Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 10, 1990 TAG: 9003102346
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: frances stebbins
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The ordained director of the Church of the Brethren's Camp Bethel has devised a plan to expose the 600 children who go to there each summer to the individual attention he says most need.
Through June, July and August, youngsters at the camp will spend their mornings in small groups directed by professional counselors and medical personnel, as well as the usual clergy.
The goal, Jones said in a recent interview, is to expose young campers to wholesome experiences with adults who are trained to teach principles of physical and emotional health, as well as crafts based on Bible stories.
Not that the camp will short-change children who go for the swimming, hiking, crafts and group activities - the staples of fun at Bethel and other camps. That will still be included in the weekly rate of $90. Some scholarship help is available from a fund to which Brethren give.
But Jones and the teams of about 100 clergy and the lay physicians, counselors, nurses and teachers who already are in training are excited about the new program, which could become a model for other church camps. Some adults are giving a day a week for most of the summer; others will be there in a rotation still being worked out.
Jones said pediatricians have been the hardest staffers to engage. Not all doctors, he said, have the skills to work with children and not all are deeply enough committed to the church to be comfortable in the experimental values program.
The director, who has coordinated many education events for Brethren adults and children since coming to the Roanoke area nearly 25 years ago, calls the 1990 summer plan at the Botetourt facility "the most ambitious and intensive program for children and youth in its history."
Teaching values related to good health, self-respect and reliance on God has been Jones' dream since he studied pastoral counseling long ago. As time has passed and his two children have grown and produced their own families, he said he has increasingly felt church programs have done nothing for those youngsters who need most to feel Christ's love.
Jones asserts that includes children with too-busy church-involved parents as well as those from homes with drug abuse, marital instability, serious illness or poverty. A week at camp, he said, should leave these children with something more than memories of nature study and pretty songs, appropriate as these are.
The director admits the plan required some selling. Some pastors have wondered if the church should get so involved with family issues. Others have questioned whether it's worth the trouble.
The volunteers will involve themselves with children from the ages of about 8 to 14. Of these, about 30 percent are expected to come from non-Brethren households.
Though especially for elementary school and junior high youngsters, the holistic physical, mental and spiritual program also will be incorporated into a popular teen "Outpost and Trailweek" at the end of summer, Jones said.
The five-morning program has been planned so campers will meet for 45 minutes each with the physical, emotional and spiritual mentors. Jones said it will be easy for campers to talk privately with the adults who are leading the seminars that day.
The program is closely coordinated to ensure maximum effect. More than 100 volunteers are already in training or soon will be.
The director said topics to be covered will be focused on the worth of the individual as a child of God. Campers will move from the basic concept of self-respect to acceptance of normal desires, such as being liked and feeling comfortable with other people.
Later in the week children will explore why people - including family members - do not always get along together.
Before going home, campers will get experience in decision-making and how to resist pressures to act in ways not consistent with Christian values. Jones is confident that at least a few children will derive lasting benefit from the character building.
The summer program represents the latest effort of the Botetourt conference center to expand the influence of the Church of the Brethren in the Virlina District, Jones indicated.
Describing the camp in the years between 1927 and 1968, the director said, "Rustic was a nice way to describe a place that was dilapidated from lack of time and money."
A study resulted in a commitment to modernize rather than to close Bethel, and Church of the Brethren members pledged funds over a "Decade of Development" through the 1970s.
The Ark, a dining hall with small meeting room, was the first modern structure. Christened in 1970 after a group of campers and counselors were stuck in it for days in a heavy storm, it has become familiar to thousands who have enjoyed the family-style meals at round tables.
Over the next 15 years other new buildings have replaced the rural style cabins and shelters: an all-weather retreat house for couples and adults needing comfortable quarters, a dormitory with large meeting room, a cabin-style office, manager's home, and rebuilt pool.
Checking off improvements, Jones points out that much money has gone for land purchase to ensure privacy in booming Botetourt and for a new sewer system. The next goal is upgrading wiring and water systems as well as repairs to the heavily used Ark.
Since Jones and his wife, Doris, moved to the camp six years ago, non-Brethren usage has grown. Many groups, especially Roman Catholic and Scout-related, book facilities months in advance.
Many reservations already are being taken for 1991 events, Jones said.
by CNB