from the joint highlands committee moderator
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ummer at Highlands is a great time! During summer camps, the air is filled with sounds of happy children laughing and singing and being led by enthusiastic college students who are the summer staff. There are sounds of Bible stories being read and groups discussing how the stories can be applied to everyday life. There is also the quiet time during prayer and worship.
Partnership Day Camps were held at 14 churches in the Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks. Many children were reached who would not have had the opportunity to attend camp or learn how “Jesus Chooses Us!!” Partnership Day Camps were a great success. High adventure campers faced extreme challenges at the CSU challenge course. One of the challenges is to climb a pole that is 27½ feet tall and stand on the top of it. Then, leap for a trapeze and have faith in the safety harness and fellow campers who hold the safety lines. How many adults would do that? As you walk around camp, you might hear the sound of hammers as Mission Work Campers reroof the Activity Center or build a new vesper site. You might also smell paint from the dock being painted or the odor from the wood structures of the Challenge Course and the Vesper site being stained. Mission Work Campers also removed willows from the dam of the pond which has improved the view as well as improving the
integrity of the dam. We are grateful for these Mission Work Camps!! In the retreat center, you might hear shouts of joy as families arrive for their long awaited reunions and see family members they have not seen in some time. Birthday and anniversary celebrations are held at Highlands. Many men and women come to Highlands for annual retreats. Several times a year, you will hear the soft whir of sewing machines of the quilting groups who stay up late into the night sewing and chatting. The quilters have also made donations to our annual Christmas party and silent auction. This is a sampling of the children, youth and adults who are blessed by the ministry of Highlands. Highlands is a year round facility. We are fortunate to have an Executive Director and staff who can keep all the groups and programs as well as ongoing maintenance orchestrated!! There is a lot of “behind the scenes” activity to make everything run smoothly. I hope you will consider visiting Highlands to see what is happening with this marvelous ministry! Blessings, Ruth Lewis Moderator of Highlands Joint Camp Committee
Page –1– August 2013
the whole ministry of highlands
By Maria Shupe, Executive Director
Residential Summer Camp . . . Partnership Day Camp. . . Mission Work Camp . . . Guest Groups . . . Family Celebrations . . . Leadership Development . . . Board of Pensions Seminars . . . Quilters and Scrap Bookers . . . Music, Art and Bird Camps . . . Men’s Ministry . . . Women’s Retreats . . . Youth Groups . . . and so much more . . .
The Whole Ministry of Highlands! Page –2– August 2013
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his summer has been full of blessings! I often compare being the Executive Director of Highlands to being the conductor of an orchestra . . . and summer is the time when we play the big complicated musical pieces! This summer we have enjoyed having: • 134 guest groups here for nearly 6000 camper days and eating13,904 meals; • Special celebrations including a 90th birthday celebration, a 50th anniversary celebration, and a wedding; • 6 family reunions with an average of 40-60 family members; • 270 Residential Summer Campers and over 20 Summer Staff members; • International staff from England, Colombia, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine; • 3 Mission Work Camps who did special projects at Highlands. These projects included clearing willows at the pond, staining outdoor areas, beginning the vesper site at the pond, and reroofing the Activity Center; • Over 400 children and youth in Partnership Day Camps; • One exciting week of Respite Camp with children who require 24 hour care; • The Board of Pensions retirement planning seminar for church leaders. Our residential summer campers came from congregations in Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks and represented 11 states. This year we also saw over 100 campers with no church affiliation. We are delighted to partner with parents, grandparents, volunteers and friends of Highlands who understand the importance of faith formation in children and youth and help them come to Highlands! Through the generosity of donors, we provided over $9300 in scholarships for residential summer campers. Our goal is that no child is denied the opportunity to come because of cost, and you helped us meet that goal! We have so much to be grateful for this summer! We are grateful to volunteers who have served as drivers and directors; nurses and office help; those who help to train and prepare staff; and others who have led us in worship! We are also grateful to those who have built new signs, painted old signs, climbed the roof of the Retreat Center to paint vents, worked with Mission Work Camps on the Vesper site, repaired broken windows and screens, cleared trails and done much more maintenance for Highlands. Thank you to Geoff, Cindy, John, Sandy, Buddy, Lynn, Jim, Scott, Nancy, Phil, Susan, Jim, Mark, Tom . . . and many more! We love to have you come and join us! We are also grateful for you and the many others who join you in supporting this ministry! This spring, we have met and exceeded our $70,000 Matching Grant to meet our mid-year debt reduction payment. Donors have also provided generous scholarship support that enables us to say “Yes!” to every scholarship application we have received. We are also grateful for donors who send unrestricted support for our general operation. In July, we reduced our interest rate on our mortgage to 3.95% dropping our rate .8%. Our ministry could not thrive without your support through gifts of time and expertise as well as your financial gifts! All in all it has been a wonderful summer of sharing the Gospel, and offering hospitality to people from across the nation and around the world! Our symphony of praise has been well orchestrated by an outstanding staff, and we are grateful to all of our partners in ministry!
choosing highlands
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by Rev. Bill Davis, Director of Programs
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his summer, campers from all over Colorado, Nebraska and neighboring states chose to come to Highlands for a week of camp. Through worship, Bible studies, and other activities centered around our theme of “Jesus Chooses Us,” campers deepened discipleship, learned more about who they are as Children of God, and made lasting friendships. One Sunday evening during our opening worship service I asked campers about some of the things they chose to bring with them to camp for the week. Our Night Owl campers brought flashlights, headlamps, and jackets to keep them warm in the early morning hours. Our Grandparent/ Grandchild campers brought sunscreen, laughter, their cuteness, and the love of their families for three days of awesome camp fun! Our Mission Work campers brought their awesome dance moves, work gloves, and happiness all the way from St. Charles, Missouri. No matter what camp they were at Highlands for, our campers this summer came ready for an incredible week of camp. This summer has been especially wonderful thanks to our three wonderful Mission Work Camp groups. These groups came from as far as Texas and Missouri, and as close as Buckhorn Presbyterian Church in Masonville. Over the three weeks they were with us, these groups cleared willows from the dam at the pond, stained the dock, treated and stained wood on our challenge course, reroofed the Activity Center, and built a new worship area next to the pond. It was an incredibly successful first year for our Mission Work Camp. I hope that the next time you are at Highlands you will get to see or use one of these greatly improved areas. As this summer winds down, we are already making plans for next summer. We hope that you will make plans to choose Highlands Summer Camps again next summer! For more information about Highlands Summer Camps, or to learn how you can partner with this incredible ministry, visit our website or email program@highlandscamp.org.
the unexpected journey: the path of faith
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2013 Sr. High Retreat November 1-3, 2013
n a world where we are all told we have to go it alone, what do the stories of the leaders of the Bible tell us?
Did Peter lead the church without the disciples and eventually Paul?
Did David begin his journey without Samuel and the people of Israel? Did any of them do it without God?
Like Bilbo, who needed the dwarves and Gandalf, and even Gollum to become a hero, we can’t do it all alone. Join us to hear stories of adventure, faith and strength, and offer your own story as part of what God hopes for us all…together on the journey of faith. Page –3– August 2013
we are so grateful to our 2013 day camp partners !
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hanks for a wonderful summer of ministry with over 400 children and youth! • Week One, June 9–14: Presbyterian Church of Kimball and Weldon Valley Presbyterian Church • Week Two, June 16–21: Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church and Strasburg Presbyterian Church • Week Three, June 23–28: First Presbyterian Church, Leadville and Light Memorial Presbyterian Church, Sidney / United Church of the Plains, Dalton • Week Four, June 30–July 3: Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies, Estes Park and First United Presbyterian Church, Loveland • Week Five, July 7–12: First Presbyterian Church, Yuma and Iglesia Presbiteriana de Valverde • Week Six, July 14–19: Nederland Community Presbyterian Church and Peoples Presbyterian Church • Week Seven, July 21–26: Valmont Presbyterian Church and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Denver Stephen Bohn, one of our Day Camp Co-Directors writes . . . “In addition to serving in the mornings with our Partnership Day Camps, our staff spent our afternoons working hard on service projects for our churches and in their communities. We painted walls, stained decks, sorted cans for food banks, built storage space for closets, prepared programs for a senior citizens' home, and organized freezers for a community food bank. Highlands staff is grateful for the opportunity to serve all of our partnership churches this summer!”
Michelle Ruiz, our other Day Camp Co-Director recently graduated from Austin Theological Seminary. She said, “Partnership Day Camps were a wonderful transition from seminary to ministry! This was real ministry and I loved seeing it ‘stick’ with kids. I loved being able to take a piece of Highlands down the mountain!” Three Day Camp Partners also came “up the mountain” to spend a “day at camp” with us! Iglesia Presbiteriana de Valverde brought 88 very excited children, youth and adults. Peoples Presbyterian Church joined us with a group of 12 and Wheat Ridge Presbyterian Church brought a group of 21 to spend the day doing activities and enjoying Highlands! Partnership in ministry . . . a joy and a delight!
highlands fall work day Saturday, September 14th 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Join us as we do some painting projects, and work on the new vesper site at the pond! R.S.V.P. to info@highlandscamp.org or by calling 303-747-2888 and we’ll pack a lunch for you! Youth . . . Adults . . . Groups are all welcome!
Page –4– August 2013
inspire / equip / connect Leadership Retreat ~ November 15 - 16, 2013
A retreat in partnership between the Presbytery of Denver and Highlands with support from the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation and the Synod of the Rocky Mountains. Does this sound familiar? • Are you feeling stuck in congregational life and leadership? • Do you sense a lack of hope or purpose in your church? • Are you wondering what God is ‘up to’ in the world, your life, the church? Join us! Retreat participants will: • Explore new possibilities for innovative ministry • Ignite a vision for ministry outside the walls of the institutional church • Find opportunities to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones • Discover places where God is at work in the world and discern how to participate in what God is doing • Create space for prayer, reflection, and rest Who will benefit from the retreat? • Teaching Elders • Ruling Elders • Deacons • Church Sessions - come together! • Anyone from Denver, Pueblo, and Plains and Peaks Presbyteries who loves the church Vera K. White, Keynote Speaker; Associate for 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Church (USA). Vera provides the leadership for the denominational initiative that will result in the start of 1001 new worshiping communities over the next decade. She travels around the country inspiring, equipping, and connecting Presbyterian leaders to this Holy Spirit movement. She believes that starting new worshiping communities is the best way to make new disciples, ignite the imagination of the church, and respond to God’s call. Vera is a ruling elder who resides in Pittsburgh, PA, when she is not on the road. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and welcoming friends and family for dinner. COST: Full, $75, Lodging (quad occupancy), plus meals from Friday dinner through Saturday lunch. Or, Commuter, $45 if you’ll be providing your own lodging and commuting to Highlands. Includes full meals. Registration Deadline: November 1st, 2013 Limited translation equipment will be available. Please indicate on the registration form if you would like translation equipment. Register online @ www.highlandscamp.org
the annual highlands christmas party and auction Saturday, December 7th
Please be sure to mark your calendar for this annual celebration of ministry and volunteers! This year we are hoping to add more things for men . . . . and some experiences! If you have skill or expertise to share . . . fly fishing or hiking guide or a gourmet cook or a vacation home to share or some other special treat, we’d love to offer it in the auction! Nancy Greenwood (hnjkks6@yahoo.com) and Cathy Monkman (dcecathy@gmail.com) are coordinating the items for this year’s auction. Please contact them, or Maria (maria@ highlandscamp.org) if you have ideas for things you would like to see in the auction, or an item to donate! Page –5– August 2013
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what’s inside: From the Joint Highlands Committee Moderator..................... 1 The Whole Ministry of Highlands............................................... 2 Choosing Highlands...................................................................... 3 The Unexpected Journey - The Path of Faith............................. 3 We Are So Grateful to our 2013 Day Camp Partners!............... 4 Highlands Fall Work Day............................................................. 4 Inspire / Equip / Connect.............................................................. 5 The Annual Highlands Christmas Party and Auction.............. 5 Page –6– August 2013
MISSION The mission of Highlands is to provide gracious hospitality and quality Christian programs in a majestic mountain setting and to nurture spiritual renewal and transformation in a safe and inclusive environment. For more information about Highlands Presbyterian Camp & Retreat Center Contact 303-747-2888 info@highlandscamp.org u www.highlandscamp.org