Emily Reedy Manages the Mountain for the Master

Those who visit Skycroft Conference Center regularly most likely have met Director Emily Reedy, and she was probably on the move! Managing a 350-acre site and a staff of (30 in the off-season / 70 during the summer) is a lot of work! She could be in the office balancing her budget, overseeing a maintenance issue, calming down a camp crisis, urging a snake to take up residence elsewhere, helping housekeeping as they rush to prepare rooms for the next campers, or even unclogging a toilet. Her position also puts her on the BCM/D leadership council, working with other leaders to plan and implement strategy.

She and her husband, Steven, are parents of two children under three. Like all working moms, Emily struggles to balance her job/ministry with family life. The work at Skycroft, which swells to 60-plus hours during the camp season, each week, is challenging, she admits, but the beauty of the mountain and the incredible opportunities to see people come to Jesus makes it all worthwhile. How does she do it? By depending completely on God, step-by-step, she says.

In addition to seeing hundreds of youth, children, and adults make decisions for Christ, Emily shares the most rewarding part of the job is being able to invest in young high school and college students working part-time, returning each summer, and seeing them grow and blossom. “We see them springboard from their time at Skycroft and going to seminary, starting a youth group, or serving on the international mission field. I’m not their mom, but seeing these young adults you’ve invested in ‘fly the nest,’ and step into their own ministry is really cooll. That’s one of the more rewarding parts for many of us.”

That’s kind of what happened to Emily — God led her to Skycroft, then brought her back. Emily shared, “I started working at Skycroft as a 15-year-old lifeguard and at HeBrews (Skycroft’s coffee shop),” she said. She’d return each summer and winter break while attending college. She began helping with games at ReBoot Winter Camp and went on to write the curriculum for the girls’ Bible camp studies.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English and public relations from West Virginia Wesleyan College she began working with community engagement campaigns and communication initiatives for the Frederick County Public Schools and Washington County government. But God had different plans for Emily. Past Skycroft Director Doug DuBois recruited Emily for the position of office manager and within a year, she advanced to associate director.

While serving as associate director, Emily earned her master’s degree in business administration from Mount Saint Mary’s University. Two years later, in 2018, DuBois left, and Emily stepped into the lead position.

Emily is always quick to point to her excellent staff. “It’s a gift to work closely with these incredible individuals and share the joys and hardships of ministry with them not just as teammates but as friends.”

In camp ministry, unforeseen circumstances inevitably arise, usually with implications for all guests on campus. “When a gnarly thunderstorm knocks out your power for 24 hours, for example, you’ve still got hundreds of people on campus to feed, house and care for. We’ve got to act fast to creatively meet needs while simultaneously working to solve the underlying issue. It requires all of us to be flexible, wear many different hats, and pitch in until the crisis resolves. The strongest friendships are forged in the fire, and that’s how it feels. We know each other at an intimate level, and trust is built quickly. It feels like family.”

She’s had tremendous joy on the “Mountain for the Master,” as well as many challenges. Covid was very difficult.

Covid Crisis
During the height of the pandemic, camps came to a grinding halt and Skycroft had to lay off all but the full-time employees. The initial hardship was navigating through six months of complete vacancy, but that was followed by another 18 months of changing regulations and policies, receiving event cancelations, responding to customers’ varying perceptions of safety, cutting expenses, and creating new income streams. The future seemed uncertain.

“Our hope was in God’s provision only, and it was truly amazing!” Reedy said God came through in a big way. In 2022-2023 Reedy and others were blown away when not only did the camps rebound, registration exploded! All the camps were sold out in January. That had never happened before! There were long waiting lists, and staff added additional mini-camps to accommodate more.

A Labor of Love
Looking back, Emily shares one of her favorite weekends that was both a challenge, a highlight, and a huge blessing. She went into labor with her daughter, Josie, while at Winter Reboot Camp.

“It was at the tail end of Covid, but there was one last big wave that went through, so we were barebones. Four people serving in leadership for the event had Covid and were isolating. People were flying in for the event, and flights were being canceled and rerouted. I was wondering, ‘Is this thing even going to happen? We have 200 people showing up tomorrow!”

But there was another issue. “I knew mid-week that my labor had started.” Reedy oversaw all of the Reboot planning, and the timing of labor was not the best. College students who had not been through the Reboot program were coming to staff the event. “They needed someone to provide direction and everyone else was down for the count,” she explained.

Emily and the staff were concerned and prayed that she could get through at least half of the weekend. “The event starts on Friday. I knew if I could get through Saturday afternoon, the rest of the event could run itself and things would slow down.”

Once again, God answered their prayers. On Saturday evening, God let Emily know for sure that it was officially time to head to the hospital to give birth, and the medical staff agreed. Josie was born around 1:00 am that night.

Uniquely Gifted
BCM/D Executive Director Tom Stolle said, “Emily is uniquely gifted to lead Skycroft. She essentially grew up there. Serving at Skycroft from the time she was a teenager, she experienced what it was like to be a camper and to be loved and served by Skycroft staff. As a staff member, she spent years learning about the daily operations, experiencing its challenges, and learning how to keep the conference center moving forward. Emily has built strong relationships with the staff. She is trusted and respected, now leading as our conference center director. I am impressed at how hard she works, how much the staff at Skycroft love her, and how much we all are impacted by her commitment to making Skycroft all it can be. Serving on the BCM/D leadership team, Emily brings a perspective and ideas that are invaluable to us as we lead together, on mission for Jesus. It is an honor to serve with her.”

Emily said, “I feel confident in my calling from God to serve and lead at Skycroft. I am so grateful to belong to a convention that affirms that call and supports me fully at all levels of the organization.”