Florida moved its campmeeting from the Forest Lake Academy grounds at the center of the state to 2 1/2hours north to Camp Kulaqua and from the end of June to the first of March. I haven't heard as yet how many people actually were motivated to drive that far. There are some in the conference administration who have been trying for years to do away with Campmeeting completely.

It would be sad if Oregon could not have campmeeting. It is a very
special spiritual time. If Oregon is the 2nd largest campmeeting, what state has the largest???

More and more conferences are finding that the costs are very high for the time set aside: maintaining special locations, costs of bringing in special speakers and music presenters along with electricity, air conditioning, perhaps rental of location etc.

Dear Oregon Conference Family,

With deep regret we are announcing the cancellation of Gladstone Camp Meeting 2010. This has been an extremely hard decision to make considering the value and blessing that camp meeting has been to so many of our members, but without the funds being available we feel that to move ahead would be irresponsible.

We received just over $70,000 in pledges for which we are very grateful. We know each of you who pledged dollars in support of camp meeting did it with a generous spirit and from your heart and we want you to know how very much it means to us. Throughout our Town Hall meetings we were personally made aware of the fact that finances are tight right now for the majority of our members. The response we received was just over one quarter of the requested $250,000 needed were we to go ahead this year. We asked for pledges instead of cash so if you made a pledge it is cancelled as it was directly related to an event that is now not happening.

We have looked at possibilities of running a reduced event but realized that much of the preparation and infrastructure would need to be present given our usual attendance of 12-15,000 on the weekend. This would result in small savings and would have pushed our costs over the amount pledged.

Those who have already given an amount for camp meeting can either have the funds reimbursed or redirected towards some other fund such as conference evangelism, television ministry, or future camp meeting expenses. Those who have prepaid registration fees for camping can contact Jayne Johnson and either apply the fees paid towards Camp Meeting 2011 or get full refunds.

We do realize that the Oregon Conference Camp Meeting is a core event for supporting and nurturing spiritual growth conference wide. Please know that this decision to cancel camp meeting came after much prayer and did not come lightly. We have already begun to prayerfully make concrete plans for next year’s camp meeting program.

If you have questions regarding this decision or ideas that will make Camp Meeting 2011 a greater blessing, please call me directly or any of the Oregon Conference administration.

We want you to know that the Oregon Conference is still very committed to the Gospel Commission and is looking creatively at ways to continue to support the church families as they spread God's love throughout their communities across Oregon and SW Washington.

Please join me in praying that God will continue to bless and guide as we give all of this over to Him and that He will continue to make His plans for our conference family clear to all of us. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Yours in the Blessed Hope,


Al Reimche
President
Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

A question just occurred to me:

Do special speakers and music presenters charge higher fees these days than they used to in the past?

Our state (Victoria, Australia) just had its first camp since 2006. (There was trouble finding a suitable venue for a while.)

It was HUGE. My husband and I went for the whole camp, the first time in our lives we have done so. We helped with the music in the kids' Kindergarten division.

It was held at Elmore, a little farming town in the centre of the state about 100 miles from Melbourne (population 881, according to one of the locals). There were about 1600 Adventists staying on the camp site and probably another 1000 came just for the Sabbath. Unfortunately it was over the Easter period so we did not boost the local economy by as much as we would have at other times!

We had 3 overseas guest speakers:
1. Herb Larsen
2. Cheri Peters (from 3ABN)
3. Eddie Hipolyte (Youth leader from England)

Here is the photo album:

Photo Gallery (Victorian Conference of SDA website)

aldona

Looks neat. But for $200 I'm out. Umph, no women speakers, either. Just multicolored people with one kind of anatomy.


"I enjoy being a girl." from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 musical, Flower Drum Song

But this is all to be expected from an organization that had Doug Batchelor speak to them last year. :(

STOP DENIGRATING DOUG BATCHELOR OR YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF AND POSSIBLY THE FORUM IN TROUBLE.

You are not anonymous here.

There are many good reasons to refrain from denigrating Doug, such as common courtesy or respect, or simply because it will not change anything.

But this fear of unspecified "trouble" from unnamed persons or organizations?

I have trouble believing that this is the church I belong to.

aldona

Good Point. We as a church have really fallen backwards in this regard. Back in the good old days of Ellen White ... you could hear a good woman preacher very often. There were far more women pastors than there are now. What has happened. We need to return to our roots.

:(

Wow Woody, I didn't realize you were that old! Besides Ellen White, who was the last woman you heard preach at camp meeting? You know, memory is the first thing to go.

Yes. Well ... I was around in 1959. I do confess. If that makes me 'old' ... then so b it.

And I am very much able to remember the last woman who preached at campmeeting because I sleep with her each night.

Looks neat. But for $200 I'm out. Umph, no women speakers, either. Just multicolored people with one kind of anatomy.


"I enjoy being a girl." from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 musical, Flower Drum Song

Does this OYC have anything to do with the Oregon Conference of Seventh day Adventists? Or NAD OR the GC ... OR is it an offshoot church and ministry?

Oregon Campmeeting is closed for the summer of 2010.

Right. I don't believe it for a second either. I think we can say anything about Doug we want to say without fear. Personally, I think Doug is a very good and sincere Christian who is doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing. I think he was very wise to decline the suggested partnership with 3ABN.

Doug is not presenting full scholarly historical critical theology, and he isn't supposed to. His job, like all evangelists, is to sow the seeds. Evangelists sow the seeds of theology, then the seeds develop with the help of the Holy Spirit into the mature theological picture. Ideally, our faith and knowledge develop side by side. Doug Batchelor's mission is to introduce people to Christianity and Seventh-day Adventism, giving them a good start on the gospel road of their knowledge and faith development.

That is the way I see it.

I forgot to add the link of Oregon Youth for Christ team this year which has all of its talks and sermons on audioverse. Here is the direct link to Oregon Youth for Christ!

http://www.audioverse.org/sermons/conferences/38/oyc-2010-awakened-hope.html

If anyone is not familiar with audioverse please feel free to check it out. You can download any sermon for free. There are even a few women speakers. :)

Dr. Rich - All the glory belongs to God. God bless you brother.