Be still and listen

Be still and listen: Historic site beckons as annual camp meeting takes place

It's been mostly the sounds of silence that initially have greeted visitors to the National Campground in Greenback as services have gotten underway beneath the heavens.

The annual event that takes place in early September is a call for unity as it was at that very first meeting in 1873. Back then it was to heal from the divisive Civil War, as local families often had soldiers on both sides.

Baptists, Methodists, Friends and Presbyterians all came together. It's the same in 2019.

The National Campground Meetings will take place beginning Sunday, Sept. 8, and continuing through Thursday, Sept. 12, at the shed on the site in Greenback, which has been named a historical site. Each night a different minister will preach and local choirs will lift their voices in praise. Services get underway at 7 p.m. each day.

A bell that has been in service since the beginning calls the worshippers together.

On Sept. 8, the speaker will be the Rev. Scott Knight, pastor of Ball Play Friends; Sept. 9 will feature the Rev. Clifton Hearon of Six Mile Baptist; Methodist minister the Rev. Gerald Russell takes the podium on Sept. 10; the Rev. Nick Perkins (Presbyterian) will be next, on Sept. 11. The meetings close out on Sept. 12 with the Rev. Brian Brantley of Friendsville Friends.

Being on this ground, where 146 years ago families gathered for renewal and restoration, is unlike any experience, Knight said.

"I have been coming there for 43 years," the minister said. Knight, who is 65, moved to Greenback in 1976 and attended the meetings that first year. He was pastoring Axley's Chapel at the time.

"I had never had that experience before I came," he said. "Community churches would suspend morning and evening services on Sunday and come to the campground. The meetings used to last a week. On the last Sunday, they would have homecoming with dinner on the grounds and then an afternoon speaker."

Changes over the years

Things are done differently today. The meetings are five days, not eight. Each year, a different denomination opens the meetings on Sunday and then closes it down on Thursday. This year, it's the Quakers who have the honor.

The services are also only held in the evening.

Jimmy Guider, who serves as chairman of the National Campground, said they strive every year to reach new people, and those who are younger. That's so this continuous gathering will endure, he said.

One thing that has boosted attendance over the year is when area churches cancel their own Sunday night services on opening night and encourage members to join the campground experience.

"I wish churches would do that more and bring in young people so they could experience this," Guider said.

He was a youngster when he first attended. Guider was born in 1940 and said his first camp meeting was probably in 1946 or 1947. He said a neighbor who had a car brought him.

Guider became a minister, serving multiple congregations. He had to laugh when that neighbor, many years later, told him " I never did think you would ever make a preacher."

Guider pastored Browder Memorial Methodist Church in Sweetwater for 13 years and retired in 2009. He continues to fill in for various churches and also sings.

In the days leading up to this year's meetings, Guider said repair work has been done to the shed. Some of the timbers have suffered and are being reinforced. Mowing of the grass and the dusting off of seats will be completed, too.

Something to see

The shed is made of hewed timbers that are held together by wooden pegs. The vertical posts have marks on them designating what position they should be in when assembled. The ground has a natural slope and the timbers were cut at different lengths so the roof would be level, which is quite a feat, Guider said. The roof is metal now but was probably wood at one time.

The mowing in recent times has been done by someone who comes to do the work and leaves, unnoticed. Guider said it is someone who is just doing their part to see that this gathering continues.

Chuck Howell takes over as music leader this year. The Rev. Keith Ross did it for years. A new sound system has been purchased to make sure voices lifted in praise reach upward and onward.

The board members include Bob Hampton, Mack Whitehead, Guider, Knight, Ray Lane, Dwayne Payne and secretary Patty Weaver.

For the rest of the year, the site sits empty. Guider said Fariview United Methodist Church held its fall festival here a few years ago. Russell was pastor then. He once rode to meetings dressed as a circuit-riding preacher when he led the services years ago.

Guider and Knight serve on the National Campground board. Knight said there have some interesting and unusual things happen over the years.

Snakes and high wind

Like the year a fast-moving storm came through, knocking out power. And the time a snake visited the service, crawling up a wall behind the speaker.

But in these 146 years, the services have never been canceled. Knight said a few years ago when the remnants of hurricane made its way here, the decision was made to carry on.

"it was a windy and blustery night, but we did meet," Knight said.

He also recalled one year when the original bell went missing, only to be found at a flea market. The bell had identifying marks and was rescued and placed back where it belongs. The bell isn't left out all year long anymore, Knight said.

Bobby Anderson has been the face of the National Campground for many years. His wife, Aileen, died recently, and Knight assisted with her funeral. There is a photo of the Andersons ringing the bell together. Knight said they've been friends for decades.

This minister said he does feel the urgency to make sure the meetings continue. He was one of the younger people who came those many years ago. "We have now become the old-timers in a sense," he said.

In some years, the sounds of nature take over for a brief moment. A flock of geese or some frogs or chatty cicadas lift their own voices.

"Once in a while there is a car driving along the campground road," Knight said. "But this is a good, quiet place where people can come and worship and reflect."

Guider has talked to numerous people who have come to this sacred place for years. He said those here for the first time will gaze up, marveling at the craftsmanship of the shed. Those who came decades ago remember people on horseback and traveling by buggy.

"Be still and you can sense the presence of the spirit," he said. "Let your mind wander and imagine how it was back then."