Last year at this time Saint Andrew was looking for ways to support the ministry of Bluestone Camp and Retreat Center. After much thought it was decided that the best way to support the ministry was to help people experience Bluestone. We had several ideas that we feel were successful and we would like to share them with churches around the Presbytery.
1. Church Family Retreat. This is not a new idea; St. Andrew has done one for years! It is a great way to introduce families with young children to Bluestone, and to get to know others in their church. If you do not have enough to fill the camp in your own congregation, you can share the camp with another church. It’s a great fellowship opportunity.
2. Small Group Retreat. St. Andrew for many years has done a middle school retreat of its own. Yes, we still take part in the Presbytery Younger Youth Retreat. Last year St. Andrew had its first women’s retreat at Bluestone. If you don’t have enough to fill the camp, refer to idea #1.
3. Send students and chaperones to the Presbytery Retreats at Bluestone. The Presbytery’s retreats for students are an amazing time for all who attend. The Youth Council of the Presbytery of WV does an amazing job as do the volunteers who prepare the Elementary Retreat. St. Andrew has a camp and retreat fund that is used to help students pay the cost of attending retreats.
4. Make summer camp affordable for all who would like to go. Last year, St. Andrew set out to pay as much as possible of the camp fees for all of our students (less the $50.00 registration fee). We set up a "Bluestone Sunday", filled it with information about Bluestone, music from Bluestone, testimony from students who have connected with Bluestone and even had Mark Miller come and share his thoughts on the importance of camping ministry. We brought in enough to send 14 children (including a couple of non member students) to summer camp at a dramatically reduced cost to the families. We divided the money evenly among all of the students whose families turned in the form and registration fee by the Sunday before the early registration deadline.
5. Encourage older students to apply for Counselor and Counselor in Training positions. Last year St. Andrew had 5 students serving at Bluestone: 1 Counselor, 3 CIT’s and a lifeguard.
6. Do a special event to raise money for the Friends of Bluestone.
These are some of the ways that we support the ministry at Bluestone. And we’re always looking for more because we believe in Bluestone. We have seen the difference Summer Camp makes in the lives of our kids, and we’ve seen over the years the countless amazing spinoffs from our retreats in our families and our church.
If you’ve never experienced the blessings of Bluestone, we at St. Andrew challenge you to try it! It’s not just for kids; we have several of our senior members who eagerly anticipate our family retreat! And if you really can’t go yourself, we challenge you to make it possible for the kids in your church to go! Word gets around and Summer Camp at Bluestone is drawing kids from our community into our church. Pretty good investment, don’t you think?
If you’re like us and believe in this unique ministry, share what’s worked for you. We look forward to hearing your Bluestone success stories.