By a combined total of 1116 yes to 57 no, the members of the Detroit and West Michigan conferences voted to form a Michigan Area Corporation to administer camping and retreat ministries. “Our focus has been and will always be on the care and nurturing of those who use our facilities, and we will put their needs at the forefront of our common efforts,”said camp staff members the Revs. George Ayoub and Tom Macaulay.
LANSING, June 10 (MIC) – This morning “the invisible line that separates the camping ministries in Michigan” was erased as Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey announced the result of the balloting done at the Detroit and West Michigan conferences. The members of the state’s two annual conferences voted to create a new Michigan Area Corporation to administer Camps, Campgrounds and Retreat Ministries. The vote was as follows: Detroit 681 yes and 7 no; West Michigan 435 yes and 50 no.
Currently there are five conference-owned facilities in the West Michigan Conference (Albright, Crystal Springs, Lake Michigan, Lakeview and Wesley Woods) and four in the Detroit Conference (Judson Collins, Kinawind, Lake Huron, and Myers Lake). The other three affiliates (Lake Louise Christian Community, Bayshore Camp, and Camp Michigamme) were not included in this action.
This joint statement has been issued by the Rev. George Ayoub (West Michigan’s Exec. Director of Camping) and the Rev. Tom Macaulay (Detroit’s Interim Director of Outdoor and Retreat Ministries).
The Michigan Area has made the decision to come together for the future of our ministry. We are moving forward in our work to make disciples of Jesus Christ through camping and retreat ministries. The next step is for the members of the newly appointed Camping Board to organize and continue our work to merge our ministries. This is a new and exciting opportunity. God is always a part of what we do in camping ministries, and has been a prayerful part of this process.
Our focus has been and will always be on the care and nurturing of those who use our facilities, and we will put their needs at the forefront of our common efforts. God has entrusted to us the sacred space located at each of the campgrounds and retreat centers. Our goal is to develop every opportunity for others to experience Christ at these locations.
Members of the two conferences’ camping boards have been meeting together for the past two years after a Master Plan drawn up by a consulting firm, hired by West Michigan, suggested combining efforts to serve the whole state more effectively.
The Corporation is to be created by January 1, 2016. Four members of the Corporation will be elected by each Annual Conference, with officers elected from among that group. In addition, they will elect seven additional persons, with needed qualifications and expertise, to the corporate board.
“We will faithfully move into the future with excitement and joy,” the two leaders concluded.
Last Updated on June 18, 2019