Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly 
The information on this page was last updated 2/12/2025. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Nestled on 500-acres along the spring-fed Guadalupe River, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly is located in the heart of the beautiful Hill Country in Hunt, Texas. Mo-Ranch is open to the public for spiritual retreats, conferences, summer and day camps, weddings, reunions, group meetings, corporate retreats, vacation getaways and individual reservations. Enjoy an overnight stay with conference center facilities, hotel rooms, unique historical housing and group lodging.
Come explore the adventure of the Hill Country with an abundance of land and water recreation, sports activities, hiking trails, high and low ropes course and the great outdoors.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly
2229 FM 1340
Hunt, TX 78024-3037
Website: moranch.org
Phone: 800-460-4401
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 741168931
CEO/President: Tim Huchton
Chairman: Mrs. Charlotte Harper
Board size: 19
Founder:
Ruling year: 1951
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 12/31
Member of ECFA: No
Member of ECFA since:
Purpose
Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly is a conference and retreat center related by covenant to the Synod of the Sun of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Since 1949, Mo-Ranch has served as a sacred and transformative place for those who retreat to the Hill Country for worship, fellowship, relaxation and renewal.
Mo-Ranch Summer Camp is a co-ed residential Christian summer camp nestled in the wide open spaces of the Texas Hill Country. Let your child escape technology and unplug in the great outdoors with friends, adventure and fun within a safe and Christian environment.
With over 20,000 square feet of meeting space, lodging for up to 525 and incredible scenic views, Mo-Ranch is the perfect venue for every type of event, conference, group or retreat. Choose from first-class meeting facilities that range from large auditoriums to smaller classroom and breakout spaces.
Mission statement
The mission of Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly is to foster growth in God through Jesus Christ by sharing its unique living, learning, Christian environment.
Statement of faith
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
D
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Camps/Conference Centers
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 536 of 1131 | 23 of 37 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 902 of 1131 | 30 of 37 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 175 of 1131 | 9 of 37 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 578 of 1131 | 24 of 37 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 7% | 14% | 6% | 6% | 44% | 22% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 2% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 13% | 5% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 34% | 34% | 51% | 55% | 29% | 21% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 8% | 5% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 66% | 66% | 49% | 45% | 71% | 79% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 83% | 88% | 88% | 85% | 71% | 86% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 93% | 86% | 60% | 68% | 155% | 100% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 75% | 76% | 53% | 58% | 110% | 86% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 7% | 14% | 40% | 32% | -55% | 0% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 4% | 5% | 21% | 15% | -14% | 0% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 14% | 7% | 7% | 10% | 21% | 9% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 0.44 | 0.30 | 0.30 | 0.31 | 0.34 | 0.37 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 4.72 | 3.99 | 3.28 | 2.96 | 3.61 | 3.05 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.72 | 1.20 | 0.98 | 0.91 | 1.23 | 1.12 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 5.39 | 23.36 | 23.51 | 19.51 | 6.06 | 8.02 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.19 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.17 | 0.12 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 5.46 | 9.53 | 11.77 | 12.55 | 8.16 | 9.37 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 9% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 14% | 9% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 196% | 311% | 320% | 306% | 254% | 248% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Cash | $1,427,493 | $2,061,383 | $2,216,123 | $571,777 | $384,602 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $1,019,410 | $1,226,671 | $347,824 | $416,177 | $683,997 |
| Short-term investments | $3,506,407 | $3,090,709 | $3,842,533 | $3,659,395 | $4,768,353 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $5,953,310 | $6,378,763 | $6,406,480 | $4,647,349 | $5,836,952 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $9,949,644 | $7,616,504 | $7,109,455 | $7,158,467 | $7,491,711 |
| Other long-term assets | $7,861,164 | $6,922,940 | $5,454,062 | $4,982,826 | $4,474,005 |
| Total long-term assets | $17,810,808 | $14,539,444 | $12,563,517 | $12,141,293 | $11,965,716 |
| Total assets | $23,764,118 | $20,918,207 | $18,969,997 | $16,788,642 | $17,802,668 |
| Liabilities | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $254,850 | $271,315 | $328,316 | $767,257 | $728,033 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $254,850 | $271,315 | $328,316 | $767,257 | $728,033 |
| Debt | $129,409 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $1,069,549 | $737,890 | $837,140 | $1,501,215 | $867,279 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $1,198,958 | $737,890 | $837,140 | $1,501,215 | $867,279 |
| Total liabilities | $1,453,808 | $1,009,205 | $1,165,456 | $2,268,472 | $1,595,312 |
| Net assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Without donor restrictions | $10,771,908 | $10,211,182 | $9,920,247 | $7,722,410 | $10,469,249 |
| With donor restrictions | $11,538,402 | $9,697,820 | $7,884,294 | $6,797,760 | $5,738,107 |
| Net assets | $22,310,310 | $19,909,002 | $17,804,541 | $14,520,170 | $16,207,356 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Total contributions | $2,814,823 | $5,277,857 | $4,673,414 | $1,066,867 | $1,374,384 |
| Program service revenue | $3,734,508 | $3,816,751 | $2,789,480 | $1,547,097 | $3,599,390 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $738,689 | $325,700 | $412,657 | $744,250 | $506,128 |
| Other revenue | $1,037,255 | $930,230 | $659,719 | $318,432 | $1,046,398 |
| Total other revenue | $5,510,452 | $5,072,681 | $3,861,856 | $2,609,779 | $5,151,916 |
| Total revenue | $8,325,275 | $10,350,538 | $8,535,270 | $3,676,646 | $6,526,300 |
| Expenses | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Program services | $6,296,197 | $5,475,695 | $4,917,992 | $4,048,906 | $5,619,860 |
| Management and general | $486,664 | $450,149 | $604,477 | $1,187,695 | $618,686 |
| Fundraising | $389,513 | $301,794 | $288,090 | $469,757 | $306,571 |
| Total expenses | $7,172,374 | $6,227,638 | $5,810,559 | $5,706,358 | $6,545,117 |
| Change in net assets | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $1,152,901 | $4,122,900 | $2,724,711 | ($2,029,712) | ($18,817) |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $1,152,901 | $4,122,900 | $2,724,711 | ($2,029,712) | ($18,817) |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Timothy Hutchton | President | $111,242 |
| Fred Gamble | CFO | $108,184 |
| Julie Chapa | Vice President of Sales | $106,111 |
| Allison Harris | Vice President of Developm | $90,204 |
Compensation data as of: 12/31/2023
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 2/12/2025. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
Mo-Ranch is located on the Edwards Plateau, an area that was once an ocean floor. The limestone hills and valleys were formed over millennia by the action of water on the fossil-filled rock. Archeological evidence of human inhabitants dates back about 6,000 years. Nomadic tribes came together in the river valley when local vegetation was ready for harvesting. They cooked, made tools and weapons, and interacted. We know of this activity from the burned ground where they prepared their food, and surrounding "middens"-literally deposits of their trash which include arrowheads and stone tools-and simple pictographs on cliff walls. We are not sure what the drawings indicate, but attempting to record or make sense of the creation in which they existed is a possibility.
Over the centuries these nomadic people were succeeded by Native American tribes with which we are more familiar, such as the Apache, Kiowa and Comanche. No permanent towns or villages were located in the area until the mid-1800s, when Kerrville and Fredericksburg were settled. The land at the headwaters of the Guadalupe in western Kerr County, owned by the Real and then Wilson families, was mainly used for grazing cattle, sheep and goats.
Texas' booming oil and gas industry of the early 1900s created a new class of businessmen, mostly living in the Houston area. Successful oil and gas magnates looked to the higher and cooler Hill Country as a place to get their families away from the coastal plain's summer heat and mosquitos. One of these, Odie R. Seagraves, bought 6,500 acres of what is now Mo-Ranch in 1929. The Manor House was constructed for him and his family, and he had the river dammed to make a small lake for recreation, and a landing strip cleared for his private plane. Seagraves grand plans for the ranch soon faded, as he lost a fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. He was able to regain the house and other improvements on 20 acres, but lost most of the land.
Seagraves sold the ranch in 1936 to another Houston oilman, Daniel J. Moran, the president of Continental Oil Co (Conoco). Moran also bought the land Seagraves had lost and ended up with a ranch of about 6,800 acres. He named his estate "Mo-Ranch" and proceeded on a building campaign that created a self-sustaining village-including ice house and power station. An engineer by training, Moran designed impressive buildings, primarily from Hill Country limestone and oilfield pipe-materials easily accessible to him. The Main Auditorium, Guest Lodge, Chapel, Loma Linda Lodge, River Dorm, and Catwalk-and a host of smaller buildings supporting ranching activities-were built under his supervision and often with his direct involvement.
Distinctive, hand-painted San Jose tiles from San Antonio and intricate ironwork by German-born Erich Riesel add rich detail to Moran's structures. A large swimming pool lined with 2 million tiles was built beside the Manor House on the bluff overlooking the river. Entertainment and hospitality were a hallmarks of Moran's efforts. The Main Auditorium was designed for roller skating, basketball and showing movies. The Guest Lodge was built for the comfort of his family and Conoco supervisors who concluded lengthy tours of company facilities with stays at the ranch. And the river slide, still a favorite with guests seven decades after its installation, is purely for fun.
Moran died in 1948 at age 59 from a brain tumor, and his widow, Marie, sold the ranch to the Presbyterian Synod of Texas for $512,500, which needed a successor to its outgrown facility at Westminster Encampment in Kerrville. It was a leap of faith for the Presbyterians. Inspired by the Rev. R. Matthew Lynn, a pastor from Midland who would eventually be elected moderator of the denomination, and led by respected churchmen like the Rev. Charles L. King of Houston, Texas Presbyterians approved the purchase, then completed a highly successful fundraising effort to pay for the ranch. The following year, 6,500 acres were sold to the State of Texas and became the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. Over the years adjoining tracts were bought by Presbyterian Mo-Ranch, bringing the total acreage back up to around 500 acres.
Over the 65 years since the purchase, the managing board of Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly added more structures to Moran's estate-a dining hall (now the Mabee Registration Building) and Pheasant Run motel facility were built in the 1950s. Three decades later, further growth in guest numbers made it necessary to add the Wynne/Flato Lodges and the King Dining Hall. All additions were designed to fit into the architectural themes set by the ranch's first owners.
Today, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly serves more than 34,000 men, women and children each year. As with the first people to come here, they continue to seek spiritual nourishment, fellowship and renewal in this special place on the headwaters of a crystal-clear river.