Christ’s Sanctified Holy Church 80th camp meeting starts this weekend

For 79 years, Christ’s Sanctified Holy Church has been bringing congregations locally and from all over the country together for fellowship and worship at their annual camp meeting.

This year marks their 80th meeting, which kicks off this Saturday, July 14, and will end next Saturday, July 21.

Glenn Smith, chief operating officer, said the purpose of the camp meeting is to provide an opportunity for all of their local congregations to come here and worship together.

He said it is eight days of continuous praise, worship, and Bible study. Worship services start first thing in the morning and then they have a morning session, break for lunch, an afternoon worship service, supper, and then singing and worship. During the day, they also have Bible study for children and activities for the youth.

The schedule of services is as follows: prayer service at 7:30 a.m., morning service at 10:30 a.m., “young folks” service at 3 p.m., song service at 6:30 p.m., and evening service at 7:30 p.m. The church’s address is 2500 Highway 41 N., Fort Valley.

“It’s just a great time for them to get together as a church to refresh and recharge,” Smith said.

Vacation Bible School for children ages 4-12 will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. There is no cost, but Smith said pre-registration is required. Parents can register their children online at www.cshc.org.

The event is not only open to church members, it’s also open to the community. Over the course of the eight days, it is estimated that 1,500 to 2,000 people from Georgia and other states such as Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware will participate.

Smith said one of the things that makes Christ’s Sanctified Holy Church unique is their music. He said as a congregation, they sing a lot, which all of their music is a cappella.

“The singing is just beautiful,” he said.

In 1960, the church built a formal nursing home licensed by the state of Georgia; the building was torn down and replaced in 1989. Smith said that building, Church Home Rehabilitation & Healthcare, is attached to the new facility, LifeSpring rehabilitation, which provides short-term rehabilitation, or as Smith says, “to help people spring back to life.” It was completely renovated in 2012. He said the church has made a huge investment in the nursing home for the community.

“Wonderful folks with a great heart,” he said about the church.

Smith noted, “The church bought this property and began their first camp meeting in 1939 and they have had a camp meeting every summer since.”

He said when the church bought the property, their idea was that they wanted to have a place where first they could come together every year for a camp meeting, and secondly, it was a place that some of their members might be able to retire to if they wanted to move to the middle Georgia area.

“As people moved here, that evolved into taking care of their elderly members, which in turn evolved into a nursing home,” Smith said.

He said today the nursing home and both their long-term care and short-term rehabilitation are all about serving the community at large, which includes some of the church members but mostly residents in the community.

“That’s a way for the church to provide love, outreach, and ministry to the middle Georgia community here in the greater Perry, Houston County area,” Smith said.