By Lane Loman, FAS Speaker
“The Great Awakening” was having an impact on the eastern part of the United States as was the Civil War. The year was 1862! On the Eli McCall farm, near Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, Cherry Run Camp Meeting had its beginning. Three years later, on June 17, 1865, the trustees of the camp purchased the present property and Cherry Run Union Camp became a permanent camp meeting. During this time, the camp was governed by trustees from the Rimersburg, Curlsville, and Callensburg charges of the Methodist Church. Train schedules were published, and the Sligo branch of the railroad transported attenders to the camp. Others came on horse or by wagon, and many walked miles to get to the camp. According to the Cherry Run Camp Handbook, “it was customary for several thousand to be in attendance in the Sunday afternoon services.” By 1915, the cost for one person and a horse was ten cents. A family ticket was one dollar and fifty cents.
During the 1930s, declining interest in the camp and indebtedness brought the camp to the brink of certain closure. However, under the leadership of “Daddy Ross,” pastor of the Rimersburg Methodist Church, and with the assistance of Jonathan E. Shaffer (known as the man who kept Cherry Run alive), the camp was revitalized. Across the years, buildings have been added, older buildings and cottages re-modeled, and a new tabernacle completed—The James Marshall Tabernacle—in time for the 2001 camp meeting.
I have had the privilege of speaking at Cherry Run Camp six times, the first in 1994. I remember the old, original tabernacle. Most of the leaders and attenders are members or pastors of Methodist churches. There is a “heart” for the holiness message at the camp, and the people have a passion for keeping that flame burning and their camp alive.
What joy to work with Rev. Stan Key and Mark Murphy at this year’s camp! My dad used to say, “If you feed the people well in the dining hall and feed them well in the tabernacle, they will come!” Cherry Run goes the extra mile to be sure that happens! The camp starts the last Saturday of July and lasts nine days. Perhaps next July, you could make plans to attend.