Camp Geddie’s mission is to invite all to experience the joy of God’s beauty and love in creation and to nurture a relationship with Christ and Christ’s people in a caring community through play and worship.
Camp Geddie Report for Synod 2016
The Camp Geddie Committee seeks to fulfill this mission in all of its work; we are blessed to have the beauty of the location and the gifts of all of those who are connected to Camp Geddie.
The Summer Ministry of the Camp
The Commissioning of Staff was held at Camp Geddie on June 25th with the Convenor of the Camp Geddie Committee, the Rev. Sandy McDonald, leading a service of Word and Sacrament. This service as usual was open for anyone to attend.Following the commissioning service, Camp Geddie hosted Geddie Spageddie. Camp Geddie continues to challenge churches to host Geddie Spageddie’s in their local churches as fundraisers. Camp Geddie had great support from the community for the staff commissioning and Geddie Spageddie event. It was a wonderful way for the staff to engage with the wider community.
On June 17th, Camp Geddie had its annual variety show at First Church, Stellarton. We had great support from the community with many friends of Geddie offering their gifts in the show and the audience providing generous support.
Camp Geddie began its onsite camping ministry work on May 11th. The Executive Director and the four leadership team summer staff were onsite for three days together, planning and preparing for our first staff training weekend. Following the training weekend all fulltime staff moved to camp for a few weeks to prepare for school groups and begin planning for our summer camping program. Beginning June 1st, we had a school group every day until June 24th. In total we hosted 17 school groups compared to 18 groups last year. We had a total of 867 students present at the camp with the 17 groups.
We had a total of 438 campers over the 2016 season. Last summer we had 481 campers. Our younger camp groups were not as large as they have been in past years; however, our senior camp was almost twice as large as last year with 22 campers.
9 camp sessions were held during July and August ranging in ages from 7-18. Below is a pie chart offering a visual representation of the breakdown of the ages of the campers.
Camp Geddie hosted campers from several denominations: Presbyterian, United, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Christian Reformed, Methodist, Born Again Christian, Non-denominational and Pentecostal. There were many campers with no denominational ties.
We had 34 campers come to camp on campership. Most of our campership campers made a contribution to the cost of the camp. Many families are very moved by the generosity of this fund and the profound camp experience for their children. A total of $5926 was used from the Campership fund to support these children and teens coming to camp.This program is an invaluable opportunity and experience that Geddie offers.
Program Committee
Camp Geddie made a last minute change to the Leader in Training (LIT) program this summer. In June the decision was made to go back to a two year model for this very important program. The change now offers a two-three week program for 15+ year olds, who then can apply to return the following summer for the LIT2 program when they are 16+. The LIT2 program is 2 weeks with the possibility of a volunteer week upon successful completion of the program. The decision was made as we had 1 applicant for this summer’s program and had received feedback that it is challenging to take 4 weeks off work when you are 16 and trying to save money for university.
After making the switch in length and age we had 5 participants go through the LIT program this summer. They were a wonderful group of girls and demonstrated great potential. It is our hope and prayer that the 5 participants return in 2017 for the LIT2 program.
We had a visit from the Nova Scotia Piping Plover Conservation Program in July. One of their summer students made a visit and did a morning of education with staff and campers on the endangered species as they nest quite close to Camp Geddie on the shore. The session was well received by both staff and campers.
The camper Bible Study was supplied by Canadian Ministries of the Life and Mission Agency of our national church and is created by ‘Inside Out Christian Resources for Outdoor Ministries’. This year’s theme was Fearless Faith. It focused on characters in the Old and New Testament who demonstrated courageous faith. This year’s curriculum used stories, making it easier to share with campers and it quickly became our theme as a staff.
We had wonderful chaplains this summer who offered great support to staff and campers. We had many first time chaplains or chaplains who were returning from a few years away. This brought a great freshness to the role.
We created 4 new YouTube videos this summer: Meet the Staff, Why Come to Camp, Life at Geddie and 70th Anniversary Celebrations. The committee encourages you to view them and share them with your congregations. These resourced articulate and demonstrate camp life, its benefits, its community and the passion of the staff.
Personnel Committee
Camp Geddie had a remarkable staff of 26 young people for the 2016 camping season as listed below:
Daniel MacLeod
Nicole Addison
Kate Halliday
Kyle Fraser
Angela Richard
Cara MacIvor
Sarah Redden
Krista Oickle
Victoria Chandler
Allison Cruickshank
Lindsay Cheek
Melissa Tufts
Jordan MacDonald
Evan Thompson-MacKay
Angus MacDonald
Daniel Jack
Ryan MacDonald
Luke MacIsaac
Braden MacDonald
Noah Archibald
Morgan Brophy
Emily Elliott
Kristen MacRitchie
Ella Christison
Kate Addison
Emma Kruisselbrink
The Executive Director in her report to the Camp Committee had this to say about the summer personnel:
“The summer staff were incredible. I received many positive comments from visitors, chaplains and other members of the Geddie community in regard to the staff. I received numerous remarks on the hospitality, sense of community, eagerness and gentleness of the staff. They were a mature group of young people who demonstrated and modeled to campers what it means to live in Christian community and humbly shared the love of Christ with one another, campers and the community. It was an absolute pleasure to watch the staff form their community in June and to see them grow as the summer progressed. I admire their leadership, their dedication and their honesty. These young people decided to spend the summer months engaged in ministry, engaged in Christ and chose to try and be present to the needs of others. They chose to be vulnerable, to be themselves and to accept the joy and pain of community living. We shared in moments of struggle, pain and brokenness but also in moments of joy, moments of celebrations and connection. For many it was a summer of transformation and gratitude. I am so thankful and blessed to have been a part of such an enriching, dynamic and motivating experience.”
Property Committee
Camp Geddie is very excited to be erecting a new multipurpose building to replace our old craft hall building. The current craft hall was demolished in early October. This is our 70th anniversary project and an amazing way to celebrate 70 years of camping ministry within The Synod of the Atlantic Provinces. This project will cost approximately $90,000. Camp Geddie has been fundraising but is still in need of some funds to reach our goal for the project. The new building which will be located where the old craft is, will be larger, offering more recreational possibilities. There will be a stage, space for creating crafts and art, space for games, a covered veranda, and plenty of windows for sunlight and air flow.
Finance
Attached are the audited statements for 2015. After many years of having Kent Williams doing our audit at no charge, it was agreed in consultation him to begin to use another auditor. He recommended another firm in New Glasgow; that was the firm that we chose. However the cost for the inaugural year was quite high but we are assured that the 2016 audit will cost much less. We are most grateful for the work and interest of Kent Williams.
We are very appreciative of the gifts that we have received from individuals and congregations for the Operating Fund and for the funding for the new multipurpose building. We wish to express our gratitude for the gifts provided for several years by Donald Horne of Hopewell, NS. The proposed budget for 2017 is also attached.
70th Anniversary
The Camp Geddie Committee held a special celebration on August 6 and 7 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Camp. An outdoor service was held in the Donald W. Mackay Memorial Chapel at 3:00pm on August 7, followed by the sod turning for the multipurpose building and a barbeque. There were 5 persons there who had been at camps in 1946! The Moderator of Synod, the Rev. Jeff Lackie, brought greetings from the Synod and led the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Those present included the Clerk and Treasurer of the Synod. The summer staff offered the Prayers of the People and sang a song. Steven MacLellan of St. James’, Truro, gave an informative and interesting address on the ministry of the Camp Geddie since 1946. Steven has been very involved in the life of the Camp as a camp, staff member, committee member, and convenor since he was a camper in 1967. The Executive Director, Committee Convenor and some Committee members as well as former campers participated in the service.
Recommendations
Rec. 1- That the budget which includes a grant of $48,500 for the Operating Fund and $6,500 for daily checks of the property to meet insurance requirements be approved.
The Committee gives hearty thanks to God for the ministry of Camp Geddie and for the prayers, interest, encouragement, and financial support of so many people.
PA McDonaldWhitney Canning
Convenor Executive Director