Sherlock Re-Dedication

This past Sunday evening we were privileged to be able to re-dedicate Sherlock Lodge prior to the 28th Annual Choir Camp concert. The following blog entry is intended to share this exciting time and ceremony with all the people who couldn't be there in person. The opening of this re-dedication ceremony came from the memorial service of Pearl Sherlock in 1954 and was read by Reverend Peggy Luckman.

Psalms 122:1; 134: 1,2; 136:1; 147:1; 95:1,2,6,7 (RSV)

I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!  Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Praise the Lord!  For it is good to sing praise to our God; for he is gracious and a song of praise is seemly.

O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Camp Director, Steve Rumage, followed that by sharing about Pearl Sherlock's life and contributions to Camp Magruder as well as sharing how this renovation has been paid for. 

"Construction of this building was completed nearly fifty years ago and was dedicated to the memory of Pearl E. Sherlock. Pearl Sherlock was born in Madison, Nebraska on September 20, 1892, the daughter of Charles and Belle Sherlock. After graduating high school she attended Kearney State Teachers’ College. She first taught two years in a rural school and then was elected principal of Alexandria, Nebraska High School. Later she was elected principal at another high school, but her deep interest in the church led her to decline and accept the position of pastor’s assistant at the First Methodist Church at Norfolk, Nebraska. Desiring further training, Pearl went back to college where she received her A.B. from Nebraska Wesleyan and took graduate work at Columbia University. After serving as director of Christian Education in Boise, Idaho, she ventured further west into Oregon. Her first work in Portland was at Rose City Methodist Church, where she served as director of Christian Education. After one year she accepted a similar position at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she served twelve years.

Upon her passing on July 20, 1954, Ralph G. Kleen wrote: “Many of us will remember through all time the hearty laughter of Pearl Sherlock. Life was good and wonderful because God was in it. Those who through the years have been privileged to work closely with her in planning the total program of the Oregon Conference will well recall with what care she gave herself to each part, and to the total program. Her vision could not tolerate poor planning nor half-hearted participation. She gave her utmost for the highest, and this she expected of all. It was her vision and complete dedication that inspired such men of Oregon Methodism as the late J. Edgar Purdy, Jesse Bunch, and Frank Magruder to give so much of themselves in the development of our summer camp program. At the center of every forward step in this conference in education, evangelism and recruitment over the past decade has been this Christ-like woman – a Mary and a Martha in her own right.”

In 2008, the conference launched a major gifts campaign entitled “A Time to Grow.” The two-fold purpose of the campaign is to: provide opportunities for growing disciples here at home and in mission setting, through Camp & Retreat Ministries, and to: grow and sustain future ministries through the Oregon-Idaho Foundation. Significant gifts to the campaign benefiting Camp Magruder have been made by the estate of Marilyn Parrish, the Meyer Memorial Trust, and a couple who first met here as counselors and wish to remain anonymous.  These contributions, added to those of others, enabled Camp Magruder to renovate this building. The campaign is actively seeking new contributions that will be matched by the gift from Meyer Memorial Trust.  New gifts will support plans to complete work on Huffman House, and renovate Shorehouse, and Smith & Herron Lodges.  It is our prayer that you may be moved to support efforts to contribute to making “new spaces for new people.”  Through camp and retreat ministries lives are changed, leadership skills are developed, and we learn to reach beyond ourselves and serve others."

Peggy than presented the building by leading people in a call and response re-dedication. This ceremony was closed by a blessing before the Choir Camp concert began. 

We present this building, rebuilt and renewed, to be dedicated to God once again, in service to new generations of campers who will come to experience Christian community within these walls.

Friends, it is a joy to gather together to rededicate Sherlock Lodge for ministry, made new by the gifts of many hands. For the vision of the original donor and those whose gifts made this work possible,

            We give thanks today.

For the careful planning of the designers, and the skilled labor of so many trades,

            We give thanks today.

For the volunteers and staff who will care for the Lodge,

            We give thanks today.

For the boys and girls, men and women who will gather here across the years,

            We give thanks today.

For the living presence of Jesus Christ, here in this place,

            We give thanks today and always!

Gracious God, We dedicate this building, Sherlock Lodge, as a gift and offering to you that it may ever be a place where people encounter you in love and joy. Bless this space as holy and sacred to you. Bless all who gather here as your people. Bless the ministries, camps, and retreats meeting here to your service. In word and song, we give thanks and praise you, in Christ’s name. Amen.