ALBUQUERQUE (BP)–Wayne Barber grew up in the Southeast, where LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center helped nurture his faith. So when Barber moved to Albuquerque to pastor Hoffmantown Church, he decided to give something back to the LifeWay conference center in the Southwest.
Hoffmantown Church committed a $45,000 donation to LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center during the fiscal year, which ends June 30 for the church. Barber said the church plans to continue giving an amount to be set each year.
“Right now, that’s my heart,” Barber said. “I felt like we really needed to step in beside them [Glorieta] and help.”
Hoffmantown Church’s gift to Glorieta is significant in the conference center’s revitalization process. “I think it’s something that can really help to enhance Glorieta,” Barber said. “Once people see that you respect something, they come to appreciate it more.”
LifeWay began a major revitalization project at Glorieta in 2000. Since then, developers have completely remodeled the Chapparal Inn and the Texas Main. More renovations are in the works as planners seek to fulfill the LifeWay conference centers’ mission of offer the best facilities in America for Christian conferences.
“I am thrilled that Hoffmantown Church has provided this wonderful gift to support LifeWay’s revitalization of the Glorieta Conference Center,” said Mike Arrington, vice president of LifeWay’s corporate affairs division. “We do not request gifts from churches and that makes this gift an even greater encouragement and recognition of the ministry Glorieta has been to the local church for the past 50 years.”
Both men’s and women’s groups from Hoffmantown have participated in retreats at Glorieta, and Barber said they really enjoyed their time at the conference center.
“It provides us with a place where we can go and where our people can be equipped [for the work of ministry],” Barber said.
Glorieta continues to minister to thousands of people every year through a variety of conferences and retreats.
“More than 75,000 people have accepted their ministry call at Glorieta,” Arrington said, “and we continue to witness about 3,000 people each year who make spiritual decisions during their visit to the Glorieta campus. We are thankful to pastor Wayne Barber and his church leadership for their financial support as we prepare this beautiful place called Glorieta for our children and grandchildren.”
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For more information regarding events at Glorieta or Ridgecrest, visit lifeway.com.
