Camp and Conference Ministry Emphasis Sunday, January 23, 2005

According to The 2002 Presbyterian Panel, camps and retreats are the most common setting for a singular spiritual growth experience among Presbyterian lay and clergy leaders nationally. For information about a suggested order of worship, children's sermons, and a bulletin insert about Johnsonburg, please read on.

Steeped in a rich tradition dating back to the 1800s, Presbyterian camp and conference centers offer abundant and rewarding opportunities for experiential Christian education. Most of us in New Jersey are aware of Johnsonburg, the camp and conference ministry supported by the seven New Jersey Presbyteries. Each year youth, families, and adults of all ages experience spiritual growth, adventure, skill development, and mental challenge at camp and conference centers across the country.

In a conversation after worship in December 2003, the Johnsonburg executive director had the privilege of talking briefly with the Reverend Susan Andrews, moderator of the 215th General Assembly, PC(USA). In that conversation, Susan noted that her two children found Christ on family retreats at Johnsonburg in the 1980s, when she and her husband were co-pastors at Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church.

The Presbyterian Panel survey of 2002 indicated that among the many influences that shape our faith (e.g., worship, youth group, and home influences), 40-50% of members, elders, and pastors surveyed indicated that a camp, conference, or retreat experience had the largest significance in shaping their Christian life. You can read the entire Panel report at the following website:

http://www.pcusa.org/research/panel/aug2002-churchandcamps.pdf

To recognize and call attention to camp and conference ministries, the General Assembly has set aside January 23, 20054, as a special day to emphasize these ministries. The following 2004 link provides sample orders of worship, children's sermon ideas, subjects and Scripture.

http://horeb.pcusa.org/pccca/ccsun04.htm

Link to church bulletin insert about the 2005 Johnsonburg Tent-Cabin initiative:

http://www.campjburg.org/pdf/2005-urgent-tent-cabin.pdf