Our Mission
Laurelville Retreat Center’s mission is to provide a peaceful natural setting to reconnect, refresh, renew, and encounter Christ-like hospitality.
Our Core Values
In response to God’s gracious generosity Laurelville will plant, cultivate and nurture
- Christ-like hospitality with welcome and safety for all
- Personal spiritual growth and renewal
- Healthy community where faith flourishes
- Care and respect for all of God’s creation
Statement of Faith
- Jesus is the Core of our Faith
- Service is the Center of our Lives
- Reconciliation is the Focus of our Work
- Friendship to All is our Commitment
- Creation is Where we seek God
In 1995 Mennonites adopted an outline of our beliefs. You can read about it here: A Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.
Then & Now. Laurelville’s History and Partnerships
Laurelville Mennonite Church Center was founded in 1943 by a small group of Mennonites affiliated with the nearby Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, PA., wanting to create a wholesome place for Mennonite youth to spend their leisure time. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Mennonite churches were holding Young People’s Institutes, an outreach program for teens and young adults consisting of Bible study, training and church teaching. The acquisition of the Laurelville property—purchased in the fall of 1943 for $12,000 from Methodists who had operated a camp on its grounds—provided a home for these Institutes and began a long tradition of innovative programming that has since reached far beyond the Mennonite Church.
In the early 1960s Laurelville winterized buildings in order to move from a traditional summer only camp to a “Church Center” where year-round programming could take place. Laurelville brought leaders from across the Mennonite Church to create a strategic plan that would provide programming to adults as well as youth, in the form of retreats (an emerging concept at that time), workshops, seminars and conferences. As one of the first Mennonite camps, Laurelville set a vision soon adopted by Mennonite churches and communities across North America. Now, camps throughout Canada and the United States are a part of the Mennonite Camping Association. Laurelville is proud to be a member of this association, along with the Christian Camp and Conference Association.
From its inception, Laurelville hosted non-Mennonite groups on-site as well. In the early years, there were only a few families or non-Mennonite Christian groups using Laurelville facilities, but this ministry boomed in the 80s and 90s and currently makes up approximately 80% of Laurelville’s business. Denominational groups including Presbyterians, Baptists, Apostolic and many others as well as non-profit organizations, businesses and families fall into the category of “hosted groups”, or groups who rent facilities and receive Laurelville’s signature hospitality.
In 1963 Laurelville began a long-term partnership with the Pittsburgh Kids Foundation (formerly PYN) to host “mud weekends” at Laurelville every fall. Thousands of youth from the Pittsburgh area have played, prayed, and discovered the love of Jesus Christ at Laurelville through this important partnership. In 2018, Laurelville celebrated 55 years of partnership with PKF.
Though the original purchase was only 45 acres, today Laurelville has 600 acres where guests can walk along a large creek, watch spectacular sunsets, climb to the top of Chestnut Ridge for stunning views of the Laurel Highlands, or just rest on a rocking chair and take in the quiet. Laurelville still offers strong programming for all ages, including a full summer camp line-up for children ages five to seventeen and adult programming like the Music and Worship Leaders Retreat, among others.
In 2021, after a 5+ year process examining best practices and perceptions of Laurelville, the board voted to approve a branding change. Even though Laurelville has been open to non-Mennonites since its inception, branding research revealed that many people were still unsure if Laurelville was open only to Mennonites or what they could expect to find by visiting. Some members of the local community still had either never heard of Laurelville or were unaware that it was open to them. While the official name remains Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, future communications will use the name “Laurelville Retreat Center”.
Laurelville’s history continues to be celebrated—and its future, shaped— by those who have supported it through prayer, volunteer time and energy, and financial gifts. From the very beginning Laurelville has been owned by a group of families, known as the Association. Currently consisting of nearly 300 families, this group meets annually for Association meetings, appoints a board of directors to provide organizational oversight, provides financial assistance for scholarships and building projects, and promotes Laurelville around the country.
75th Anniversary Video
To see some of Laurelville’s history in action, hear from dear friends, and learn more about Laurelville’s past, present, and future, follow these links to videos created for our 75th Anniversary:
