004. Rev. Spencer Parks is the current Director of Menucha. New buildings have been added over the years, including the Beam House, Lindsay House, and Creevey Commons. In 2003 the church purchased a new home for the Director and named it McCall House in honor of the long-time leaders of the church's ministry.
Menucha continues as a valuable ministry of First Presbyterian Church serving not only church groups but also church, civic, and nonprofit groups from across the Pacific Northwest who find there a place of quiet rest, renewal, and restoration.
|
