For Rev. Meg Taylor ’69, her two years at Montreat College, then known as Montreat-Anderson College, were deeply formative. Montreat was where Taylor met lifelong friends and prepared for her work as a pastor. Most importantly, it was where she met Jesus.
Originally from Walla Walla, Wash., Taylor did not grow up in a Christian home but began attending a friend’s youth group in junior high. When her senior year of high school arrived and she began searching for a college, she felt strongly led to find a Christian college, even though she did not yet know the Lord. Taylor asked her youth pastor for recommendations, and he gave her a pamphlet featuring Christian colleges across the United States. Montreat’s entry included a beautiful photo of Lake Susan, and she fell in love. Taylor loved the outdoors and was excited to attend school in western North Carolina. More than anything, though, she wanted to attend Montreat to see “if God was truly real.”
One day, Taylor found an overwhelming answer to her question. While walking through the playground at Robert Lake Park, she heard the Lord audibly say, “Here I am, Meg. I am the one you are looking for. I am Jesus.”
“Montreat changed my life. I was not even a Christian, and I found what I was seeking,” Taylor said.
Taylor not only found the Lord and the answer to her questions but also found a beautiful community to walk alongside her during those formative years. She still speaks regularly with two friends from her time at Montreat: Nancy Carolton Stephens and Charlotte Waters Smith.
Her teachers and mentors were also integral to this period in her life. Ruth Graham was an influential Sunday school teacher who modeled a woman of faith for Taylor. Dr. Calvin Thielman, a former college chaplain, also invested in her. Thielman chose a student each semester to help him research his sermons, and he selected Taylor for one of her semesters.
“Outside of coming to find Jesus and having precious friendships, the professors were helping the students to grow up in the faith, even those that were raised in the church. They helped them mature and see things from an adult perspective,” Taylor said.
God used Taylor’s time with Thielman to prepare her for her calling: vocational ministry. God began calling her into ministry after she left Montreat, but she never felt it was the right time. Upon his third call, Taylor responded, trusting where the Lord was guiding her. She attended Asbury Theological Seminary and served as a pastor full time for 36 years and part time for a few years afterward.
Taylor is now retired and lives with family in Spokane, Wash. She encourages current Montreat students to see Montreat as “a place to get grounded and find out who you really are.”
“There are lots of people willing to help you get there; God clearly brought people into my life to help me, and He will bring people into your life too,” Taylor said.
She also encourages students to lean into God, describing him as a “God of detours; He guides us and gives us grace for our mess-ups and helps us get back on track if we ask Him.”