“10 Days of Connectional Giving”
The zipline is one of many challenges for campers at Asbury Hills Camp & Retreat Center.
By Arthur Spriggs
Executive Director
S.C. Camps & Retreat Ministries
Spriggs
How important are your apportionment dollars to South Carolina Camps & Retreats?
First, be it known that our very own Asbury Hills is one of the top United Methodist Camps in the country. In 2016, Asbury Hills was named the “Coolest Camp in the State of South Carolina” among all camps – even secular and private camps – by GOBankingRates.com.
But that’s not what makes S.C. Camps & Retreats special. Some of you would say that it’s the 55-year history of Asbury Hills. Others would say that it’s the fact that Asbury Hills served more than 1,100 summer campers this past year – the most ever. Or was it the more than 3,000 adult and youth guests who came up to the mountaintop for a spiritual retreat?
Because of your continued apportionment support (Jan. 10 is the deadline for churches to pay their 2016 apportionments), S.C. Camps & Retreats is fulfilling the mission of the United Methodist Church. And we continue to be amazed at how God uses camping, and specifically Asbury Hills, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
So what role does Asbury Hills play in the mission of the United Methodist Church? In keeping with the Book of Discipline (2012) Paragraph 122, camp continues the mission of seeking, welcoming and gathering persons into the community of the body of Christ. Asbury Hills nurtures persons in Christian living.
Just as our churches are charged to do, we provide HOPE:
Campers at Asbury Hills learn archery, among other skills.
- Hospitality – Reach out and receive all persons.
- Opportunity – Offer them Christ.
- Purpose – Nurture persons in Christian living.
- Engagement – Send persons out to live their faith.
Not only do we provide HOPE, but we attempt to do it in a place set apart, away from one’s own creative work. Asbury Hills is truly a place of solitude. A place where you can get away from it all to find the meaning of it all.
We find so many examples of where Christ would go into the wilderness to practice solitude and rest, in an effort to clearly communicate with God.
The nearly 2,000 acres at Asbury Hills – nestled between Table Rock and Caesar’s Head – awakens you to the Creator. Creation Formation compliments and leads individuals to Faith Formation, building relationships with trust and confidence.
Children make and continue lifelong relationships – with each other and with Jesus Christ – at Asbury Hills.
Asbury Hills is more than just your typical camp. Where else can 280 strangers come together and in five days be united – with Christ as the central focus of all we do?
We are intentional about creating and practicing Christian community. We practice play and relationship building, which experts feel are the building blocks to leadership development.
And finally, Asbury Hills is still affordable, compared to most private and secular camps – costing almost half of what others camps are charging.
Let’s continue to keep S.C. Camps & Retreat Ministries sustainable for many years to come. Thank you for making a difference!
Over “10 Days of Connectional Giving” – leading up to the Jan. 10 deadline for churches to pay their 2016 apportionments to the conference treasurer – we are sharing short stories to remind you what your church’s annual contributions mean to your fellow United Methodists and to those whose lives are touched by their efforts.
We hope this will encourage your congregation’s leaders to make sure they have submitted your church’s 2016 apportionment so the good work of all of the conference’s ministries can continue.
And to those churches that already have given 100 percent of their apportionments:
