Moss retiring from Camp Pinnacle after nine years of service, set to start "different stage"

CLAYTON — After nearly nine years of building campfires, hauling trash, and removing fallen timber – not to mention providing for the care and feeding of camp ducks Quackers and Cheese and the spiritual nourishment of thousands of young girls – Camp Director Joe Moss has set his eyes on retirement.

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Joe Moss says goodbye to some of this summer’s campers who have been introduced to missions through a week at Camp Pinnacle. The Clayton facility has become a spiritual second home to thousands of GAs and their parents.

The only timetable he has given is “sometime in August or September, somewhere in there,” but whatever the date it will be a time for Moss and his wife, Debbie, to enjoy a different stage in their lives.

“I’m retiring because I’m 62 years old and I want to travel and go on mission trips while I’m still able,” he says matter-of-factly while making change for a young girl in the camp gift shop.

Moss is no stranger to missions, having served with Debbie for 12 years in the African nation of Togo. The last six years of that service saw him in the role of camp director for the West African Conference Center in Lome, Togo.

And that’s where he begins to share how he came to Camp Pinnacle.

“Debbie and I were home on furlough and she was asked to speak at a WMU meeting. She began sharing about our work at the conference center and someone asked her to pray about our considering a similar position at Camp Pinnacle, and that’s how it all began,” he recalls.

Joe Westbury/Index

Campers listen as a missionary brings a devotional about service and sacrifice in the name of Christ. Evening vesper services are a highlight of the day for many of the girls.

Moss is quick to share a footnote to that story.

“The woman who eventually took my place at the conference center, another missionary, told me that she had first surrendered to missions service years earlier – as a GA at Camp Pinnacle. Isn’t that neat how God works,” he says with his characteristic grin.

Moss says the best part of his job has been “watching God bless the camp for these past nine years. Volunteers are the lifeblood of Camp Pinnacle, and they are why we are able to minister to others as effectively as we do.”

“I’m one of those old-fashion fellas. The WMU prayed for me on the mission field and they blessed Debbie and me by allowing us to serve the Lord here at the camp.”

Camp Pinnacle is prayer walked every week by some of those volunteers, many of whom were trained at the camp’s annual prayer walking retreat. That winter retreat is a hallmark of Moss’ tenure at the camp, a conference he has personally supervised each year and a carryover from his and Debbie’s service on the mission field.

“We try to practice what we preach,” he says in talking about the importance of prayer.

Moss grew up in Valdosta and, after graduating from Southwestern Seminary, served as minister of education at Martinez Baptist Church. From there he and his family, which included daughter Elizabeth and son Jay, left for Africa.

Moss and his wife will continue to live in Clayton and have purchased a house just down the street from where their recently married daughter lives. Their son is enrolled at Kennesaw State University where he is working on a music degree – his second degree from the institution.

Georgia Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union is accepting resumes for the position of camp director at Camp Pinnacle. Resumes can be sent to WMU Executive Director Barbara Curnutt at bcurnutt@gabaptist.org.