I'll try to explain this conference again. It's for the directors of united Methodist summer camp and retreat facilities. There are 150 Methodist camps, I was told today. I've met LOTS of folks from California! My "jurisdiction" is Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Missouri used to be with us, but two years ago the conference closed every Methodist camp in the state, so there are no Methodist camps in Missouri.
There are workshops on every aspect of camp: programming, finance, marketing, maintenance, food service, safety, racial minorities, training staff, and then some things that are oddly camp specific, like techniques for handling homesick parents and how to care for summer staff. There is a morning prayer time before breakfast, then breakfast, then a worship session with preaching, music, and study time specifically tailored to our profession. Then lunch, and then the workshops.
This is a really cool camp with three different little lakes, and they have fishing piles and tackle available. They also have free bikes, a hammock village, and a hospitality center with coffee and snacks inside the rec room (ping pong and pool tables).
It's a time of physical, mental, and spiritual renewal. If anyone needed this, it was DH. He's had a super tough year and is not handling it well. I'm grieved he's missing the opportunity, but there was really no other way.
Also today is his bday.
AND THEY CREDIT HEE HAW
