Commentary: 'Pinnacle is a place where we come to withdraw from the noise and chaos of our world'

A display marks the 75th anniversary of Camp Pinnacle.
A display marks the 75th anniversary of Camp Pinnacle.
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Editors note: What follows are Barbara Curnutt's remarks delivered at the 75th anniversary celebration of Camp Pinnacle on Saturday. 

There’s just something about this place called Pinnacle.

From the moment I first stepped foot on these grounds, I recognized that Pinnacle is a hallowed place – a place we regard as holy because of our personal encounters with the Living God on this hallowed ground, a place that belongs to God, and not to us.  We simply steward His gift.

It is a place where God consistently meets our needs abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine.

Pinnacle is a place of sanctuary, refuge, retreat.

The word "retreat" comes from the Latin root meaning to "draw back." 

Pinnacle is a place where we come to withdraw from the noise and chaos of our world, and enter into the quiet, uninterrupted peace and presence of God. 

It is a place that provides shelter for our children to meet with God and hear from Him, whether it’s inside the Chapel, beside the lake or around a campfire.

God’s sanctuary is wherever we experience Him. It’s the place where our heart is, and where our memories linger.

Pinnacle is a place of community, of family.

This is a place where lifelong friendships have been forged and renewed year after year.

A community of place is a community of people who are bound together by a common purpose. Our shared purpose is clear: God’s missions mandate.

His purpose unites us as family.  And family members take care of the family homestead and the children.

I am grateful for the women within our Pinnacle family who have prayed and sacrificed time, tireless energy and extravagant resources to keep our summer missions camp alive and thriving.

When I see the beautifully renovated Chapel, the six new cabin lodges, the Wellness Center and the new administrator’s house and consider all that God has done, I am so thankful for visionary women willing to look beyond “band-aid fixes” and believe by faith what is possible with God’s limitless resources.

Being a part of Pinnacle’s family reminds us that we are a part of something far greater than ourselves.

Finally, Pinnacle is a place of commissioning, where so many have experienced the call of God on their lives.

  • Summer campers who began their faith journey with Christ on this campus.
  • Campers and staff who have responded to God’s call to follow Him to the ends of the earth.
  • Women who have met God here and made decisions that impacted marriages, families, churches and the cause of missions around the world.
  • And countless others who have experienced the life-transforming power and presence of God on this hallowed ground.

We have been extraordinarily blessed to share life together in this remarkable place called Pinnacle – finding our story in His story individually and collectively and witnessing God’s glory in unimaginable ways. 

It’s quite a place. Praise God for this place.
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Barbara Curnutt is former executive director of the Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union of Georgia.