Bishop Calls Interim Directors to Lead St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center
St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island will return to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church on October 1, 2022. Located on 314 acres of beach, maritime forest, and undisturbed salt marsh, the center was first created through the gift of land to the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina beginning in 1938. Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called Rick and Helen Hargreaves, experienced leaders of Episcopal camp and conference centers, to serve as interim executive directors and lead this important transition, beginning October 1.
Created as a summer camp for disadvantaged boys in 1938, St. Christopher has grown into a year-round camp and conference facility. The camp remains an integral part of the ministry at St. Christopher, with approximately 1,200 youth attending each summer, while the Conference Center also serves guest groups throughout the year. A wide variety of church, academic, non-profit and business groups have utilized the hotel-style conference and retreat amenities for their conference and retreat needs over the past 50 years. These same facilities also offer opportunities for personal use and family gatherings. In addition, the Barrier Island Environmental Education Program has operated since 1981, providing an amazing outdoor education experience for school children.
The Rev. Deacon Helen and Rick Hargreaves have a wealth of experience with Episcopal Church-affiliated camp and conference Centers, particularly in helping centers during times of transition. In 2016, the couple retired after serving as executive directors for 15 years at Camp Mitchell in the Diocese of Arkansas, but almost immediately found themselves asking what they were going to do with all they had learned through that valuable experience.
Soon after they were contacted by someone with the Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers (ECCC), a professional development and support network, who asked them if they would consider training that would allow them to guide interim directors and the unique challenges faced by those temporary positions. In the years since completing that training, the Hargreaves have guided several camp and conference centers as interim directors, including Sandscrest Conference and Retreat Center in West Virginia, the Cathedral Ridge Center in Colorado, and the Barbara Harris Camp and Conference Center in New Hampshire.
While serving in Colorado, the Hargreaves met Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, who was at the time serving in the Diocese of Colorado as Canon to the Ordinary. When Bishop Woodliff-Stanley learned earlier this year that the St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center would finally be returning to our diocese and The Episcopal Church, she immediately thought of the Hargreaves and knew they would be the right people to lead the center in this important transition.
“Helen and Rick are gracious leaders who bring the seasoned experience we need to guide us through the important season of transition as we welcome the St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center back into the Diocese and position it well for the future,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “I’m grateful to them for accepting this call and look forward to welcoming them to South Carolina.”
After much prayerful discernment and researching the rich history of the conference center, the Hargreaves, who are currently residents of Arkansas, accepted the call and agreed to serve as interim executive directors for a period of six to nine months, whatever is necessary to effectively lead the transition toward a permanent executive director. “It is evident that many people love St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center dearly, and we want to work with the staff to create a smooth transition while maintaining everything about the camp, conference center, and other educational programs that people have come to know and love,” said the Rev. Deacon Helen Hargreaves.
The Hargreaves have visited St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center and met with most of the leadership, with whom they very much look forward to working alongside. “We found the staff to be welcoming and helpful, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to work with them in this transitional time,” said the Rev. Deacon Helen Hargreaves. “I know they have fears, as anyone might when faced with a bit of the unknown, but one of the gifts that Rick and I have been given is the ability to build relationships with people. That will be a key priority, to calm fears and build meaningful relationships with those who have worked hard to keep St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center what it is today and what many people have loved for generations.”
St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center is located on land that was once owned by Marjorie and Victor Morawetz. In 1938, the couple allowed the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina to operate a summer camp ministry for disadvantaged youth. This couple later deeded the entirety of their property on the island to the Diocese upon their deaths. After the schism in our diocese in 2012, the camp and conference center was operated by the diocese that left The Episcopal Church and later affiliated with the Anglican Church of North America. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court has since ruled, and affirmed in their decisions in April and August of this year, that the St. Christopher Camp and Conference center is the property of the diocese associated with The Episcopal Church, to whom the property was given due to the kindness and generosity of the Morawetz family. The property ownership will officially return to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina on October 1, 2022.