Centrifuge founder remembered as innovator in student camping

NASHVILLE—Don Mattingly’s belief in camps and young people as leaders led him to see possibilities others didn’t. Southern Baptists saw it with the first Centrifuge summer in 1979. It has continued, with that ministry expecting its two millionth camper this year.

“Don was a very smart person. He would dream something before others even thought about it. He could see where Centrifuge could go long before the rest of us did,” Joe Palmer said.

Palmer joined Mattingly’s work at the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway) in 1981, starting a 28-year career with the entity.

A Houston native, Mattingly earned a degree in church recreation from Baylor University before completing M.R.W and Ed.D. degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He went on to serve as minister of youth and recreation at Sagamore Hill Baptist Church in Fort Worth, First Baptist Church in Beaumont, and Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston.

From church recreation to national movement

He joined the Baptist Sunday School Board in October 1975 as a consultant in the church recreation department, later moving to manage the church recreation department.

That brought Centrifuge, a camp designed to place more teaching and leadership responsibility with seminary and college-age people. The camp’s purpose was also to help students separate biblical and worldly influences, like a centrifuge, before learning how to maximize those biblical values in life.

Mattingly died March 19 after years of declining health. His memorial will be held April 25 at ClearView Baptist Church in Franklin, Tenn., which Mattingly and his wife, Kathy, helped start.

Mattingly spent 17 years working for Southern Baptists. In 1997, he returned to his alma mater to develop a similar style camp for grades 7 through 12 to be led by Baylor students.

His later years were spent in deep discussions with his brother Terry, a nationally syndicated journalist, over youth culture. In particular, they discussed the dangers brought about by smartphones contributing to issues such as anxiety, depression, and gender confusion.

“Don was shocked at what was happening,” Terry said. “He set up Centrifuge where it could deal with rapid changes in culture.”

“He didn’t anticipate today’s changes; no one could. But the whole idea of Centrifuge was the world is spinning people around and the church needs to serve as the centrifuge to help young people figure out who they are and what God wants them to do in their lives. Structuring a camp around that in 1979 was a radical concept,” Terry continued.

The growth of Centrifuge

Mattingly wrote about his brother in a recent post on Substack. He quoted a book written by Don in 1976 titled Days of Daze, directed at middle school students. 

“Change is there,” he wrote. “But you can’t put your finger on it. Like when you’re sitting in class, looking at your wristwatch, wanting the bell to ring, you look at the minute hand and think it has moved. But you aren’t sure. But if your attention is distracted for a moment, the crazy thing will move. Change is like that. It happens before you know it.”

One of the biggest testaments to his brother’s work was the level of support it received at a time—starting in 1979 and into the 80s—when Southern Baptists had trouble finding things upon which to agree.

 “Centrifuge took off, and that was a tribute to Don,” Terry said. “Centrifuge was trusted, even during some of the most tense years in the [Southern Baptist Convention].”

Empowering young leaders

Lance Howerton had no camp experience before joining the Centrifuge staff. He was pursuing a master’s degree in vocal performance from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1982 when a conversation with Mattingly led to a summer at Hannibal-LaGrange College. The next year, he shifted to the West Coast team, leading it in 1984.

“Don was the kind of leader everybody wants,” said Howerton, now retired after five decades leading others in Christian camps, most of it with Lifeway. He says he “owes everything” to Mattingly and Palmer for his career.

“He trusted you, empowered you, and put an amazing amount of responsibility into the hands of young guys like me to run camps all over the country,” said Howerton. “He believed in us and built a whole ministry around giving young people real responsibility.”

Since 1984, Centrifuge campers have given more than $15 million to the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board through an annual summer missions offering.

A lasting legacy in camps and missions

Joe Hicks, manager of FUGE camps, pointed to Mattingly’s vision for “grounding students in a deep relationship with Christ while engaging them through a dynamic, relational camp experience.”

“The model he helped establish later grew into today’s FUGE Camps, which have served millions of students across generations,” he said. “Don’s early leadership and creative influence left a lasting imprint on a ministry that continues to impact churches and students nationwide. His legacy cannot be measured [on] this side of heaven.”

Centrifuge launched at Ridgecrest and Glorieta Baptist Conference centers. It soon expanded to colleges such as the University of Mobile, North Greenville College (now University), and Union University. The locations were mutually beneficial, as the camps went far in introducing high school students to Baptist college campuses.

Bunk beds at the convention centers weren’t the first choice by many adult campers, but Mattingly saw potential.

“He was the one who looked at those old bunkbed rooms and knew they could be filled with teenagers who didn’t mind bathrooms down the hall, if it meant they got to come to camp,” Palmer said. “That idea changed everything.

“Don brought in seminarians and mature collegians and trained them to make leaders at Centrifuge. Those staffers went on to be missionaries, professors, pastors, and youth leaders everywhere. He was a fantastic friend and brother, and I was fortunate to work alongside him through the years.”