SEP camp directors
meet in Chicago area

ELBURN, Illinois—Eight camp directors, three district superintendents and two representatives from Church Administration met with Jeb Egbert, the national director of the Summer Educational Program, Oct. 5 through 7, on the campus of Sonlife Ministries in Elburn, a suburb of Chicago.

The meeting helped the camp directors to assess how well the transition had been made from a national to a regional camp model. They addressed areas for improvement and shared lessons they learned.

The stories about how each camp went in 2002 confirmed that the transition into a regional camp model has gone well. Part of that success story is made up in the numbers. Almost the same number of campers (500) participated in the regional camps in 2002 as had participated in the national camp (540) in 2001. And almost 100 more staff members served the various camps than had served at Orr.

Three new camp directors were introduced and prayed for. James Newby, pastor of the Chicago Northwest and Joliet, Illinois, churches, will serve as the SEP director in a new camp in Iowa. Marty Davey, pastor of the Jacksonville, Florida, and Brunswick, Georgia, congregations, will direct the winter camp in Florida, and Cliff Snyder, pastor of the Pueblo, Colorado, church, will direct the camp in Colorado.

The Florida camp will take place Dec. 31 through Jan. 5. For more information or to apply, you may either visit the SEP web site at www.wcg.org and click on the youth ministry button, or call the SEP Office at 1-972-712-5737.

The camp directors discussed two improvement themes. First is the need for camp ministry to become better integrated into youth ministry at the district and congregational level. The SEPs should complement and support what is taking place in youth ministry at the local level. The camps may serve to concurrently build and equip youth ministry workers (who will make an impact in their local congregations) at the same time they are helping those who are uncommitted to come into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The second theme was the need to be more intentional about modeling Jesus’ ministry. Ultimately, Jesus created disciples who made disciples, not just believers. SEP needs to assist those within a district in terms of helping our youths develop the tools and abilities to reach the lost.

This second theme was a point of emphasis the day after the SEP meetings ended, as those attending the conference were treated to a one-day training event sponsored by Sonlife on the strategy that Jesus used to develop a healthy (youth) ministry. This course demonstrated the process orientation of Jesus’ ministry—everything was intentional. Nothing was haphazard.

David Fiedler, North Central district superintendent, said after the sessions concluded: "Since we are planning an SEP for this district next year, I wanted to be in on the debriefing of this year’s camps. I was deeply impressed with the love and passion for youths displayed by each of the regional camp directors. It was great to hear that as many youths were served at regional camps this year as we had at the final camp in Orr, Minnesota. But what I found especially inspiring was that we had twice as many people ministering at the regional camps as we did at Orr. This bodes well for the future as more and more young people are gaining ministry experience in the camp setting."

CAMP DIRECTORS MEETING—Back row from left: Jim Valekis, Ohio; Charles Albrecht, Church Administration; Marty Davey, Florida; Ken Williams, Northeast superintendent; David Fiedler, North Central superintendent; Jeb Egbert, SEP National Office; Steve Botha, Connecticut; and Dennis Pelley, California. Front row from left: Ted Johnston, Great Lakes superintendent; Cliff Snyder, Colorado; Mike Rasmussen, Oklahoma; Amy Johnson, Washington; James Newby, Iowa; and Greg Williams, North Carolina. [Photos by Barb Egbert]

Conference participants

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002