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The future of outdoor ministry |
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Bob Molsberry, Ohio Conference Minister |
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Consulting not a crystal ball, but an ongoing discernment process that some of the key Outdoor Ministries leaders are now engaged in, I can say with confidence that there IS a future for outdoor ministry in the Ohio Conference. This ministry will, more clearly in the future than in the past, serve and support the life and work of our congregations, it will articulate the nature of camping and retreat ministry as an expression of the sacramental community of the church, and it will talk about outdoor ministry as a ministry of spiritual formation. In other words, it will be seen as an extension of the ministry of our churches, offering experience of God that local congregations can’t provide on their own. Three out of four of our scheduled 24-hour planning retreats have already taken place. The consulting firm, Run River, has led a group of about 16 key leaders through a rigorous process. Participants include staff, members of the Division for Outdoor Ministries and the Conference Board of Directors, members of churches that use the camps extensively, seniors and youth, and representatives of diverse communities. Among the major concepts that are emerging from the process: · • Outdoor ministry in the future will be better defined as an expression of the faith development ministry of our local churches. It will be better connected with ministry goals of local congregations. It will be supported by local churches not out of loyalty to a conference program, but as an investment in the future of their own leadership. · • Staff and volunteers in the program will be structured so that the organization is better aligned to carry out this refined vision. There will be an “environment of spirituality with a culture of execution” with accountability built into the system. The roles of paid and volunteer staff may shift. A director who can successfully steer an organization through change will be hired. · • Quality control over the experience that camp users have at camp will be tightened. The camp experience will not be the lowest cost alternative, but the highest quality available. · • Programming will move toward an “every child every week” model, so that children of any age can choose a camp almost any week of the summer. · • There will be a highly developed proactive marketing program aimed at meeting occupancy goals. Camp usage by local churches and their church schools, retreat groups, and mission projects – the core mission target of Outdoor Ministries – will increase. · • There will be a viable financial system, in which usage rates are linked both to costs and to levels of participation (it is remarkable how profoundly Run River has already organized our financial data). · • The two camps, Pilgrim Hills and Templed Hills, will be strengthened in ways that emphasize their distinctiveness in program, environment, and facilities. What is exciting about the process so far is that the planning group can begin to see where these improvements are coming from, and how to build in the increases in usage that are going to be required. The continuing viability of the camps seems achievable. It will take hard work, but it’s not rocket science or just wishful thinking. After our final planning retreat in October, this new vision will be shared broadly with the Division for Outdoor Ministries, the Conference Board of Directors, and the Ohio Conference as a whole. Then the work will begin. |
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Outdoor Ministries Update |
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By Bob Molsberry, Ohio Conference Minister January, 2008 The Ohio Conference, like other conferences across the UCC and like all the other mainline Protestant denominations, is struggling to find effective and sustainable models for its traditional programs such as Outdoor Ministries. This is a period in which most of what the church has done in the past will have to be rethought and repackaged in order to make it relevant to postmodern Christians. The situation has come to a head in Ohio because of personnel transitions and significant debt. Since last year at this time, both the Nature’s Classroom Director and the Minister for Outdoor Ministries have resigned, the Conference office has reduced staff, and there’s a new Conference Minister on the scene. We still have over five hundred thousand dollars to pay on a six hundred thousand dollar loan that’s due in two years. When I showed up in September, I knew two things. I knew that decisions about camp management and outdoor ministries would have to be made very soon. Responsibilities of the two missing staff had been distributed among existing staff, and, although they were doing a great job, they were working too hard. The temporary staffing arrangement was expected to run for just a few months at most. The second thing I knew was that I didn’t know enough to make any long-term decisions. I knew that a sustainable business plan for the effective administration of our program and facilities was going to be essential, but I’m not a business manager and couldn’t produce such a plan out of thin air. So I proposed that the Division for Outdoor Ministries secure the services of a professional consultant with experience in Conference outdoor ministries. The Division has assembled a team to select a consultant. Following suggestions made by other Conference Ministers, we opened conversation with three reliable and respected firms, and we are in the process of selecting one of them based on their proposals and face-to-face interviews. By February the process should be under way with the selected firm. There’s a great deal of excitement among the participants for the potential outcome of this process. We will be incorporating the findings and recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel. We will be taking into account the changing habits, desires, demographics, and loyalties of our church members and looking at programming, facilities, marketing and management. I’d like to propose a new paradigm for thinking about outdoor ministry. Rather than regarding outdoor ministry as a program of the Conference, I suggest that we look at it as a ministry of local congregations in partnership with each other. The role of the Conference (including its camping facilities, staff, and programming) is to extend and enhance local congregational ministries in ways that would be impossible for local churches to do on their own. The local congregation provides rich social, environmental, and spiritual experiences for its members by partnering with other congregations and with Outdoor Ministries through the camping program of the Conference. The local congregation is the driving engine for outdoor ministry. The Conference provides the setting and structure for it to happen. A thorough consulting process may take six to nine months to complete. It should produce a plan for providing meaningful ministry that is financially sustainable. Based on this plan, we should be able to identify the qualifications we will be seeking in a new Director for Outdoor Ministries. Our hope is to have a new Director in place to implement the plan by fall. |
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Ohio Conference UCC, 6161
Busch Blvd., Suite 95, Columbus OH 43229 • 800-282-0740 • 614-885-0722 • ohioucc@ocucc.org |
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