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Brian Frick is the Associate for Camp and Conferences Ministries with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He has been involved in camp and conference ministry since high school. For the past ten years, Brian has served as program director of Johnsonburg Center in New Jersey, Westminster Woods in California, and Heartland Center in Missouri.

Camp and conference ministry compliments and partners with other ministry aspects of our church to foster faith development and reflection. As our communities and our church changes, our ministries need to grow and adapt with creative and emergent programming and leadership to meet new realities.

These blogs entries, though varied, are intended to spur thought and conversation around the opportunities and challenges before us.

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August 22, 2012

Allowing Ministries to Grow

What are your participants called to?

Acorn sproutingGoing into the future, we as a church are going to have to be starting and supporting ministries in whole new ways. 

Reading a current blog, Holy Soup I was reminded at what furtile "incubators" we have in camp and conference ministry.  I was also reminded as I attended a new church on Sunday and the pastor spoke about the impact of his being a counselor and the impact his counselor had on him when he was a camper (totally unprompted by me...honest!)

So we create wonderful community where the Holy Spirit is free to move about our staff and our campers and our participants un-shackled from any "rules" for ministry or engagement.  We know God does great things through camp and conference ministry, we just often don't see the fruit.

What if we were involved more actively in that fruit "ripening" or being planted to grow?  I've talked about young adults and will continue to - but this one is about ministry.

Young adults are hungry for authentic ministry and if they don't find it they will either create it or leave the church.  That's a fact.

So how do we listen to their passions and encourage them, and support them in starting ministries based on their passions?  They don't need permission, just encouragement really!

Read the blog I mentioned above and then let me know how you are going to do this in your camp/conference center!

Great things are just waiting to blossom!

Tags: 1001, camp, conference, ministries, pcusa, young adult