Lake Junaluska Breaks Ground for A Building of Hospitality—The Joseph and Shirley Bethea Welcome Center

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center broke ground Sunday, July 2, for the Joseph and Shirley Bethea Welcome Center. The 12,000 square foot structure will take 10 months to construct and will serve as the Welcome Center and lodging check-in location for the Retreat Center, which is located near Asheville, N.C.

Over $1.6 Million has been raised for the building through donations from over 1000 individuals, regional businesses and United Methodist groups, including 15 conferences within the Southeastern Jurisdiction. According to Bishop McCleskey, Western North Carolina “committees were organized in the Carolinas and over $600,000 was raised from those three conferences. The other annual conferences in the Southeastern Jurisdiction joined in to raise another $400,000.”

Joseph Bethea was an African-American United Methodist Bishop who served in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. According to Jimmy Carr, Executive Director of the Southeastern Jurisdiction, “We are proud to name this building after Joseph and Shirley Bethea. They were leaders of hospitality and kindness for The United Methodist Church.” Carr went on to add that “This building will serve as a constant reminder that we are all children of God and need to be welcoming to everyone.”

Over 250 people attended the ground breaking including Bishops McCleskey (Western North Carolina Conference), Taylor (South Carolina Conference), Kammerer (Virginia Conference) and Swanson (Holston Conference). Bishop Swanson also delivered the sermon for the ceremony and stated “We want folks to know that they are welcome at Lake Junaluska.”

Josefa Bethea Wall, who is the daughter of Joseph and Shirley Bethea, also attended the groundbreaking. About the Welcome Center she stated, “A building that will represent reconciliation and will welcome many in the manner which Joseph and Shirley Bethea welcomed many. It will stand as a symbol of the church’s hospitality,” she said.

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center is one of three facilities owned by the Southeastern Jurisdiction (SEJ) of The United Methodist Church. Each year it hosts over 150,000 guests who use it facilities for meetings, vacations, and recreation. Visit http://www.lakejunaluska.com/to find out more about Lake Junaluska and the SEJ.