Camping Ministry at Loucon

Helping Young People Grow in Relationship with God

Most people who are actively involved in the ministry of our United Methodist congregations across Kentucky had a significant experience with Christ during their childhood or adolescent years.  Many of those experiences were at summer camp! 

Again and again in recent years we have been reminded that many of our churches in the Kentucky Annual Conference did not have even one profession of faith in the past year.  At Camp Loucon, every summer we have a significant number of first-time decisions of faith.  Many young people will receive Christ for the first time.  Many more will make decisions about their relationship with Christ and about service in the life of the church.

Here are just a few of the statistics.

• 1,166 campers in 2006
• 708 made decisions about their relationship with God
• 126 of those were first time decisions to receive Christ
• 496 decisions were rededications of faith
• 86 made decisions about their existing relationship with God

 The bottom line, of course, is that if we sent more kids to summer camp, we would see even more decisions for Christ.  And if we then incorporated those young people into the life of our churches through Sunday school classes, youth ministries, mission trips, and confirmation classes, we would see growth in our United Methodist congregations. 

Over the past several years, Loucon has averaged about 1,200 campers each summer.  But there’s room for about 400 more young people.  You and I could reach 1,600 campers in just about 8 weeks’ time at Camp Loucon.  Wow!

All of this, of course, takes money.  The average cost for a week of summer camp at Loucon is $180.  Many families simply can’t afford to pay that much for a week of camp.  In fact, every year, Loucon provides about $21,000 in scholarship money for campers.  Some of these are full scholarships, some are partial.  In addition to that amount, many of our churches pay some or all of the cost of a week of camp.  They do this because they know how much impact summer camp can have in the life of a child or teenager.

Here’s what you can do.

• Encourage your children and youth to attend summer camp at Loucon.
• Pray for Loucon’s staff, deans, counselors, and campers.
• Send a donation to Loucon to provide a scholarship for campers.
• Schedule a retreat for members of your church.

Camping ministry makes a difference in the lives of young people in our Annual Conference.  You have the opportunity to be Blessed to be a Blessing!  Get involved!

Rev. Dr. Gary Maguffee

Loucon Committee Program Chair