Setting Up Camp Afresh | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Home > 2009 > September

Christianity Today, September, 2009

Setting Up Camp Afresh

Christian camping is revamping but not out of the woods yet.

C. L. Lopez | posted 8/11/2009 09:27AM

Comments (6)

Related articles and links |

1 of 1

Cell phone signals and wireless Internet connections don't exist in the California mountains where Forest Home is located. But this hasn't prevented the 72-year-old Christian camp from using Facebook and Twitter to attract campers.

Faith-oriented camps' embrace of technology is part of their proactive approach to stay open at a time when the economy has hastened the demise of already struggling camp ministries.

"Our industry can't escape what has happened to other industries," said Bob Kobielush, president of the Colorado-based Christian Camp and Conference Association (ccca), which has shrunk from 1,093 members to 929 over the past five years. "In camp- and conference-centered ministries, we are in a consolidation and readjustment phase."

Camp attendance has been declining since the 1990s, according to Kobielush, due to rising operational costs, government regulations, competition from sports and music camps, and the growing popularity of summer mission trips. He also noted that many churches no longer value the traditional camp experience, and that many megachurches now offer their own camps.

Kobielush likens this season of change to what many churches went through a decade ago when the number of megachurches burgeoned. He said Christian camps must reinvent themselves if they are to remain open. Many have responded by connecting with megachurches, developing programs that appeal to ethnic groups, or offering day camps at churches.

"They're reaching into the church and into the community," said Kobielush.

Forest Home's Web presence is one way to reach that community. Dave Grout, vice president of marketing and communications, said while Forest Home is not "out of the woods yet," the camp has fared well.

Decreases in individuals' and youth campers' attendance has been offset by increases in large groups' attendance. Forest Home had nearly 58,000 campers last year, and expects the same amount in 2009.

The popularity of camping programs for groups has balanced the declining attendance at several camps across the country. Kobielush said it could take three to five years before Christian camps see growth in attendance again, but he remains optimistic. "The whole movement is going to come out much stronger as a result of the challenges we are facing," he said.

Dwight Gibson, vice chairman of the board for Simpson Park Camp in Romeo, Michigan, the second-oldest ccca camp (established in 1865), is conducting research on Christian camping's impact on the spiritual growth and development of believers.

"Camping is not old-school," he said. "It is a significant strategy for ministry today because it reaffirms community and discipleship, it shows the fullness of God in creation, and it allows people to have a break from their normal routine to discover God afresh."

Related Elsewhere:

Previous Christianity Today articles about camps or camping include:

Missions Boot Camp | As these teens prepare for short-term trips, they learn more about how to talk about Jesus. (February 15, 2008)

Jesus Camp Shuts Down, But Fischer Says Her 'Indoctrination' Will Continue | Other Christian camp leaders say her camp and documentary about it don't represent Mainstream Christian camping. (November 13, 2006)

Christian Camping: The Right to Rent | Can homosexuals and atheists be barred from church camps? (May 22, 2000)

See our news section and liveblog for more news updates.

1 of 1

September 2009, Vol. 53, No. 9

Comments (6)

Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.

If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

Click here for international orders

2-for-1 Gifts!

Displaying 1–5 of 6 comments

See all comments

Michael Richards

August 12, 2009 4:53pm

I am encouraged to see the use of Internet marketing strategies to communicate the value of the camp to a potentially entirely new audience, while also reaching out to the standard camp prospects. Churches and religious organizations have lagged behind in some of the effective tools available to promote their ministries where people are actually searching and interacting. http://www.ministrymaven.com

Patrick Gann

August 12, 2009 9:52am

Three cheers for summer camps! (Props to Black Rock Retreat in Quarryville PA). When I was young and told I couldn't bring game boys or CD players to camp I was devestated. But now older, looking back, I'm so happy that rule existed. This is a great ministry that is worth every effort to keep up. If your summer camp does not also offer a year-round Outdoor Education program, it needs to. Outdoor Education is a fantastic way of teaching kids about Creation Care.

Dutch

August 12, 2009 8:35am

Greg's comment offers an extremely important message for Christian camps: reality vs. virtual reality. Thankfully most camps that I know of do insist on the kids leaving all their electronic toys at home.

Greg

August 11, 2009 6:37pm

As our culture, and in particular - our youth culture, is absorbed into most things (if not ALL things) virtual, Christian camps and conferences could play a critical role in offering a heavy dosage of "reality," as it relates to the truly amazing and REAL natural world as God has created it and the REALITY of in-person, face-to-face relationships lived out in community (albeit, temporary, but community nonetheless). The challenge is for those of us who make the decisions (parents, pastors, mentors, etc.) that determine what our kids' world will resemble/contain - will we choose to expose them to the realities of God's creation and community, or will we succumb to allowing a deeper plunge into the virtual - as seen in social networking, text messaging (while in the same room!) and tweeting? These things are not bad, per se, but without a balance of that which is real, we seem to wade into waters our God never intended for us – or at least it doesn't appear to be God’s best.

Karen

August 11, 2009 4:31pm

Several key reasons I have noted for the decrease in camping ministries are 1. comfort - students do not seem quite as anxious to live in a cabin where mice may be cohabitating in your duffle bag, they have a tough time, as do their parents, being disconnected from their cell phone usage, and at least for most of our students, a three month summer is a thing of the past, especially if a student is in a sport, band or vital school club. I agree that there may be a turnaround from some of these trends as the economy may send church groups back to camps which traditionally cost less than conventions and event type ministries, and also due to heightened awareness and desire to think in terms of creation care as mentioned in the other post. Churches, the lull means it's a great time to pour some financial resources into your camps, invite members of all ages to camp to participate in weatherizing, painting, rebuilding and adding activities to attract the next generation of campers!

You must be a Christianity Today subscriber or have created a FREE registration to post comments