Conference News for May 30

CONFERENCE NEWS

Moving Together in Spirit as a Conference

May 30, 2024

CONFERENCE MINISTER'S CORNER

Rev. Dr. Tony Clark

Transitional Conference Minister

Dear Folks:

Last year, Outdoor Ministries found many setbacks as they planned camp, including filling counselor positions. I was at General Synod in Indiana when the camp directors were scrambling to find male counselors, and in the midst of all the phone calls back and forth, I was asked what this struggle meant. My answer was that the Holy Spirit is calling us to do something new.

This year, the Holy Spirit is blessing us with excitement; the Outdoor Ministries Committee has begun to explore what the Spirit is up to with camps in various locations. We’ve purchased a trailer that will sport logos for the Conference, Outdoor Ministries, Green Team, and our other ministries, as we focus on being a united Conference able to program in many places. We are working with our cousins in the Presbyterian and Lutheran worlds as we schedule the adult camps, we have held

a smaller clergy gathering at a BnB, and the Church and Ministry Commission held a retreat at a lodge outside Lewistown, all of which offer us more options than we have recently had.

We have been lacking Conference - and Outdoor Ministries - specific t-shirts and other “merch”. We know that t-shirts are lasting symbols of the shared time at camp and the relationships we built, and we can utilize them to show our unity as a Conference. The goal is to have t-shirts available at the camps this summer and other merch at the Conference Annual Meeting in September.

We are no longer a Conference that manages a camp. We are a Conference in transition away from Mimanagish as our only place to be in God’s Creation to a Conference that can celebrate together the beauty of our entire Conference. We are a Conference able to look toward sites with accessibility for those who require smooth walkways and ramps; rather than using one site with particular restrictions, we are able to find sites that meet our campers’ needs. We are a Conference with many ministries, only one of them being Outdoor Ministries.

The sale of Camp Mimanagish is still painful to many in our Conference. The loss of a place with much spiritual and emotional meaning is counterbalanced against the huge losses of Conference finances, which it seems that we have reversed with the sale. We still continue in our relationship with Mimanagish through Singing Waters, and it is truly a gift of the Spirit that we can minimize the financial loss while looking to other beautiful places in our area to reveal God’s glorious creation.

I am grateful to the Outdoor Ministries Committee for jumping at the Holy Spirit’s calling us to new things. I am excited for the innovation of the Committee, even as I look to them to bring a history of excellent programming. I look forward to the continued exploration of places to gather, and I hope for your ongoing support of Outdoor Ministries.

I offer blessings on your outdoor experiences this summer. Please join me as I pray for our Outdoor Ministries Committee and the campers we serve as we step into our 2024 camping season.

Peace,

Pastor Tony