Report from Camp Krislund

Dear Presbyterians,

Our Camp Krislund 2009 summer camp has been a remarkable success. We are grateful for the leadership of our new Program Director Art DeVos. One evening while our JCCC (Joint Camp and Conference Committee) was at the camp we appreciated the joyful enthusiasm of all the campers when Joel, a huge stuffed bear, was marched around the dining hall to uproarious applause. The girls’ wagons had just won the daily award for being the cleanest and best decorated unit. They won the opportunity to keep Joel for the day! Joel the Bear is a small sign of our success in bringing a new culture of clean to our Camp. Several other successful changes have been initiated this summer:

We have revitalized the chaplains program. The chaplains are now responsible for the daily “Nightfest” worship service talks, for daily staff devotions, and for preaching at the Saturday morning worship with all the parents in attendance. This intentional and high profile inclusion of our pastors in the summer camp program will reap an abundant spiritual harvest for years to come and create a closer relationship with our churches.

In the dining hall we have seen wonderful improvements. Under Pam DeVos’ leadership we have changed to family style dining. We overcame the overwhelming stress on kitchen volunteers by rotating all the campers and summer camp staff through dining hall set-up and clean up responsibilities. Importantly, because we have a large percentage of campers on scholarships, we applied for and were approved to receive food supplies from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank system which has created extraordinary cost savings.

With expertise and volunteers from our State College and Derry Churches, we now have two new longhouses at Camp. These new housing units replaced the old, canvas tents which had been a mainstay at Krislund. The longhouses and the newly renovated Conestoga wagons improved the camping experience at Krislund this summer.

We remember well the cold, dark days in January and February when we sat at our JCCC Board meetings agonizing over a massively out of balance budget and wondering if summer camp was possible. God is good; All the time. We have a much better grasp of our financial management on a day to day basis. We have successfully concluded what many parents have told us is the best Krislund Summer Camp ever.

We need your support as we build on the success of summer camp 2009 and bring Camp Krislund up to its potential and our vision. Our financial viability is still tenuous. There is still an enormous amount of infrastructure repair and maintenance work to do. Looking ahead, we have gathered a remarkable, professional team to guide our plans for the construction of the new adult lodge through your Funding the Future capital campaign. This construction and the careful management of our new lodge are still before us.

Camp Krislund belongs to the Presbyterian congregations of our three presbyteries. It is your camp! We are grateful for the abundant support and encouragement so many of you have provided through this difficult year of transition. We believe we have turned the corner; our Camp Krislund is poised to move into a bright new future in service to our churches and our Lord.

In Christ;

Chuck Curley, Pastor State College Church, Huntington Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Joy Kaufmann, General Presbyter, Huntington Presbytery
Charlie Winkelman, Pastor Jersey Shore Church, Northumberland Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Bill Knudsen, Executive Presbyter, Northumberland Presbytery
Harold Nightwine, Elder Derry Church, Carlisle Presbytery JCCC chairperson
Mark Englund-Krieger, Executive Presbyter, Carlisle Presbytery