~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EYouthWNY
Newsletter of the youth ministries of the Diocese of WNYSeptember 27, 2010
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Early word is that our Journeys #1 Weekend was a big success. More details on that to come.
For this week I'm dedicating the entire newsletter to changes coming in our camp programs. Youth Commission and I have been working on some ideas for quite a while now. At the September meeting some decisions were made. I don't want to just drop them on people but to give some background on them as well. We'll be back to our usual format next week.
All the following changes will take place starting in 2011.
For All Camps
Two Week Rule - From now on cancellation-of-camp decisions will be made two weeks prior to the start of that program. We have bent over backwards trying to avoid cancellations. This meant hanging on to the last possible minute trying to scrounge up the campers needed. In the end this was grossly unfair to the families, who had made plans based on camp going forward, and our facility partners. We also believe it encourages folks to wait to the last minute.
No more. We either have the applications in hand by two weeks in advance or the camp will be canceled. Note that it is "applications in hand". We have been victimized in the past by folks who made promises that they were coming but never did.
Therefore we need everyone to push hard for families to fill in the applications and get them in AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Our camp minimums are quite modest now. There's no reason why we shouldn't have put those behind us every year in the Spring.
A Focal Point for Programs - As part of our ongoing process of creating a cohesive diocesan youth ministry that supports the needs of our young people and their congregations I am asking all our camp programs to place two concepts at the center of their work. I believe that the diocesan ministry can best meet the needs of our constituents by helping our young people to go deeper into their faith exploration and by helping our young people to develop as leaders. In that way we can return to the home congregation a young person with a deeper understanding of who they are as a person of faith, and a better idea of how their gifts may best be served in the community of faith.
A congregational ministry has the advantage of developing a deeper relationship with the youth because you see them weekly (or whatever). In general however that is only for a short period of time. We believe our best effort can be spent by taking our longer period of time, once a year, to dive deep on specific issues. In that way the diocesan and congregational ministries can mesh together for the benefit of our younger brothers and sisters.
For Sleep Away
Date move - LCLC has shortened their program year by a week. This forces us to move our camp as well. It will now take place a week EARLIER in August than in the past. Probably the week of August 7 next year (tentatively)
Start Day Change - As we discussed other issues with LCLC they asked us to consider changing the days that Sleep Away runs from Wednesday thru Saturday to Sunday to Wednesday. The old format created a "dead time" for their staff and increased their costs (paying staff for just hanging around). We consulted with Deacon Cathy Basile the camp director and determined that it presented no major obstacles.
The Sleep Away staff will be examining their program and goals this winter in preparation for re-launching Sleep Away better than ever before in 2011.
Junior High
Junior High has just completed a major overhaul of the program (which was very successful) and no further changes are anticipated in the immediate future.
Senior High
After a long process (that actually began several years ago) and much passionate discussion Youth Commission has agreed with my recommendation to move the Senior High Conference from SUNY Fredonia to LCLC.
This move was based on a single simple criterion - what would be most advantageous for the program? We have rejected this move in the past because we didn't see LCLC having the facilities we needed to do our program. After discussions with Lee Lindeman, director of LCLC, it became clear to me that by using the Retreat Center we would indeed be able to use the camp. Lee looked at what we would need and came back with a price that was better than our current cost at the college.
But this was not primarily a financial decision. SUNY Fredonia hosts many camps and conferences the same week as ours. Additionally Freshman Orientation is going that week and Summer School is in session. Over the last several years our access to facilities has become more and more restricted. The campus environment gives very little for our youth to do when not in worship or classes. With restricted access to facilities like the pool or the Williams Center I believe our program has suffered.
At LCLC we would be the primary program for that week. We would have access to many more activities. The environment at the camp will be more conducive to our work in helping our young people go deeper into their faith experience. At the same time we would continue the "graduation" experience of moving up towards more adult style experiences by using a facility that is NOT used by Sleep Away.
LCLC is very excited to have our conference and in fact moved one of their long time programs to make room for us.
I don't anticipate any major changes to program because of the move. We will have to make some functional changes. By adopting the program focus challenge I wrote about above I believe we can make next year a very exciting change.
I also acknowledge that change can be painful. We have several "generations" of young adults for whom SUNY Fredonia is synonymous with Senior High Conference. We must remember that for other generations it was St. Bonaventure and before that Thiel College or even Alfred University. Change of location is part of the history of this conference. That doesn't diminish the pain. The camp and conference center that I "grew up in" was sold by my diocese just before my senior year. There is still a pang in my heart when I drive by it each day (curiously I now live just a few miles from where my own faith journey really began). What I can offer to the current youth who are unsure about this move and the "graduated youth" with the same concerns is that the decision was made carefully, thoughtfully, prayerfully and with full consideration of all alternatives. This is my recommendation. Before I made it I've done my best to insure that the voices of our young people, both pro and con, were heard. The discussion at Senior High this year was very passionate.
One of the deciding factors was that a long time argument in FAVOR of a university experience was disproved by our own young people. I had a variety of college age youth come back to me, independently of one another, to say that the Senior High experience in fact did NOT prepare them for life in college. While the physical environment was the same the experience was completely different. If you'd like a quick tour of our facilities at camp check out this video on YouTube "Senior High Tour"
In the end I looked at what I thought was in the best interests of the Conference long term. I believe that once our young people have settled in at LCLC they will agree that a great experience will continue.
I am excited about the future of our camps. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. This information and more will be sent out to camp parents, clergy, congregations and anyone else interested over the next several months. But I am always willing to talk with anyone - electronically, on the phone or in person.
So till next week!
Thanks.
EYouthWNY store
This is a way for us to show everyone our involvement in our church and to help support all the youth ministries. The money raised by the stuff at our store is used by Youth Commission to help make camps, and Happening, and mission trips and the Bishop's Ball a little bit better. If you haven't checked out what's available recently please do.
*All "surf report" internet links and "potent quotables" are provided for informational purposes, and do not imply endorsement by Youth Specialties or the Diocese of WNY.
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