United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries greatly enhance people's lives and the society in seven key ways.

1. Providing Places of Renewal and Re-creation:
   We provide children, youth, adults, and families with opportunities to find sanctuary and rest from the many pressures and distractions characteristic of modern life, so they can:
   1. Renew physically, mentally, and spiritually.
   2. Get back in touch with what inspires purpose and joy for them.
   3. Seek God in a setting combining silence and stillness with refreshing play and adventure.
   
   
   Christian camps and retreats are not escapes from life; they are quite the opposite. These experiences are geared to enhance a person's ability to recognize the goodness and sacredness of life in every moment. Guests learn to slow down, to notice, and to become more attuned with what is happening around them and within them. It is so easy to be distracted and to sacrifice the beauty and possibilities of the present by living in the past or worrying about the future. Often, getting away from routine provides a major recharge. It offers the gifts of disconnecting, assessing, and refocusing, so people can revision and return to live more thankfully and with greater purpose. Christian camps and retreats are meant to be more than recreation. They are intended to be experiences of re-creation. Camp and retreat settings are especially powerful places for journeys of the heart.
   
   
2. Deepening Christian Discipleship:
   United Methodist camps and retreat centers invite participants and guests to delve more deeply into the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. This is core to our purpose and a unique gift of Christian camp and retreat centers. Camps and retreats often spark people's interest in new ways through a wide variety of experiential learning offerings and self-initiated explorations. This highly engaging and effective approach centers on doing meaningful and fun activities, and then reflecting about the insights gained that have application to daily life. It moves people from just talking about Christian principles and ideas to actually incorporating them in daily relationships. Christian discipleship, ultimately, leads to a deeper connection with God and an expanding faith or trust in God's love for oneself and the entire creation.
   
   
3. Extending Holy Hospitality and Caring Community to All:
   Another vital expression of Christian service is the sacred practice of welcoming the stranger. The staff and volunteers of our centers try very hard to reflect the embrace of God for all people by creating environments and experiences of Christian love for those who come. We welcome people from many walks of life and seek to inspire them to befriend, honor, and appreciate one another. We not only care for physical needs, such as food and lodging, but we also seek to intentionally nurture the soul through the "fruit of the Spirit" by extending peace, patience, kindness, joy, and love. Camp and retreat centers are one of the few places available for people from different homes, cultures, faiths, and economic backgrounds to live with one another for twenty-four hours per day for a weekend, week, or longer. A goal of the camp and retreat center is to encourage groups and participants to create an experience of beloved community for one another through shared meals, activities, friendships, and spiritual growth. When people engage in removing the barriers that separate and discover the joy of mutual embrace, they are moved to do the same in the wider society throughout their lives.
   
   
4. Nurturing Spiritual Leadership:
   People who have a heart to move out in the world to meet true needs and to lead with integrity and sensitivity among those most in need are crucial both for the church and for society at large. United Methodist camps and retreat centers give staff, volunteers, and participants a variety of opportunities that help them grow as leaders. They will work with groups of people who collaborate in projects and programs to enhance the community experience and lives of others. This can be through programs at the camp and retreat centers or by traveling to do mission and service projects where help is desired and needed. Many people discover gifts and abilities that are affirmed in ways that move them to greater understanding and appreciation of their own capabilities to lead others in doing good and avoiding harm. Our camps and retreat centers also support those already leading in local churches and other organizations by providing time and space for their own renewal, inspiration, and listening for God's guidance about the direction of their lives and their leadership.
   
   
5. Teaching Earth Care and Faith:
   The location of United Methodist camps and retreat centers within beautiful natural environments is no accident. The church wants people to engage with the creation because the natural world speaks of the Creator. Multitudes of individuals sense God's presence afresh, while in the midst of nature. Faith communities have discovered time and time again that the natural world is a powerful avenue of God's self-revelation. All creatures are loved by God, and the diversity of species is precious. Nature sustains us, revives us, stirs a sense of awe, and reveals insights into the meaning of life because its source is God. Environmental care and social justice are key priorities. It is crucial today to resist and prevent the rapid destruction of the natural world, which is happening on a large scale across the planet. Camp and retreat ministry, at its best, encourages and models practices that reduce consumption, recycle products, and reuse items, in order to educate and stir people to live more simply so that other creatures and their environments are not destroyed. All this is part of Christian faith and living. People can learn about and observe conservation techniques and participate in practices that can then be implemented back home within business and personal lives.
   
   
6. Partnering with United Methodist Local Churches and Agencies:
   One of the most fruitful and vital dimensions of United Methodist camp and retreat ministries is our participation in a tremendous covenant connection of United Methodist congregations and organizations across the United States and the world. We support one another in a common mission that touches local communities far beyond the boundaries of our camps and retreat center sites. Local congregations and regional agencies endeavor to respond to the pressing needs of the people and communities in their areas. We partner by listening, understanding, and supporting the major ministry goals and priorities of local churches, conferences, and United Methodist agencies. This takes multiple forms from designing faith-based programs that help members grow in Christian faith and service . . . to hosting discernment and ministry planning retreats . . . to jointly providing experiences and services that directly transform the lives of people and communities served by United Methodist churches and agencies.
   
   
7. Inspiring Guests and Non-Profit Groups to Love and Justice:
   United Methodist camps and retreat centers intentionally host and serve many other nonprofit groups who come for team building, leadership development, and planning and implementing programs. We develop collaborative relationships and joint efforts with religiously affiliated, educational, governmental, social service and other nonprofits who endeavor to improve life in a number of ways. These nonprofit organizations have a clear purpose to better the world. Christian collaboration with other caring persons and groups is very important. When the leaders of these nonprofit groups are supported, encouraged, and aided in becoming more effective in the good they do, they then return to their communities to touch hundreds of thousands of people. It is another way that The United Methodist Church helps to make a significant difference in the world by inspiring and supporting those advancing love and justice.

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