Dear Congregation,

Last Sunday, our church family celebrated together with an all-church potluck followed by a Town Meeting to hear about the work being done at Camp McCullough and update everyone on what is happening with Camp.

The meeting was led by Pastor Eric and none other than our own Daniel Heath, supported by members of the Camp task force. Pastor Eric introduced Daniel as a member of the “Heath Dynasty,” a humorous reference to the many years the Heath family has served the church, both as part of the church leadership and through its tireless work for and at Camp. Also present in the audience were the Hayden and the Miller families, both long-standing supporters who have worked tirelessly for Camp. In fact, Pastor Eric mentioned that the Haydens had given 38 years to the ministry of Camp! And Pastor Martin Ives made some humorous observations that inspired a string of fun remembrances from the congregation!

Daniel began with a presentation prepared by the team working on a new vision for Camp. The presentation was titled: Towards a new Strength of Vision: the Unique and Compelling Ministry of Camp McCullough. He reviewed some Camp history, reminding everyone that Camp was purchased in 1945 because of a growing feeling among the various ministries of the church that the church needed its own conference grounds. He also reminded everyone that at the time of purchase, the Church had more than 2000 members!

After reviewing some of the history, Daniel gave the microphone to Pastor Eric, who described a discernment retreat he led with the Session (our governing body) a little shy of two years ago. One of the outcomes of this discernment was that the Session believed there were three options concerning the future of the Camp. These were:

• Sell the Camp
• Do only Camp; let go of other ministries currently supported and resourced by FPC
• Invite more like-minded churches to share the ministry and management of the Camp

The Session also moved to:

• Underscore its historic intent to make the Camp self-funding

Session decided it did not wish to sell the Camp as it is a treasure that could not be regained in the region. Session also decided not to do only Camp. Session then decided to establish a Task Force to develop a path forward for the Camp given the discernment principles and to invite carefully selected like-minded Churches to partner with us in governing and supporting Camp’s vision and ministry.

Daniel went on to explain that over the past few years, several churches have expressed an interest in developing a stronger partnership with Camp. Initial contacts have been made to these churches and some have expressed interest in partnering with us. This has coincided with a view by FPC Elders that our Church, much smaller than it was at the time of purchase 70 years ago, is no longer of a size that it can fully tap and resource Camp’s potential. The operation of Camp has taken an unacceptable toll on a few loyal families who have made a sacrificial commitment to it; Camp has been funded by contributions from FPC, but this resource, both financial and human is not available the levels needed to sustain it; and that the mission of Camp may be best leveraged with a broader group of participating churches. In addition, many of the more recent initiatives at Camp, such as reaching urban and less advantaged kids with mission camps; hosting pastor and ECO Presbytery retreats; offering Spiritual Formation retreats; etc., suggest a broader participation from other churches sharing our faith and essential theology would bring strength. After much prayer and discernment, FPC Elders (our governing body) decided to speak with the Congregation to determine whether a new structure and model for Camp will strengthen its and our collective regional ministry.

New Camp Board:

In summary, this new vision for Camp:

• Allows for greater strength through shared ministry resources and support with like-minded partners for greater regional impact for Christ.
• Continues to offer youth summer camps and retreats as before
• Frees the newly configured Camp Board to explore other revenue options to enable camp to be self-funding.

After the presentation, the new Camp Task Force answered audience questions. These included questions about how the churches would be selected (we will initially focus on those with a similar essential theology and ECO membership); questions about how to protect FPC from unintended liability (through the structure of the LLC and its lease agreement and bylaws approved by the FPC Session and the governance model which will be established); whether our youth would have the same opportunities for discipleship and internship as Camp Staff (yes); and whether the selection of the new partner churches would assure a similar moral and theological framework for Camp (yes).

The meeting concluded on an upbeat note, and many of the over 100 members of the congregation in attendance expressed support for the next phase of this plan. Pastor Eric thanked everyone for coming, and said that a more formal Congregational Meeting would take place when more details are known.

In Christ,

Bill Kellis, on behalf of the Camp Task Force