NASHVILLE (BP and local reports) — LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville has finalized the sale of Ridgecrest Conference Center and Summer Camps in North Carolina to the Ridgecrest Foundation, a group dedicated to using the property as a Christian camp and conference center.
“We’re so thankful God has provided this group of dedicated believers to carry on the ministry legacy of Ridgecrest,” said LifeWay President and CEO Ben Mandrell. “We’ve been encouraged to learn of their heart to see lives impacted by the Gospel. God has provided a steward for this incredible ministry that has been a place of spiritual awakening and renewal.”
“We’re so thankful God has provided this group of dedicated believers to carry on the ministry legacy of Ridgecrest.”
Ben Mandrell, LifeWay President and CEO
The new nonprofit ministry, Ridgecrest Foundation, was formed and funded by a group of Christian businesspeople and individuals whose names were not disclosed in the sale announcement. Mandrell said the individuals involved are strong evangelicals with a high view of Scripture and commitment to evangelism and disciple making.
LifeWay will continue to hold youth camps like FUGE, CentriKid, and Student Life at the facility. The Ridgecrest Foundation will also host conferences, events, and summer camp programming including Camp Ridgecrest for Boys and Camp Crestridge for Girls.
The organization’s belief statement affirms biblical inerrancy and Scripture’s perfect authority in matters of faith and conduct, the deity of Jesus Christ and His redemptive mission, the deity and work of the Holy Spirit, and Christ’s saving work on the cross for sinful man.
LifeWay announced in April its intention to sell Ridgecrest, citing changes in organizational strategy, rising costs, and uncertainty due to COVID-19 as reasons for the transfer of the ministries and property.
LifeWay trustees authorized a recommendation for the organization’s executive team to pursue viable options for the sale of the property and operations of the camps and conference center. LifeWay then announced in October it had reached an agreement to sell the 1,200-acre property to the Ridgecrest Foundation.
The sale price was not disclosed but according to a public filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ridgecrest Foundation is attempting to raise $12.5 million through a separate limited liability company called Ridgecrest Funding to finance the purchase.
Southern Baptist’s other assembly, 2400-acre Glorieta Conference Center 15 miles southwest of Santa Fe, N.M., was sold for one dollar in 2013 to Glorieta 2.0, a non-profit group of Texas businessmen who run a Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country.
The original Ridgecrest land, which consisted of 940 acres, was purchased in 1907 for $8,000. The first event was held two years later in a log cabin on the property. For more information on the history of Ridgecrest Conference Center and Summer Camps, visit ridgecrestconferencecenter.com/about-us/history-of-ridgecrest/.
