By now most have you have received or seen promotional information for the United Methodist National Youth Event, Youth 2019.  Past events have taken place in the latter part of June, so most groups found it “doable” to attend the youth event and their regular session of summer camp.  However, in 2019, the event will take place in July, right smack dab in the middle of camp! As a person in ministry with young people in BOTH youth ministry and camping ministry, I’m committed to both, and would like to help leaders consider your options. I believe in and value the camp experience for each and every young person, and as well, I know the power of this national event on the faith formation of young people. To be in that place with THOUSANDS of other United Methodist youth in worship and service and fellowship is second to none. So WHAT IS A CAMP PERSON TO DO?  

I suggest you make Youth 2019 part of your summer camp program! In my home conference we have some very small youth groups that did not have the numbers or resources to attend as a youth group. So our conference offered the event as a week of camp so individuals could sign up and attend. Consider the following ways to support BOTH important ministries for our young people:

• Offer the Youth Event as a week of camp.  Here’s how our ministry did it: We did not run our regular senior high program during the week of the National Youth Event.  I sought funding for two chaperones through Camping and Young People’s Ministries at our Conference and had individuals sign up through the camp registration system. The price included the event and coordinated transportation. I also collected forms needed for both the event and my chaperones, registered the group, and arranged for the extra day activity (last time it was in Florida on a Disney property).

• Offer it as a part of a camp experience.  Have a group attend the event with some of your staff, then return to camp for a few days to debrief and apply their experience from the event to their life of faith through a few days of reflection and further processing at your site.

• Schedule senior high camp during a different week (NOT the week of the event), so if their youth group is attending they don’t feel that they have to choose between camp and the event.

Bottom line, there will be those who will choose one experience over the other because of time or money or both.  There will be those who will choose the event because it only happens every four years or they aren’t a “camp person.”  I will say, the year I ran Youth 2015 as a week of camp, it gave me the opportunity to have a connection with young people with whom I had not connected before. A few of them even tried out camp the next year as a way to reconnect with the youth they had met at the national event.  I feel it is our responsibility not to be in “competition,” but to embrace and support the many ministries outside of the local church that help in creating disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Learn more about Youth 2019 : http://youth2019.com/

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Kelly Peterson-Cruse is a former Camp Director/Owner and served for 10 years as Director of Camping and Young People's Ministries in the Cal-Nevada Conference. She

has just accepted a new position relating to Camp/Retreat Ministries at UMC Discipleship Ministries, along with her part-time role with Young Peoples' Ministries for the Western Jurisdiction of the UMC. Her ministry is fueled by good coffee, the energy of young people, and the love of Jesus.