James Ryder named Peterkin Interim Executive Director

Peterkin Leadership Transition

Dear Friends in Christ,

I’m writing to you today to share the next steps in Peterkin’s leadership transition. James Ryder has been called as the Interim Executive Director at Peterkin, effective today, August 1. James brings with him fifteen years of Episcopal camp and conference center leadership experience.

Although we officially welcome James to Peterkin today, this is not his first introduction to our beloved camp and conference center. In 2022, as we were taking steps to reopen following the pandemic, James served as a consultant and worked with Diocesan staff and the Peterkin Board to plan and prioritize needed repairs to help us move forward.

During James’ tenure as Interim Executive Director, he will build on the work begun over the last several years, continuing to plan for and execute improvements to the Peterkin property, supporting and developing our existing staff, and helping bring even more people onto this Holy Ground.

As James serves in this interim capacity, I will be working with Diocesan staff and the Peterkin Board to plan for the next chapter of Peterkin’s leadership.

Please join us in welcoming James to Peterkin and the Diocese of West Virginia!

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Matthew D. Cowden

Bishop of West Virginia

James Ryder is an experienced camp and conference professional, nonprofit leader, and project manager with a passion for community-centered hospitality, land stewardship, and historic preservation. Most recently, James served as Co-Executive Director of the Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland, where he led operations across a 260-acre campus serving over 12,000 annual guests. During his tenure, he guided the organization through operationalizing a new 65-room hotel building, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and managed a multimillion-dollar capital campaign, including a nationally recognized barn restoration.

James’s career in outdoor ministry and hospitality has taken him from Camp McDowell in the Diocese of Alabama, where he served as a Conference Center Coordinator, to Camp Latgawa in the Diocese of Oregon, where he worked as a Co-site Director managing a rustic year-round retreat facility in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Early in his career, James served as a Press Assistant to the US House Agriculture Committee as well as taught civics and economics at Ashe County HS in western NC.

James holds a Master of Professional Studies in Political Management from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Social Science Secondary Education from Appalachian State University. He brings a collaborative, mission-driven approach to his work, blending practical know-how with strategic vision to create places that inspire connection, reflection, and renewal.