KAY DeMOSS
Senior Editor-Writer, Michigan Area
“Gimme a P-A-S-S-I-O-N… what does it spell???” CAMP! Few things generate more excitement and deeper commitment than Christian camping. Camp puts fire in the belly of future preachers. It puts Christ in the heart of campers young and old. It sets 80-year-old quilters to the table every week to sew and earn money for camp scholarships. It changes the lives of kids who may never set foot in a church.
Kayaking at Camp Kinawind And that’s why a piece of legislation coming before both Annual Conferences this spring is so very important. Many are aware that there will be a vote in May and June about making Michigan’s conferences one. When members of Annual Conference open their legislative booklets they will find a second petition that seeks to combine the camping, retreat, and outdoor ministries for United Methodists in the state under one board.
Camping leaders who have worked on this proposal for the better part of two years, hope that members indeed vote to take this action.
Jeremy Peters has served as chair of the Detroit Conference Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries for the past five years. “We looked around the state,” Jeremy says, “and saw nine United Methodist camps and three affiliates. We also saw that those programs and the population they served didn’t fit with the conference boundaries.” That sparked a conversation about what an area-wide camping ministry might look like.
“The two boards considered how we might strengthen each other and have a common vision,” Jeremy continues. “We don’t want to be competitors and we want to be more than neighbors.” It soon became apparent that the best approach would be a unified board. “The current proposal emerges out of a year and a half of conversations, traveling to all sites, and examining lots of balance sheets!” Jeremy notes.
George Ayoub, Executive Director of Camping for West Michigan, came later into the process but is equally enthusiastic. “This has not just been a conversation,” George reflects. “It has been a process of active cooperation.” Already the promotion of camping opportunities is being done with area-wide scope. “I have heard from many people,” George says, “that they like choosing from all nine camps. Why drive three hours to ‘your’ conference camp when another great experience can be found closer to home?” George believes that such a holistic approach will better serve local congregations in their disciple-making.
Both Jeremy and George emphasize that there is no plan to close any of the existing camps. The focus is on more effective ministry and efficient governance. “We are developing a professional board,” George says, “because we not only need people who love camping but who have the skill set to run a multi-million dollar corporation with integrity.” Jeremy adds, “Some might fear that we are out to close a camp that has been a cherished part of their spiritual life. That is not in the plan at all. We are only hoping to strengthen what God has given us.”
“Yes,” there will be changes if the proposal passes,” Jeremy says. “But it will be at an administrative level that the campers will not experience directly. Changes will involve new layers of staffing for institutional development, marketing and grant seeking that will better serve the local church.” George adds, “No one will go to camp in 2016 saying, ‘Gee! Why are we doing this now!?! The place will look spiffy. The same staff will be welcoming them. Campers will say, ‘This is my camp!’”
We say goodbye to Jim Parkhurst (l) as he travels west to become the new Camp Executive for the Oregon-Idaho Conference. Tom Macaulay steps in to guide the Detroit Conference outdoor ministries through 2015. One transition has already taken place in the Detroit Conference. Jim Parkhurst, who has served as the Director of Outdoor and Retreat Ministries since 2010, has taken a new position as the Camp and Retreat Executive for the Oregon-Idaho Conference. Connectional Ministries Director, Jerome (Jerry) DeVine, is pleased to announce that the Rev. Thomas Macaulay has accepted the invitation to support those ministries during this period of transition. A former district superintendent, Tom is currently on the staff at Chelsea First UMC. Jerry sites Tom’s years of pastoral, administrative and supervisory experience as suiting him for this role. And Tom himself adds, “I’ve been going to camp since I was a whipper-snapper and my daughter has had wonderful experiences as a camper and as a counselor.” He is a true believer in the transformative power of outdoor ministry.
“You get more in one week at camp than you get the rest of the year in Sunday school and youth group,” Tom notes. “It is a very intense opportunity for people to experience Christian community and have their faith both affirmed and challenged. Camp is about getting to try new skills in a safe setting.”
Tom does not see himself as a change agent during this interim. “I plan to be a helpful presence so that the Detroit Annual Conference will bring its best self forward into a new era of camping in Michigan,” he says. He is glad for this chance to enable “new things for a new day that will build on history and create some new history.”
Tom encourages a vote of affirmation for the proposal coming before annual conference. “For me,” he says, “US-127 and I-75 are lines that separate us in an artificial way. God’s love is available to everybody when it comes to camping and the whole shebang.”
Praising God at Wesley Woods Jeremy concurs that at the present time, “Boundaries are getting in the way of ministry.” Some examples … Judson Collins is a Detroit Conference site but serves many campers in and around Jackson, in the Albion District of the West Michigan Conference. Similarly, Camp Kinawind, another Detroit site, is located near Boyne Falls, within the bounds of West Michigan’s Grand Traverse District.
Jeremy mostly wants people to understand how essential camp and retreat ministries are to making disciples. “We are not talking about an auxiliary ministry. Camping is necessary to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.” He lifts up “wilderness” as a major theme in scripture. “When God wants to speak to people in powerful ways or to protect them, God sends them into the wilderness,” Jeremy asserts. “Local congregations do wonderful ministry but without the wilderness we can’t make the disciples the State of Michigan needs today.”
A Question and Answer session is planned at the Detroit Annual Conference to address questions and concerns that persons have with the proposal to combine into a single corporation to administer Michigan Area Camps, Campgrounds and Retreat Ministries. “We want people to be able to vote saying, ‘This is no surprise for me and this is what God wants us to do,’” Jeremy concludes.
George adds, “This proposal is all about our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We hope to do that in a new and exciting way.” There will be an open time for questions as part of the legislative session.
Watch MIconnect next week for more news of the 2015 Camping Season. Click here to read the proposal going to the Detroit and West Michigan annual conferences.
Last Updated on February 2, 2024