October 30 — November 2, 2008
Bristol and Mendota, Virginia

Our reason for celebration.

Saint Peter Presbyterian Church and the Highlands Study Center invite everyone to a Celebration of the Reformation which will span 5 days this year beginning with a Vespers service on the 31st of October, continuing with a conference November 1st and 2nd, a market and fair on the 3rd, and will end with a joint worship service on November 4th. Scattered throughout we will be enjoying the joys of reformation living with games, music and dancing, food, crafts and more.

Our desire is that reformation touches all aspects of our lives. Many in our community have experienced a radical paradigm shift in their approach to worship, their children's education, covenant community living, and more. With that in mind, this year we are adding a conference focusing on how the idea of "always reforming" not only keeps the church peaceable and pure, but also produces a life that is often perceived by others as an extreme, radical option to Christian living. The conference venue will be informal and personal with the goal of giving all the lectures the warmth of a fire-side chat. The bonfire will be warm, the music fun to dance to, and the hand-made crafts beautiful.

We encourage you to come and invite all your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to join you. This event is FREE to all. Please join us.

Check back often for more details, as we keep adding more!
For more information, contact us at 877-878-2238 or info[at]highlandsstudycenter[dot]org.
Maps and hotel accommodations are at the bottom of the page.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
Keep watching, and start planning to come!

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, October 31

Evening Vespers Service
Saint Peter Presbyterian Church
Bristol Parish
6:00pm

Thursday, November 1

Conference
Mendota Community Center
Mendota, VA
1:00pm-4:00pm
Lectures on the "Solas" by Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. and Laurence Windham:

1:00pm Welcome
1:10-2:00pm By Faith Alone—R.C. Sproul Jr.
2:10-3:00pm By Scripture Alone—Laurence Windham
3:10-4:00pm Sola Gratia—R.C. Sproul Jr.

Psalm Sing
Mendota Community Center
5:30pm-Dusk

Bonfire with s'mores and stories of the Reformation
Mendota Community Center
Dusk 'til ...

Clothing Exchange
Mendota Community Center
All Day

Friday, November 2

Conference
Mendota Community Center
1:00pm-4:00pm
Lectures on the "Solas" by Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr., Laurence Windham, and Mark Dewey:

1:00-2:00pm Solo Christo—Mark Dewey
2:00-3:00pm Soli Deo Gloria—R.C. Sproul Jr.
3:00-4:00pm Q&A Basement Tape—All Speakers

Games
Mendota Community Center
4:00pm-6:00pm

Dance
Mendota Community Center
6:00pm-9:00pm

Clothing Exchange
Mendota Community Center
All Day

Saturday, November 3

Reformation Market and Fair
Mendota Community Center
10:00am-8:00pm
Events will include: Reading of the 95 Theses, Chili Cook-off, Home Brew Contest, Pie Baking Contest, Contest Awards, Games, Food, Live Music, Crafts, Baked and Canned Goods, Crafts for sale, Clothing exchange, Face painting, and More ...

Return of the Daughters movie
Mendota Community Center
Noon

Join us for a special screening of Return of the Daughters, a controversial, groundbreaking documentary from Anna and Elizabeth Botkin, the ladies who gave us the book, So Much More: The Remarkable Influence of Visionary Daughters on the Kingdom of God. Their new film, paints a beautiful picture of a presuppositionally biblical approach to training noble, intelligent, and virtuous Christian daughters of the 21st century.

Clothing Exchange
Mendota Community Center
All Day

Sunday, November 4

Joint worship service
Saint Peter Presbyterian Church
Bristol, VA
10:00am

More information on the events.

Here we have a bunch of random information about the different events that will be taking place during this festival. We will try to keep the information here rather organized, but we can't guarantee anything. Hopefully you will find answers to any qusetions and lots of spoilers about the events.

Lectures on the Solas. We will soon have more on this. We do know that it is going to be enjoyable, and that over the two days we will focus on all five Solas: Sola gratia, Sola fide, Sola scriptura, Solus Christus, Soli Deo gloria.
Update: We have the times for the lectures up, and soon we will have short descriptions of the talks. Stay tuned.

Chili cook-off, pie baking and homebrew contests. Everyone is encouraged to enter any of the contests. You may call ahead to state that you are entering a contest, but you are not required. To enter the pie baking or chili cook-off, simply show up at the Community Center with your pie or chili and bring it to the kitchen (ask a fat person for directions to the kitchen if you need to). Actual time of contest will either be announced here later or at the fair. The homebrew contest will be held off-site, probably at Wayne Hays' house, since he lives across the street and alcohol is not permitted on the Community Center property. More details soon.

Chili Cookoff Rules:
1. Chili should be dropped off at the Mendota Community Center by Noon on Saturday.
2. Containers need to be labeled with contestant's name and a descriptive name for the chili.
3. Only one entry per person.

Pie Baking Contest Rules:
1. Pies need to be delivered to the Mendota Community Center by Noon on Saturday.
2. Pie containers need to have type of pie and contestant's name.
3. Pie should be baked in an 8 or 9 inch disposable pie pan. We cannot be responsible for the return of non-disposable pie pans.
4. Only one pie per contestant.
5. All entries must be baked at home from scratch (no pre-mixes, canned fillings, commercial mixes, puddings, etc.).
6. All pies must be entered at room temperature.
7. Recipes must accompany contestant's baked entry and must be completed with total ingredients used.
8. All entries will be judged on:
· Appearance
· Taste
· Crust

Rules for Homebrew Contest:
1. Beer needs to be delivered by Noon on Saturday at the Hays' house across the street from the Mendota Community Center.
2. 2 bottles per entry is required.
3. Beer should be labeled by name of beer and name of contestant.
4. Only one brew per contestant.

Crafts and other market items for sale. Reformation in our age necessitates thinking outside culture's vocational box. Our Market/Festival, therefore, becomes an opportunity for many of our younger covenant members to experience their first steps into being creative entrepreneurs. All the energy and design that is being sown holds the possibility of a harvest of cottage industries and private businesses in the future. This year we are adding to our normal market fare the addition of other quality household and farm merchandise; books, clothing, tools, etc. Though the setting up of booths and tables of merchandise is mainly supplied by our church community, if anyone else would like to set up a booth with items for sale, call Dante at 877-878-2238 for more information.

More notes and rules for selling merchandise, food, crafts or games.
1. There will be some tables available on site but be careful not to rely on them as many of the onsite tables were old and in disrepair.
2. Electricity is available — be sure to bring your own extension cords.
3. You may start setting up at 9:AM on Saturday.
4. This year we want to have quality items included in the market. Household, school and farming items are welcome. (Books, clothing, tools, furniture, toys, etc.) All such merchandise needs to be appropriately shelved, hung or arranged in your selling area.
5. Invite others that you know who share our ideals to come and set-up booths as well.

Clothing exchange. There is no better time and place to gather and swap clothing then at a festival. This year we are setting up a room with the express purpose of trading clothing. This exchange is mainly for children's clothes, but maternity clothes for mom and overalls for pop are heartily welcome also (some of us are in need of some new duds). The idea is to bring in clothes you don't need and find clothes you do. It is not required that you have to bring clothes to get clothes, but if no one brings any, no one can bring any home. More details on the logistics will be available later.

More on the clothing exchange. There will be a room set up in the Mendota Community Center for the exchange. It will open before lunch on Thursday and Friday, and close sometime before the end of the night's festivities. It will be open from 9am until 7pm on Saturday.
Important facts:
1. There will be tables and labels to help organize the clothing by sizes. Try to bring your stuff organized or organize it when you arrive.
2. There will be no permanent volunteer available. If you would like to volunteer some of your time to help keep things in order, that would be very welcome. Saint Peter folk need to contact Erin Tilton or Samantha Tremayne, all others can contact the Highlands Study Center office.
3. Any clothing not picked up by their original owners at the end of the weekend will be gathered and donated.

Music. Bring your instruments, as there will be ample opportunity to jam with other musicians. Young and old will gather in large and small groups and jam on strings, wind, percussion, and anything else they can come up with. The music will be acoustic, but not limited to folk and bluegrass. Rumor has it we will have a "talent show" as well. More on that soon.

Maps and Lodging

Saint Peter Presbyterian Church website for maps and directions.

Google map of "downtown" Mendota, location of the Community Center.

Hotels and Motels in the Bristol area. It's as close as you will get to Mendota. Not that you will mind the 25 minute drive.