Hundreds of people are gathering this week for a summer revival in the tabernacle of Mount Moriah Campground in Matthews, Ga., near Wrens.

The camp began its annual series of sermons 181 years ago and will continue the tradition with daily services at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. through July 27. The series began Thursday evening with Walter Connell, the pastor of Snowhill Church of God in Glenwood, Ga. He will preach again at 8 tonight.

Several people will camp on the grounds, but many will arrive just for the services, said Joe Walden, the president of the campground's board of trustees.

"People are just being blessed," Mr. Walden said.

The first camp meeting at Mount Moriah was held in 1828, according to a history published in The Jefferson Reporter . A tabernacle was built a year later on a 60-acre tract but was destroyed in a fire in 1854. The structure was rebuilt in 1856, and the camp meetings resumed until another fire struck and every tent was burned.

Once again, Mount Moriah rebuilt. In 1875, a tornado destroyed the tabernacle. The structure was replaced in time for camp meetings that fall.

In those early years, Mount Moriah was sponsored by the Methodist Church. By 1942, the church had relinquished control. Today, the services are nondenominational and the board of trustees governs the camp.

In the 1930s, Mount Moriah opened for youth camps. Today, more than 100 children stay on the grounds the week of the revival.

In recent years, staffers say, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has used the site as a disaster recovery center for families hit by storms and tornados.

"It's a very special place," Mr. Walden said. "It's a place that you can experience God. I think that God has some places he has chosen to be with his people. This is one of them."