A Place of Calling

Today’s blog post is written by Steve Stone Jr. Currently, Steve serves as the Pastor of Youth, Missions, and Care at Belle Meade UMC in Nashville, TN. He attended Mountain T.O.P. as a youth and now brings his youth group from Belle Meade!

As an individual, I have a long history with Mountain T.O.P. I first attended Mountain T.O.P. as a youth back in the 90’s and served throughout my high school years as youth each summer with my youth group. After graduating, I returned as a youth leader with the youth groups I lead.

I received my call to full-time ministry while at Mountain T.O.P. We were serving a man named Raymond Spear. Like many of the folks in this area, Raymond and his brother James lived on the same piece of property. Raymond was busy at work the day we arrived, so we were to check in with his brother James before we began.

Little did I know that James was a righteous and devout man of God and a strong believer in the movement of the Holy Spirit. As I entered James’s house, he greeted me and before I could even speak, he declared that he had the gift of seeing other’s gifts and that I was going to be a preacher someday. Although I had heard this before and had even had some signs point to the truth of this proclamation, but I had never had someone greet me in this way declaring it for all to hear.

I politely thanked him but quickly moved on to introducing myself and others as means of changing the subject, but James would not be deterred. He again proclaimed the truth that he could readily discern. I again, but more directly, shrugged his comments off and we continued introductions and soon moved on to the task at hand regarding his brother Raymond’s project.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, this would not be the last of our conversation. At the end of the week, we finished our project at Raymond’s and headed home from Mountain T.O.P.

Once I arrived home, I learned that I had a letter. I was living with my parents at the time and my mom gave me the letter letting me know that it had arrived several days earlier. Turns out, the day that I met James, he had decided to write me a letter reiterating what he had proclaimed in person.

With his proclamation ringing in my ears and his handwritten letter in my hand, I felt the weight of the affirmation of God’s calling that had been present in my life for years. It was as if all the signs and nudges had come to a culmination and coalesced in the weight of that letter in my hand.

I was finally able to receive and believe that God was affirming a call on my life to enter the ministry. I can remember the words of my mother as I shared the letter with her. She said, “Well, I got my calling, but I never received it in writing.”

After that letter, I entered full-time youth ministry and have never looked back. Over 25 years I still find myself in full-time ministry because of the affirmation of a mountain man, a prophet, who proclaimed what he saw God doing while I was serving at Mountain T.O.P.

Over the years, I have participated in countless mission opportunities with various mission organizations, and although I did not attend every year, I always seemed to return to Mountain T.O.P. I am now 47 and have been in relationship with Mountain T.O.P. for over 30 years. That is more than half of my life.

Belle Meade UMC, the church where I currently serve, is down the street from Blakemore UMC. George Bass, one of the founders of Mountain T.O.P., started his dream for this amazing ministry while at Blakemore UMC. So, down the street from where I currently serve, the dream of Mountain T.O.P. was born. Just as I attended in the summer with my youth group, our youth attend in the summer with theirs.

I cannot help but reflect on the ways that these realities are interconnected and have in a sense come full circle. I also can’t help but ask, why? Why have I been in relationship with Mountain T.O.P. for over 30 years? What keeps bringing me back?

I could say that it is the excellent staff. Although this is true, it is not why I return.

I could say that it is the way that Mountain T.O.P. partners with the local community. While they are wonderful at listening to and partnering with the local community, that is not why I return.

I could say that they do a wonderful job of empowering youth to ministry. Again, although this is true, it is not why I return.

I could say that they are adept as an organization at listening to and applying feedback. This too is true, but not why I return.

The reason I return is much simpler, yet deeper than all these valid reasons. I return because when I am at Mountain TO.P., I feel the Spirit of God moving. It’s not that the Spirit is not moving other places, it’s just that it is very apparent that it is on the move there.

I’ve learned that when you find sacred places like these, they are worth returning to, over and over, and over again.