Every four years, the United Methodist Church hosts a special event for UM youth. The next event will be held July 25-28, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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Youth 2023 will bring together thousands of young people from across the country for fellowship, worship, and fun. The values underlying this event align closely many of the foundations of camp and retreat ministries:

• Provide Sacred Places Apart

• Nurture Christian Faith & Discipleship

• Extend Christian Hospitality & Community

• Develop Principled Spiritual Leaders

• Inspire and Equip Lives for Love & Justice

As a partner in ministry, UMCRM is working with Discipleship Ministries to make it as easy as possible for youth to attend both camp and the Youth 2023 event next summer. In the past, this event extended over a weekend, which interfered with two weeks of summer camp. This year the Youth 2023 planning team intentionally scheduled the event during the week, limiting its impact on our summer camp season.

Here are a couple of ways that camps can help families and churches give both of these opportunities to their youth: 

•  Schedule senior high camp during a week that does not overlap with Youth 2023 (July 25-28). This prevents youth from needing to choose between camp and the event. 

• Offer Youth 2023 as a trip camp! Many small UM churches don’t have enough young people or resources to attend Youth 2023 as a youth group. By offering it as a camp event, all youth from your Conference will have the chance to attend. Price and run the event as you would any other trip camp. You could even add an additional day or two at camp to prepare for or debrief the Youth 2023 experience. 

Another of our UMCRM foundations is to “Partner with United Methodist Churches & Agencies.” While some youth will inevitably need to choose between the national event and a week at camp, Youth 2023 is not in competition with camp. Our camping ministries and the offerings of Discipleship Ministries (such as Youth 2023) build upon each other in a young person’s discipleship journey. We are called to work together in developing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Youth 2023 is a fantastic opportunity to live out this partnership and create the space to get as many young people to this event AND to camp.

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There are also ways for you to be actively involved in the event. Check out the