Still Giving Back: The Ministries of Elizabeth and Heather

Elizabeth Madden Pehrson at Greystone

Elizabeth first came to Greystone on staff in 1991, working as a counselor for a few years in the Tennis and Roller Blading (!!) departments. She then switched over to the Group Leader role, faithfully blowing the camp bugles for 4 years. In her last year on staff, she also served as camp’s Program Director.

After meeting her husband David and getting married at Greystone in 1998 (you can read about the wedding on our blog!), she joined Stuart Miller with the audacious task of reviving the off-season Family Camp program. Her extended family then joined her for years as Family Camp attendees, faithfully filling the entire Castle building with her children, nieces, and nephews.

Elizabeth Madden Pehrson’s Ministry

Elizabeth continues to be one of the most encouraging and charismatic people we know. She has leaned into this role by starting The Exchange, a monthly gathering of women based in Atlanta, GA. At these monthly gatherings, the group hears from a dynamic speaker on a specific topic, with the goal of empowering women to live more intentional lives. She welcomes many different speakers (including at times Heather Holleman) and has made an impact on thousands of lives in the greater Atlanta area. If you are local to Atlanta, or want a fun getaway with some girl friends, check out upcoming topics and dates for the Exchange…even better if you take your camp friends!

Not local to Atlanta? Never fear! Elizabeth has a podcast called “On Purpose” where she shares weekly wisdom on many topics that are relevant to our Greystone community. She takes on topics like friendship, habits, motherhood, motivation, grief, and loneliness, and you are sure to find something you’ll connect with. Make sure to check out Episode 9 where she interviewed Heather Holleman about how to have great conversations, and Episode 34 where she relates her experience at Council Fire to what it is like to be in the dark.

This past summer, we were also lucky enough to have Elizabeth join us at camp two different times! She gave the sermon at one of our Sunday services (don’t miss hearing the audio of that fantastic message!), and she also shared her Godly wisdom with our Honor Council group as a guest mentor.

Heather Brown Holleman at Greystone

Heather first came to Greystone in the summer of 1994 after Margaret Foster knocked on her dorm room door at UVA to recruit counselors. Heather worked in the Crafts and Archery departments for two years before switching over to the Group Leader role. Heather created what we now know as Morning Assembly, which has remained in much the same format for our campers today! Also attributed to Heather, our White Hall building is often referred to as the “Grey Café,” the nickname that came from Heather’s ingenious idea to host a coffee house night in the space for her group one summer.

After marrying her husband Ashley in 2000, Heather started working with campus ministry Cru, an organization she is still affiliated with today. She has stayed connected with Greystone in many ways over the years through her writing and devotions.

Heather Brown Holleman’s Ministry

As a professor of writing at Penn State, Heather has leaned into the written word, publishing multiple books and upkeeping a daily blog. Her writings have had a huge impact on our camp community!

We wanted to highlight our favorite of Heather’s books:

• Seated with Christ: This is her first book and is a favorite of ours at camp. If you’ve heard the Gospel story many times but have a hard time figuring out how to live in the truth of that message in your daily life, we highly recommend this book!
• The Six Conversations: Our Head Staff and Group Leader team read this book as we headed into our 2023 summer, as the message is just so applicable to camp. Heather focuses on conversations and the impact that face-to-face dialogues can have on those around you. It reminds us of a good ‘ole camp DMC! It’s especially good on audio too.
• This Seat’s Saved: Have a middle schooler in your life? This is a quick and impactful read on knowing your worth as the story follows along with a fictional middle school character Elita. A great Christmas gift for a daughter, niece, or friend!

Heather is also a traveling speaker, and you can find her schedule on her website (hopefully she’s coming to a town near you soon!). If you can’t see her in person, follow along with her daily blog posts for a great pick-me-up each day.

At camp, we continue to feel Heather’s impact through her writing for our community. She has written several daily devotions on our Blog (subscribe here to have our daily devotions emailed to you each morning), and she also crafted a devotion book specifically for our Greystone community about 30 biblical truths our campers need to know; each cabin has a copy of this devotional for the counselor to use during nightly devotions.