When the International Missionary Council met in Madras in 1938, Douglas Horton had just become the Minister and Secretary of the General Council of the Congregational-Christian Churches. Before settling into his new office, Dr. Horton embarked on a voya ge around the world which included visiting missions of the American Board of Commissioners and attending the Madras meeting.
In that day, as now, western visitors were impressed with many aspects of Indian life. A few were especially interested in the Ashrams, places of natural beauty to which small groups of thoughtful people withdrew to study and worship under the leadership of some wise leader.
Douglas Horton returned to America imbued with the idea that temporary withdrawal from the fast pace of modern life could prove as stimulating and refreshing in America as in India. No one who knew him was surprised that it was in the mountains of northe rn New Hampshire that he looked for a site for American Christians and their friends. He gathered a group of men who were interested in the idea and sought and found Pine Mountain in the northernmost end of the Presidential Range. The mountain was owned by the Libby Lumber Company which was willing to sell its summit for the religious purpose outlined by the corporation organized by Dr. Horton. The property was acquired in 1942.
"Our purpose is to establish a place of meeting for Christian workers on the summit of Pine Mountain which will give those who come there an opportunity to live an ordered spiritual life and learn the ways of worship and devotion under the best of leaders hip and amidst the most beautiful of surroundings. Such places of meeting are being developed in many parts of the world today in connection with the 'ecumenical' movement, that is, the movement away from denominationalism and toward a united and strong Christian Church. The leadership will be largely in the hands of layman, though ordained ministers will participate also. Pine Mountain is established on the proposition that the only hope for the world is the acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, i n the light of which mankind is seen as one family under God; that the only hope of winning the world's acceptance of the Gospel is through workers who understand both the world and the Gospel, and that the best way for workers to achieve that understandi ng is by gathering together from time to time to share their insights, to make contact with dynamic religious leaders, and to wait upon God in prayer. At the beginning, gatherings will be held on Pine Mountain only in summer. Pine Mountain will have spe cial interest for and in young people of whom thousands tramp the Presidentals each year."
Over the next years, rugged individuals and sturdy groups climbed the mountain, chopped down trees, laid out trails, developed as open air chapel and finally erected a conference house where 24-30 people could sleep and eat. It was not until 1964 that th is 100 acre site was accessible by vehicle. At that time the National Forest Service put the 1.6 mile road in passable shape.
The Taize order began in 1940 when Roger Schutz, a Swiss student in the Protestant school of theology in Geneva, bought a large house in Gurgundy where he lived alone for two years until the German occupation compelled him to flee to Switzerland. After h is return, two others joined him; together they founded "The Great Community," as they called it, but which is commonly known just as Taize. Their threefold vows called for celibacy, the sharing of goods and the acceptance of authority.
At Taize, the brothers assemble three times a day for ordered worship. But with the life of prayer they combine gainful labor on the farm, in the print shop and in various art studios. Each brother is expected to earn his own keep. Although a majority of the brothers are always at Taize (France), they are also sent forth, usually in groups, to missions in various parts of the world. Their missions in the United States were called "flying missions," limited to several months.
In 1964-66, four Taize brothers (Brother Christopher, Brother Gerard, Brother Anthony, and Brother Joel) spent the summer months on Pine Mountain. During this time they assisted the local talent in the erection of a small dormitory (now known as the Lodg e) and building a chapel (which has been expanded, winterized and is known as Metanoia), conducted family and ecumenical retreats, and hosted conferences for lay persons, Protestant ministers and several student groups.
In 1968, the NH Conference started using the site for small retreats and conferences. There was some minimal youth camping, but it wasn't until 1970 that there was an organized youth program for Horton Center, as the mountain campsite became known. In 1 973, Unit Camping was begun. Over the past years there has been considerable development of the site. The Taize house that had housed the Taize brothers was finished; the chapel was expanded and winterized to become Metanoia; the craft building, Manna, was built; the A-frame was built; three sleeping shelters were built; the recreation building, the Ark, was built in 1977, and in 1978, the kitchen was expanded to meet the demands of the summer camp population. While Horton Center is rustic and very woo dsy, it does provide the comforts that make living on "the mountain" possible without being anything but what it is -- a wilderness, mountain-top campsite.
The vision of Douglas Horton and a group of other visionary people, the care and presence of those people; the Taize brothers, Richard Reingold Niebuhr, Charles Morton, Lynn Hough and many others, and the caring and sharing of many campers and visitors to the mountain have made Horton Center a spiritually alive place.
At its 180th Annual Meeting in Dover, NH on May 16, 1981, the NH Conference of the United Church of Christ adopted the following Mission Statement for Horton Center on Pine Mountain.
Dr. Douglas Horton at the beginning of Pine Mountain's history as a retreat site expressed the purpose as ". . .to establish a place of meeting for Christian workers on the summit of Pine Mountain which will give those who come there an opportunity to liv e an ordered spiritual life and learn the ways of worship and devotion under the best of leadership and amidst the most beautiful of surroundings. . . "
Following the tradition set by Dr. Horton, Horton Center is today one way the New Hampshire Conference provides nurture and ministry to the churches of the Conference. Horton Center contributes to the ministry by providing:
Some parents express concerns about the privacy needs of campers, and when they do, we assure them of the sensitivity of Unit Leaders to this aspect of camp life.
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