Birchwood Camp

Our project will help address these two identified needs in several ways. First of all, we will provide safe spaces for young people to explore their faith, ask questions, and learn to be in relationship and community. We will be welcoming to all, including those who do not identify with a traditional faith community or church. We will provide sacred, unique, and welcoming spaces that allow a break from the day to day (including a break from technology and perpetual screen time); we will create an environment that fosters unique ways people can connect to the Creator’s natural world and to the Creator. We will spend time in intensive faith formation with young people and we will connect with their home church & ministries as partners. We will provide leadership opportunities that challenge people of all ages, and especially young people, to learn, grown, and serve. Secondly, our project will create and execute plans to update and upgrade our facilities to include indoor restrooms in at least some of our sleeping cabins and meeting spaces. We’ve identified this as the primary way that we can make our facilities more welcoming to the aging populations in our state. This may involve remodeling buildings or new construction, and it will certainly involve tying into our existing septic system. This will be important to plan, and be strategic about the best ways to incorporate these changes.

1. Provide spaces & experiences for spiritual formation, building community, and leadership development, especially for youth and young adults. 2. Provide retreat spaces, facilities, and opportunities that are welcoming and inclusive to older adults and people with limited mobility.

We want to see people of all ages experiencing, exploring, questioning, growing, renewing — having meaningful spiritual formation and connecting with God in unique, traditional, and non-traditional ways. We would like to see strong, adaptive leaders in our youth and young adults; we would also like to see adults and older generations empowering their young people to lead and explore new ways of ministry. We hope to see our larger church revitalize and become open to new ways of being church because of the ways that people are experiencing God at camp. We would like to see welcoming places for older adults and people with limited mobility where all people feel included and welcome and part of the community.