When Marjorie Whitner talks about Gilmont, she smiles before she speaks.
She jokingly calls herself a “retreat junkie.” When registration opens for a Spiritual Formation Retreat, she is usually one of the first to sign up. She arrives early to welcome others, throws herself into every workshop and conversation, and before the weekend is over she’s already asking when the next retreat will be held.
Her love for Gilmont began more than fifty years ago with a single handshake.
As a teenager, Marjorie arrived at camp carrying more than a suitcase. She was attending a different school than the other youth from her church, a school she quietly describes as “for broken kids.” She remembers feeling like an outsider.
“I really didn’t belong,” she recalls. “I really didn’t matter.”
Then she met the camp director.
Rev. Harry Meissner greeted her with a smile, reached out his hand, and said, “Call me Harry.”
It seemed like such a small moment.
It wasn’t.
“I expected him to be like most adults,” Marjorie says. “I thought he’d stay with the grown-ups. Instead, he became our friend.”
Harry didn’t simply welcome campers. He noticed them.
He asked questions. He listened carefully. He made room for every voice in the conversation. He had an extraordinary gift for making each person feel like they mattered.
“He saw that I was struggling,” Marjorie says. “Rather than overlook me, he came closer.”
Marjorie still wonders how one person could direct a summer camp, solve endless problems, and somehow make every camper feel known.
Looking back, she believes the answer was simple.
“He chose to be present.”
Harry rarely offered advice. Instead, he offered attention.
“I feel like Harry served as the hands and feet of Christ,” Marjorie says. “He loved Gilmont, and he wanted us to love it too.”
For a teenager searching for belonging, that presence changed everything.
“I left camp knowing I was beloved. I was seen and known by Harry, and therefore also by God.”
The seeds Harry planted continued growing long after camp ended.
Today, Marjorie has become the kind of person Harry was for her. She welcomes newcomers, encourages retreat participants, and helps others experience the same love and belonging she first discovered decades ago.
She often says she doesn’t know who she would be without Gilmont and friends like Harry.
After Harry entered the Church Triumphant on April 4, 2026, Gilmont began looking for a meaningful way to honor his legacy.
On October 10, the courtyard fire pit between our new Welcome Center and Spradlin Lodge was among the spaces dedicated and commissioned for ministry. Named in Harry’s memory, the fire pit will honor a man whose quiet presence continues to warm hearts and shape lives. Gilmont looks forward to gathering for a special dedication of the completed fire pit on April 4, 2027.
It is a fitting tribute.
Around that fire, generations of campers and retreat guests will gather to tell stories, laugh together, pray, sing, and discover what Marjorie discovered so many years ago.
Sometimes a life changes because someone simply shows up, extends a hand, and says, “You belong.”
At Gilmont, we believe every person deserves to be seen, known, and loved. Thank you for helping create spaces where simple acts of presence become lifelong gifts.