PROPOSED: Owner Should Have More Ownership of Their Main Retreat Weekend

[Ben Cheek]

An owning church, in conversation with the ED, would like to propose a policy that each owning church has an annual opportunity to have a “main retreat” weekend. During this weekend, that church would have greater ownership of the retreat experience and would “host” other groups as an extension of their ministry or blessing to other guests.

This policy is based on a reported practice by KB when the owning church no longer met the numbers threshold for exclusive use. KB would call the owning church and say, “I have this group ready to use Camp with you. What would you be willing to give up to make that happen?” Then KB would negotiate, with the consent of the owning church, what space would be made available to the new group.

This idea comes from a desire for owning churches to see Camp as their very own ministry space where they can create the experiences for their church, those they wish to reach, and other Camp users. In the past, the owner church has felt that they have not been supported to give their people the best experience at Camp (approx past 3 years).

This policy would be an Administrative Policy.

The proposed policy would mean:

1. The owning church would have decision-making authority for the use of facilities for the weekend. Camp would work with the owner to negotiate space for other groups and this would be seen as a contribution of cooperation to sustain Camp’s business, which is important for all the owning churches and users.
2. The owning church would be encouraged and responsible to create a good relationship with the groups they host and be responsible for maintaining a good and ministry-friendly atmosphere.
3. Possibly, Camp’s business model would have to be adjusted to support this or offset costs.

Required actions:

1. First, the Administration must work with Guest Services on the feasibility and implications of the policy.
2. Since the policy involves owner churches and potentially inter-church relations, input should be sought from the NYC Mennonite Council of Churches.
3. A final proposed policy would be created by the Administration and submitted to the Board of Directors for review.

[Author]

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