Last week this column told the background of assemblies in Virginia Baptist history. The column managed to get as far as the critical meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia in November 1950 when “Eagle's Eyrie”—a large expanse of wooded mountaintop with an old wooden house—was secured by Virginia Baptists with the intention of transforming it into a first-class assembly grounds. It was agreed that it would be a pay-as-you-go project.
At the time, the BGAV included 1,243 churches and approximately 343,000 Baptists. Under the leadership of Jim Bryant as executive director, Virginia Baptists were determined to move forward with the assembly grounds.
Fred Anderson
Robert L. Randolph, secretary of the office of “enlistment, evangelism and stewardship,” and his wife, Flora, moved to Eagle Eyrie (note that the “ ‘s ” had been dropped) in April 1951 along with Bill Thompson, pastor of Inglewood in Lynchburg, and his wife, Margaret. They occupied the old white mansion and served as hosts for the many Virginia Baptists whose curiosity and concern motivated visits to the mountaintop. In the course of about six months, some 3,000 visitors came calling! Some churches filled up automobiles, packed lunches and headed for the mountain to see the future possibilities for themselves.
Randolph once shared the happy memory of how Virginia Baptists discovered Eagle Eyrie atop Locke Mountain. The study committee was underway considering different possible locations for a proposed BGAV-owned assembly grounds. A tour of the state had been planned. Someone happened to see an advertisement for the sale of the property of about 200 acres atop the mountain outside of Lynchburg. The “someone” told Bill Thompson, whose “fertile imagination had to be shared with somebody else” and that “someone” was Randolph. Several Lynchburg pastors, including Wesley Shrader at First and Warner Fusselle at Rivermont Avenue, joined Thompson and Randolph for a tour of the property.
Randolph later recalled: “Although we had passed this way many times before, we had never so much as seen the lovely mansion-like dwelling hidden among the trees, nor the expanding areas so gloriously suited for an assembly—and we dreamed dreams!”
The study committee did make its tour, traveling all the way to Gate City in Scott County to examine a possible site. The committee concluded that “Southwest Virginia is so full of beautiful sites but they are too far removed from the center of the state.” The committee got all the way to Bedford to a site near the famed Peaks of Otter. Randolph reported that “the boys” on the committee were “getting tired” but that he managed to get them to go by Eagle Eyrie “just to see.”
Randolph pictured the scene: “They saw—some doubted, but when Jim Bryant turned to me and said, as we looked from the upper balcony of this stately mansion and saw what we had hoped he would see, ‘This is it,' I knew we had about come to the end of the search. Mr. Bryant is a man of action. After conferring with the committee, Bryant secured an option on the property and did not turn it loose! It is now ‘ours.' ”
Jim Bryant encouraged Virginia Baptists to develop at Eagle Eyrie “a Summer Assembly which will be unparalleled in the life of Southern Baptists.” It would be a big and bold undertaking. It would “undergird, supplement and complement every department of the work of Virginia Baptists.” It was envisioned that “many of our youth will find their place in the building of the Kingdom in the Assembly at Eagle Eyrie.” The promotion language called it “a haven for the old as well as the young and the indifferent as well as the active members of our churches.”
Bryant turned to an energetic minister to take charge of the project. Herbert Carlton gave every ounce of his strength to give the vision some sure foundations. He traveled widely promoting the effort, delivering 158 messages before churches in the first nine months of 1953. He spoke 278 times the next year! He encouraged the Baptists to give toward the project. He enlisted churches into the building of their own cottages on the property. In September 1956, First Baptist Church of South Boston completed the first of some 48 cottages anticipated in the master plan.
Bob Randolph, the Mission Board staff member who shared the vision, never got to see the fulfillment. He died suddenly in April 1956.
The old White House—the mansion which long had dominated the site—needed fresh paint and a lumberyard from Galax donated 50 gallons. Many volunteers, including the BGAV's chief executive officer and all of the staff, participated in the painting. The roads were graveled. Water tanks were erected. Some 10,000 individual Baptists were urged to give $10 each towards the project. The vision was taking shape.
As the project neared completion, there was a change in executive leadership as Lucius Polhill became executive secretary of the BGAV and Jim Bryant became head of the Virginia Baptist Foundation. On the mountain, another change occurred as William O. Beazley became secretary. He saw the renovations of the old gatehouse, which became a snack bar. He supervised the shaping up of the property so that raw places were made smooth. When English Hall opened for the first conference in July 1956, Virginia Baptists had fulfilled their vision with an assembly grounds valued at $500,000. The initial vision had been fulfilled but so much more was waiting to be done.
In time, the mountain became dotted with cottages; swimming pools were added; state-of-the-art classrooms became models of religious education; a hotel was constructed; and a chapel hugged the mountainside. The old White House was dismantled and the handsome Voight Center, a mountain-lodge-looking facility, was constructed. On Saturday June 17, Virginia Baptists will gather on the mountain to celebrate 50 years of Christian witnessing at Eagle Eyrie.
Fred Anderson may be contacted at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.