Summit Ministries from a Grand View

On May 16, 1891, the Hotel Grandview, in Manitou Springs, Colorado, opened its doors to the public for the first time. Located high above Manitou Avenue, the hotel boasted one "grand view" over the valley and Manitou Springs. The hotel welcomed patrons from all walks of life, from coal miners in Cripple Creek to U.S. Senators. It continued to serve their guests until 1962 when the hotel was sold to Summit Ministries.

Now, 118 years to the day since the doors opened for the first time, the aroma of home-made peanut butter and freshly baked bread drift through the hallways of the turn-of-the-century hotel. It is May and once again the Historic Grandview springs to life with students and staff. The hotel, after laying silent for the past several months, now resonates with laughter and worship as the summer sessions of Summit Ministries worldview and leadership conferences for high school and college students kick into gear once again.

The ballroom, once used for mid-day teas and exquisite galas, now joins together some of today’s greatest minds when it comes to the Christian Worldview. Students sit under some of the most influential minds of our day, including Dr.'s Del Tackett, J.P. Moreland, Frank Beckwith and David Noebel.

The veranda, where Harry S. Truman once spent an afternoon reminiscing with an old friend, is still lined with rocking chairs and still overlooks the beautiful town below. Today, it is used as a forum for students to dialogue with speakers in a small group setting and to incorporate the ideas taught in class into real-life situations.

As stated on it's website, “Summit is an educational Christian ministry whose very existence is a response to our current post-Christian culture. Countless Christians are renouncing their faith and many more are adopting the false humanistic philosophies and religions of [our day]. Most have adopted these ideas into their own worldview, while still others go on to renounce their Christian faith altogether. Summit views its role in God’s kingdom as a catalyst to counteract this alarming trend." Summit is "teaching Christians to analyze competing ideas, challenging them to stand strong in their faith, educating them to defend truth, and ultimately equipping them to impact the world for Christ.” You can learn more about Summit by visiting, www.summit.org.

In a survey, George Barna found that 80% of students who were active Christians in high school and college will have left the faith by age 29¹. Summit’s mission is to ground Christians in their faith, to equip Christians to defend the biblical worldview and to prepare tomorrow’s servant leaders.

Summit was the first place I learned how to engage the culture without forfeiting Truth. For once, I was able to challenge the ideas that I have always been taught as truth and align them with Scripture. Summit equipped me for college so that I would not be one of that 80%, and furthermore, opened the door for Focus on the Family Institute (now Focus Leadership Institute) and AXiS.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and basic principles of the world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8

Notes

1. George Barna, "Most Twenty-Somethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years." You can find the article online here.

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By: Meghan