There are more than 140 camps and conference centers across the denomination. In its own way, each is seeking to serve the changing population found in the congregations of their judicatory. Whether the site serves a single congregation, a presbytery, a synod, or the entire denomination, many people consider these special locations “holy ground.” While these places may have changed over the years, today’s Presbyterian camps and conference centers are still a place where ministry is alive and well.
Our denomination’s camps and conference centers change as we change. Gone are the days when camping was only understood as sleeping in tents and using a latrine toilet. Most of today’s Presbyterians prefer to “camp” in more motel-like facilities. This trend was confirmed by the Presbyterian Panel survey conducted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2002. Pastors, elders, and church members were asked what amenities they wanted as they sought a location for a church retreat. The majority of their responses deemed “motel-like sleeping facilities” to be important, if not essential.
Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colo., has already recognized this trend. In 2001, their presbytery began an $8 million building campaign to replace their rustic cabins with a state-of-the-art conference center. The site can now host groups of 100 in private-bath bedrooms and in meeting rooms that overlook the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Highlands Executive Director Maria Shupe says, “the new facilities now give adults the opportunity to come to comfortable surroundings in a beautiful setting where they can worship, study, and grow in their faith.”
Our Presbyterian camps and conference centers face a changing budgetary environment when financial support from the congregations declines. Sites are constantly seeking ways to continue their ministries in light of the sometimes-shrinking support from their judicatories. Many are turning to endowment funding and alternative sources of revenue.
One example: The Heartland Presbyterian Center in Parkville, Mo. It has supplemented its income by attracting guest groups with an innovative program offering. They have laid out a special course that uses the coordinates of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Working in teams, the participants use GPS units that resemble small two-way radios. Like a modern-day compass, these devices use the government’s satellite grid to determine the direction and distance the team must travel to find a series of stations in the forest. Youth and adult groups alike enjoy this mix of technology and nature, as they seek out the points like a treasure hunt.
Even summer camp, the main programmatic offering of outdoor ministry, has undergone changes over the decades. The mission to serve children and youth in a camp setting has branched out in order to respond to the changing needs of this population. The younger campers of today are not always ready to sleep overnight at summer camp (and their parents have reservations as well). Camp Hanover of the Presbytery of the James in Virginia has solved this problem by bringing the summer camp experience closer to home and church. They bring the Hanover staff and activities to a congregation as a satellite day camp program based out of the church’s buildings. Twelve of these week-long programs are now offered at different churches across the presbytery. “The program is a real stepping stone for young children who are looking for a taste of what camp is really like. It has also created a greater connection between our congregations, the camp, and the presbytery,” says Bob Pryor, who has served as the director of Camp Hanover for the past 17 years.
In the midst of the beauty of creation, camps and conference centers can teach us how to be better stewards of this gift from God. The teachable moment does not have to stop with the care of nature. Camps and conference centers can also teach by their response to the social issues beyond our national borders. Perhaps fairly-traded coffee from Equal Exchange is served in the dining hall or t-shirts that were not manufactured in sweat shop conditions can be purchased from the camp store.
One camp took its response to international missions a step further. Hopewell Camp and Conference Center in Oxford, Miss., partnered with Living Waters for the World to create a training facility called “Clean Water U.” This program teaches people how to build purification systems in order to provide clean water where it currently does not exist. According to Wil Howie of Living Waters for the World, their partnership with Hopewell is a “match made in heaven.” Clean Water U now has a site without the worries related to facilities, housing, or food service. Hopewell is able to use forty under-utilized acres for a greater mission, while adding a consistent guest group for the year-round use of their facility. The larger church benefits because both ministries are made stronger through this partnership.
In a world full of change, our Presbyterian camps and conference centers are seeking partnerships. They wish to serve judicatories that understand the importance of this ministry and can see it as much more than just summer camp. They also seek to partner with individual Presbyterians. People in the pews and in the pulpit have found life-changing faith experiences on these pieces of “holy ground.” Together we can support camps and conference centers by attending programs, by bringing retreat groups, and by making financial gifts to the ongoing ministry.
Fulfilling their end of the partnerships, camps and conference centers are constantly challenged to find new and innovative ways to best serve their constituencies. As the needs of communities shift over time, these ministries must discern how best to adapt their programs, facilities, and operations while at the same time remaining true to their heritage and mission.
In 2008, we will celebrate 100 years of Presbyterian camp and conference ministry, an important milestone for our denomination. During this century, innovative Presbyterians have expanded the parameters of outdoor ministry. Recognizing the potential of camps and conference centers, it is now up to us to make the necessary future investments to pass on this ministry to the next generation.
Joel Winchip is the executive director of Bethelwoods (York, S.C.), the camp and conference center of Providence and Charleston Atlantic Presbyteries. He serves as the editor of Branches Online, the enewsletter of the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association.
