Thanks to Your Giving: Camp is Making Disciples

When you give to your local United Methodist Church, much of the gift stays with that church to cover mission, ministry and expenses, but a small percent from your church is put together with gifts from other United Methodist churches in our Conference (and around the world) to fund in-part our work together as a Conference and as a denomination. We call that apportioned giving. 

Over the next few months we'll be featuring some of the ministries that are thriving thanks to apportionment giving! 

Camp and Retreat Ministries is Making Young Disciples

Each Friday this summer, as parents waited for their happy and exhausted campers to fill the gym at Glisson for the week's closing ceremony, Camp Director Bradley McEntyre talked a little about camp. Afterward he said, "If you are a North Georgia United Methodist, thank you. And if you aren't a North Georgia United Methodist, thank a North Georgia United Methodist!"

That's because Camp and Retreat Ministries is the recipient of approximately $240,000 apportionment dollars each year, for administrative and capital costs that would otherwise need to be covered by camp families. These funds reduce the price per camper for a week of camp and the cost of hosting a retreat at Glisson. 

"That's huge for us," said McEntyre. 

Part of Camp and Retreat Ministries' mission is to join with North Georgia Conference churches to "nurture leadership by creating experiences in Creation and in Christian community that encourage transformation, growth, and renewal for all people." 
 
In 2015 alone, that included hosting 32 Grow Day Camps on United Methodist church campuses for nearly 1,000 children, offering ELI (the Experiential Leadership Institute) to 51 teens, and welcoming 2,747 campers to Glisson in Dahlonega, its biggest summer on record. More than 3,700 campers participated in our Conference camp ministry in 2015, meaning we are well over half way to reaching the Conference vision of serving 5,000 campers by 2020.  

Thanks to your giving, life-changing camp ministry is happening here in the North Georgia Conference!