Plans

As I begin to prepare this blog post, I have literally just hung up from a long conference call with members of the CEM Camping Commission. Five people, all of whom have busy careers and families gave up yet another evening to wrestle with difficult questions and problems so we can have high quality, safe camps and reunions this summer. I am profoundly grateful. I know that every one of them had other things they could have been doing. For example, none of them got to watch game seven of the Montreal – Boston series tonight, although I am sure some of them would have liked to. Nor did they get to do any of the other things they might have done.

Planning for camps is not easy. Putting good policies in place requires a lot of careful thought and much discussion in order to reach decisions. Who will talk to this person or that? Who will enquire how the boy scouts (for instance) handled that issue? Once we have decided, who will write this policy up and send it to the rest of us? It is a lot to ask of these busy people.

If that weren’t enough, this is also the group that is planning and leading the Skills and Leadership Weekend for all camp and reunion staff at Ziontario on June 17-19. They have done excellent work in preparation for this event in order to make our camps better and safer than ever before. They are recruiting top notch, professional instructors to teach such topics as Conflict Resolution, Group Facilitation, and Social Media Guidance. They are providing for lifeguard training as well as instruction on cooking for large groups. Camp Directors and Business Managers will be given clear guidance on the procedures CEM and the camping commission expect them to follow. Quality child care is being arranged so young adults can take advantage of this training without being held back. You can see why I am grateful; this is a lot of work!

If you are a director of a camp, reunion, or retreat in 2011, I hope you will be at this weekend. Further, I urge you to convince all your staff to take advantage of this training too; it is that important.

If you are already committed to being on staff at a camp this year, there is really no place else you should want to be. If you have any role at all in our camping, reunion or retreat program this summer, or even if you think you might like to be on staff at some future camp, I urge you to reserve the June 17-19, 2011 weekend for this event. Not only will you learn a lot, but you will be with great people, and you will have fun.

Even if you never attend a camp but offer ministry or leadership in a congregation, you will benefit from being at this weekend. The skills you will learn will help you anywhere.

Further more, the camping commission and the CEM staff think this training is so important that we have agreed to offer the Leadership and Skills weekend with no registration fee. You don’t see that in our camping program every day, so why not take advantage of it while you can? Watch for more information to follow soon.

See you on June 17th?

Posted by Carman