{"id":2735,"date":"2024-08-14T17:58:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T22:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/?post_type=encyclopedia&#038;p=2735"},"modified":"2025-09-11T14:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:19:15","slug":"mission-and-values","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/mission-and-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission and Values"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/camp-deerpark\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Camp Deerpark, officially Camp Deerpark Inc., also known as CDP, and Camp, is a four-season camp and retreat center serving youth, families, and churches in the New York City region in a Christian Camping environment. Camp offers retreats to churches, youth groups, and ministries year round in a lodge, cabins, and motels and hosts 5 weeks of Summer Camp in July and August. The Camp is located on Grounds composed of 395 acres with spacious lawns and mountain forest outside the village of Westbrookville in the Town of Deerpark in the Shawangunk Mountains in Orange County NY. Camp is a&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Camp Deerpark<\/a> is a ministry of the New York City Mennonite Churches &ndash; a community of Christ where children, youth, and families from all cultures are welcomed to fellowship together in the serenity of God&rsquo;s creation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an outreach of 18 New York City Mennonite Churches, Camp Deerpark stands alone as a camping ministry owned by and dedicated to serving inner-city Mennonites. The camp offers people of all ages, races, and backgrounds the opportunity to enjoy Christian camping at a reasonable price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Distinctive to Camp&rsquo;s program are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cross-cultural ministry (both in terms of ethnic culture and rural\/urban culture)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Opportunities for hands-on leadership and ministry experience for inner-city youth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Affordable and welcoming retreat facilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Camp Deerpark Core Values:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Express the Love of Jesus and Biblical Principles\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To every person that comes on to the camp grounds including summer camp children, weekend retreat guests, individuals on personal retreat, and the garbage truck driver.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By having integrity in all business dealings with:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vendors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guest groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Campers and parents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staff and volunteers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Donors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Neighbors and community<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Government authority<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By fostering Christian community\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We want to be an organization that takes the lead in resolving conflicts, opening communication, and strengthening relationships.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stay tightly connected to our original mission. Camp Deerpark is owned by the New York City Mennonite Churches and our mission is to serve those churches.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We need to make sure that we never take Camp Deerpark in a direction that the owner churches are not ready to go.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We need to put our programming resources into programs that benefit all of the churches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An ancillary, yet important result of staying tightly connected to our NYC Mennonite Churches is Camp Deerpark will continue is a bridge between the urban and rural Mennonite Church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hospitality is central to our summer camp and retreat ministry.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We serve New Yorkers and those who live in the greater New York City metropolitan area. While NYC is made up of a collection of neighborhoods that are often very warm and friendly it can also be a place that is overcrowded and impersonal.&nbsp; After a hard week of work, fighting traffic home, rushing to church on Friday night, waiting for the folks who encountered even more obstacles, fighting traffic out of the city, and finally arriving at camp an hour or more later than planned; we want our guests to take a deep breath of fresh air, smell freshly brewed coffee, and know that they are in their home in the country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In a world where people are known by their account number we want to be very personal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We do not have a five star facility, but we want to treat every person with a five star attitude.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When children arrive for a week of summer camp after a two hour bus ride we want to have cheering staff eagerly anticipating their arrival.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want our staff to be good listeners that encourage our guests and campers to unload their stress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"4\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We are an organization that considers policy in the context of people.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Policies are created to ensure that decisions are made to protect the organization and the greatest number of people. However, those policies often make life more difficult for individuals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want to be very considerate to how our policies affect individuals and find creative ways of meeting the needs of our campers, guests, staff, volunteers, and donors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When we need to enforce policy we want to communicate with compassion and empathy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We never want policies that simply make our lives easier at the expense of people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A policy should never replace an honest and loving conversation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"5\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Be good stewards of the resources God has given us.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Approximately 50% of our operating income comes from donations. We don&rsquo;t ever want to take those contributions for granted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many of our guests make significant financial sacrifices to make their weekend retreat possible. We also don&rsquo;t ever want to take that sacrifice for granted.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want to continue to use the tool triangle to determine the need for expenditures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want to continue to make good use of volunteers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want to be meticulous with maintenance to ensure that our tools, equipment, and buildings are useful as long as possible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We need to be careful that a lack of cash flow does not turn our thinking into a mentality of poverty and result in bad financial decisions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continue to work towards raising our earned income percentage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We want to continue caring for and managing our forest and the 402 acres that we own.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We acknowledge that the staff here at Camp Deerpark have and continue to make significant sacrifices to be here. We want to be good stewards of their commitment to this ministry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Policy Type:<\/strong> Board Action<br><strong>Adopted:<\/strong> September 28, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does Camp express it&rsquo;s Mission &amp; Values?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Camp translates it&rsquo;s Mission and Values into four <a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/initiatives\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Initiatives are major areas of focus derived from Camp Deerpark's Mission and Values. Current Initiatives Prayer, Word &amp; Worship Prayer, Word, &amp; Worship are the center of Jesus-based practice and the root of vibrant Christian community and transformational living, creating experiences that flow from the Triune God's presence which focus our work and launch us into sent-ness towards others. Programs: Pastor's Personal Retreat, Retreat Stewardship Stewardship is the acknowledgement and practice that everything belongs to God, and as his children in fellowship with Him and following the model of the Son, we are empowered to sustainably use all that is&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Initiatives<\/a> which are major areas of focus: Prayer, Word, &amp; Worship; <a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/stewardship\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Stewardship is the acknowledgement and practice that everything belongs to God, and as his children in fellowship with Him and following the model of the Son, we are empowered to sustainably use all that is entrusted to us for the good of all He loves. Stewardship is one of Camp's Initiatives: four major area of focus across Program and Projects that are derived from our Mission &amp; Values. Camp applies Stewardship to human resources, financial &amp; material resources, and creation resources, and sees all these areas as intertwined in an integrated whole. Want to get involved? We are always looking&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Stewardship<\/a>; Peacebuilding; and <a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/discipleship-leadership-development\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Discipleship &amp; Leadership Development is life-on-life practice to grow believers to be like Jesus and to live advancing the Kingdom by their gifts, so young and old alike are fully empowered to serve Christ at Camp, in the city, and beyond. Discipleship &amp; Leadership Development is one of Camp&rsquo;s Initiatives: four major area of focus across Program and Projects that are derived from our Mission &amp; Values. Camp applies Discipleship &amp; Leadership Development to all ministry programs and staff development, as well as the support we offer to our participating churches. Want to get involved? This initiative is a great&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Discipleship &amp; Leadership Development<\/a>.  These Initiatives are then expressed through <a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/program\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Program at Camp Deerpark refers to events, efforts, and Initiatives to develop people, build relationships, and advance the Mission in which Camp provides the structure and leadership solely or in partnership with others. This differs from Camp's Hosting activities where we provide facilities and support services for others to carry out their programming. All Program-related pages are categorized in Program. Current Programming (Chronological) PA Banquet Pastor's Retreat Summer Camp (includes Teen Discipleship and Teen Camp) Peace Camp Homecoming Festival Related Threads Related threads use the program tag.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Program<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/kb\/projects\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Projects are areas of work executed by Staff and Volunteers. Each project is derived from one of our Initiatives -- major areas of focus themselves derived from our Mission and Values. Tracking Projects Projects are announced in the Projects category of the Smoke Signals Blog. This is also where project news is published and then shared on Social Media. There is also a Projects category in the Knowledge Base, and individual projects have their own pages. In the Threads forum, projects are listed according to where the project happens Buildings, Equipment, Grounds, and Program. All project-related posts should use the&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Projects<\/a>.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[90,93,42,91,92],"encyclopedia-category":[89],"class_list":["post-2735","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","tag-board-actions","tag-core-values","tag-mission","tag-policy","tag-values","encyclopedia-category-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/2735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/2735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4983,"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/2735\/revisions\/4983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2735"},{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campdeerpark.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-category?post=2735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}