Camp Hill

Camp Hill Presbyterian Church
Pastor David Roquemore

Fifty years is a long time. The Camp Hill Presbyterian Church received a special commendation, the Sarah Hill Brown Award for Early Childhood Education, from Union Theological Seminary/ Presbyterian School of Christian Education for their commitment to children’s ministry and the fiftieth anniversary of their preschool/ children’s program. (That means, of course, that Camp Hill started their preschool/ children’s program before I was born!) This is a remarkable commitment to children’s ministry. Congratulations Camp Hill! and Kathy Kuhn the current Director of Christian Education.
Camp Hill Presbyterian Church is another very energetic church in our Presbytery. The word that came to mind for me after my morning with Camp Hill is “aggressive.” I mean “aggressive” in the very positive sense of forward-thinking, bold, and courageous.
For example, in our Sunday school class that morning I was asked directly what the presbytery was doing about new church development. Typically when this topic comes up in congregations, I find myself needing to slow down, be cautious, and try to bring people up speed on the importance of trying to create new ministry and new churches in today’s culture. When this topic came up at Camp Hill, the tone was very different. The people in my Sunday school class wanted to know why this effort seemed to be lagging slowly behind in our presbytery. It seemed to them that this whole effort in new church development needed more commitment and more energy. They needed no convincing at all about the essential requirement that we have to create new ministry today. They want us to do more and faster. Wow, that was refreshing and encouraging to me!
For example, during worship an Elder gave one of the most passionate, knowledgeable and, yes, I say again, aggressive calls to support the denomination’s special offering for One Great Hour of Sharing that I have ever heard. This was a strong, direct call to give that could only authentically come from an Elder. Few pastors would dare such an aggressive call for giving.
For example, a beautiful, young family also gave a moment for mission in worship that day. The whole family, husband, wife and two young boys, stood before the congregation and explained very, yes, I say again, aggressively, why they were committed to Camp Hill Presbyterian and why they have decided to double their pledge to the capital campaign. Wow! That was a powerful message that flies in the face of the perception that only the older generation is seriously committed to church life.
For example, my morning with the Camp Hill church was the first time in my life that I have heard a professional fundraiser preach. What kind of message is it that the pastors and session would give the pulpit to their fundraising consultant? I say again, aggressive. It seems that the folks at Camp Hill do not believe in the old myth that we are not supposed to talk about money in worship. Not only did this sermon talk about money, it named what I think is one of the most neglected theological issues in the church today. Simply and aggressively stated, the way we use our money is a theological statement that proclaims loud and clear what we believe about God. That is good preaching. That is a message we need to hear in our culture today. I admire the Camp Hill church for giving permission for that word to be preached in their pulpit.
What is the result of this aggressive tone? The very next Sunday, on Palm Sunday, the congregation gathered pledges in support of their, yes, I say again, aggressive capital campaign, which intends a beautiful and bold remodeling of their building. Their goal for their capital campaign was $1.5 million. On the first day that the campaign went into its public phase, the congregation oversubscribed the goal with pledges of $1.62 million. Currently, they have pledges in hand of $1,938,220. Congratulations Camp Hill! I appreciate and admire your tone!