Most camp and retreat centers serve individuals, families, educational institutions, religiously affiliated groups, social service agencies, community service organizations, and other nonprofit organizations that enrich life in the world. Sometimes you’ve called them “rental groups.” Stop! Let me share why, when someone calls to ask about our site, I say:

“We don’t rent our sites. But we are interested in meaningful partnerships with a wide variety of organizations. Perhaps you’re one of them.”  

Language matters. When people think they are “renting” your center, they often think they can do whatever they want to, which can sometimes lead to trouble or to missed opportunities. Our ministry of hospitality can be best expressed when we enter a relationship as a partner with guest groups. When we understand their purpose, we can align our services to help them meet their goals. Sometimes it is through simple things that support their experience: not mowing the lawn in front of their meeting space if we know they have scheduled an hour of quiet discernment time, letting the kitchen staff wear or decorate the dining area with tie-dyed shirts when we know that it’s “Tie Dye Tuesday” for this group, guiding them to nature trails, meditative spaces, or recreational options in line with their activity schedule. Sometimes a group’s experience as a partner can lead to larger collaborations.

I like to use the language of “guest groups.” Everyone is a guest at our site. They didn’t build or pay for the building of this site; they are likely not contributing to the maintenance or capital improvement funds needed by this ministry (though they might be invited to, if their experience becomes more meaningful to them than a mere rental of space!). So here are my ways of explaining to others who may wonder why we do what we do. Maybe this rings true for you. 

“We support groups that serve the world” 

Nonprofit groups of all kinds seek out camp and retreat centers for their planning, training, and programs. Much investment has gone into building, maintaining, and improving quality, year-round centers designed to serve multiple groups. More than an investment in buildings, it is ultimately an investment in changed lives. All of the groups that are guests at our centers share one thing in common: they exist to make life better in the world and to address real needs. As we host and partner with them, we help that happen. We extend nurturing hospitality for these groups because we understand them to be partners in healing, justice, personal and spiritual growth. Through our ministries, the church extends its love to people and places far beyond what we alone would ever know. We nurture people so they can go forth to be a blessing to others. 

“Enhancing community”

A fundamental change in U.S. society has been observed as we have moved from a “front-porch” culture to a “back-deck” existence. We know our neighbors less and less as we get busier and busier. Our population is the most diverse in U.S. history and the farthest away from families and communities of origin. Social isolation is a pressing challenge of our time, with many folks more disconnected and lonely than ever, needing places of belonging and a sense of shared purpose. 

One notable dimension of camp and retreat ministry is its consistency in giving groups of diverse people the vision, the tools, and the sensitivity to become a caring community for one another.  There are few other settings today where strangers come to live together 24 hours a day with the goal of becoming a loving community for each other. That explains in part why these temporary camp and retreat experiences have such lasting impact. Our “sacred places apart” provide a unique opportunity for deepened bonds and intentional group processing.

“Caring for the earth”

Climate chaos is a wake-up call to most of us today. People do not stand outside Creation but are part of it. Whatever happens to the earth affects us all. 

The natural settings of our camp and retreat centers make us ideal partners with schools, outing clubs, conservationists, and public agencies who share a commitment to environmental care. The spiritual, biblical roots of our faith speak powerfully to the sacredness of Creation and make it clear that earth care is vital to discipleship. Our sites provide an invitation to encounter the natural world up close. People who know and enjoy nature – land and landscapes, flora and fauna, water and watersheds – will be the people who act to preserve, protect, and share it.

“Nurturing leaders”

Our ministries have a long history of engaged learning – people actively participating in a shared experience, reflecting on what it teaches them, and putting new learning into practice. Our sites offer outdoor and indoor learning spaces conducive to this action/reflection process. Experiential learning keeps interest high since participants involve their entire beings, not just their minds, in the learning. We provide opportunities for a healthy balance of activity and restful renewal – the ebb and flow of action and contemplation – often enabling the application of faith to life issues and the thoughtful integration of learning. We seek to support groups that come to us with educational goals, and we are honored to be partners in nurturing learners and leaders for the community, church, and world.

The guests we welcome to United Methodist Camp/Retreat Centers ought to be treated with a care that the term “rental groups” just doesn’t convey. Our centers offer much more than building space as we enable and enrich the mission, connection, learning, and world-transforming potential of those we are privileged to host. Leaders in the UMCRM community are invited to choose terminology that aligns with these foundational values and helps all those with whom we minister to understand themselves as partners in something much more powerful than a short-term “rental.” After all, we are in the business of “the transformation of the world”!

Rev. Lisa Jean Hoefner has served in United Methodist Camp & Retreat Ministries in various capacities for over 40 years. She served as Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries in the Oregon-Idaho Conference, as Director at Wesley Forest (PA), Sky Lake (NY), Suttle Lake (OR), and Lake Tahoe UMC and Retreat Center (CA), and as a camp staff member in New York Conference camps (Sessions Woods, Epworth, Quinipet). Lisa Jean was ordained in The United Methodist Church in 1977 and has served churches and directed cooperative ministries in Connecticut and New York. Twice she began new congregations as part of the camp’s ministries in the communities in which they are located – in Weikert, PA and Sisters, OR. Lisa Jean has been an UMCRM supporter from its beginnings, served on the UMCRM Board and various committees and task forces, and is a frequent and beloved workshop leader, teacher and mentor.