Ridgecrest Summer Camps Future Plans

We have some very exciting news to pass along to you! In September of 2014, we will enter a four-year plan to add new facilities, enhance existing facilities, and add new programs to our camps!

Our camps’ mission is “Impacting lives for God’s glory through discipleship and adventure”. We want to increase this impact on the lives of our campers and their families. We have already achieved this in several ways, including the startup of our Family Camp, Father & Son Camp, and Mother & Daughter Camp. These 2013 inaugural events were very successful and life-changing experiences for many that attended.

We also believe God is leading us to increase our impact by ministering to more campers during our summer camps, the heart and soul of our existence. And, as we grow, by ministering more effectively to all campers and families God brings to our camps. Our camps have been close to full for several years, with a waiting list in many age groups and sessions. We are saddened when we are unable to take in campers who want to attend but can’t because all of our beds are full.

As camp has grown over the past few years, we have realized the importance of thinking long-term with a strategic perspective. We have been working with an outside consulting firm that specializes in camp master planning and design, and have created a master plan so that our next phase of growth fits with our camps’ current culture as well as prepares us for our future ministry.

We will share more details with you as we continue to move forward, but here are some highlights of what improvements are anticipated at some point in the next few years (for more details on anticipated timing, see the attached FAQs sheet):

• Adding two new villages at Crestridge, by growing our footprint onto bordering land we already own. Adding two new tribes at Ridgecrest, with new cabins and bathrooms designed specifically for our younger campers. Adding these additional age groups is vital, as we want to maintain the sense of close-knit community in our age groups.
• An expanded/renovated dining hall at Crestridge, with facilities underneath that will have a wonderful Drama Den, a new cooking skill area, and other improvements.
• A large recreation building at each camp where the tennis courts currently are located. These additions will enable us to continue to offer excellent experiences, even in inclement weather.
• New stables, riding rings, and trails at Crestridge.
• A new Trailblazer Inn at Ridgecrest, with room for another hiking group.
• A large swimming pool with covered activity space at Crestridge.
• An expanded chapel at Crestridge to accommodate more campers and staff.
• A significant expansion of the activities green at Crestridge, and an additional activity field on bordering land.
• An expanded and improved Council Ring area at Ridgecrest.

As you can see, these are significant additions, and LifeWay will support these plans with a significant financial investment.

These are exciting times at our camps! We will share more information here and through social media about these projects. In the meantime, please join us in prayer, as we continue to seek God’s will for the future of our camps. More to come…!

FAQ’s – Ridgecrest Summer Camps Future Plans

Wow! This is exciting! Are we really going to do this????
As you probably know, LifeWay Christian Resources has owned and operated Ridgecrest Summer Camps from their inception. The leadership at LifeWay has been very supportive through these exciting times! We want you to know so you can pray for us and share in the excitement of what God is doing at Ridgecrest Summer Camps!

How will these plans change the camp experience?
A lot has changed about camp in the last few years. These changes have been welcomed with great enthusiasm and reassuring encouragement from parents, campers and alumni. As we continue to grow, we will make sure to think through and pray through these changes so that the culture of camp is being considered. As we look to the future, we anticipate facilities and buildings that are well planned out with fun, community, and safety in mind. We see new, fresh program ideas that will send campers home with tales of adventure and new experiences. We will use intentional design as we set the stage for life-changing encounters with God, who knew these changes were coming before any of us ever heard about our camps. We will change, but will not make rash decisions or plan haphazardly. Please know that while these ideas may be new to many in our camp family, they are actually the product of years of prayer, planning, discernment, and study. We are students of your campers, of how they learn, of what protects them from injury and heartache, of what makes them smile, and of what influences them for eternity’s sake. We believe you will be advocates of camp in even greater ways than you are today, and we are excited to walk beside you and your children in the days ahead!

How will camp improve?

• Expanded, renovated, and new facilities that will accommodate our growth.
• New, exciting program areas.
• More covered space for inclement weather activities.
• A safer property.
• Construction that will solve long-term maintenance issues.

When does construction start?
We have already started working on Phase 1 construction at Camp Crestridge. Our plan is that no significant construction will occur during our summer camp season as we move forward.

Can you provide a general overview of the upcoming phases?
Understanding that adjustments are usually needed in any construction project, particularly one covering multiple phases and years, and that we’ll adjust appropriately as we move forward, here is what we currently project for the first two phases:
Phase 1 (by Summer 2015)
Crestridge – new swimming pool and pool house, dining hall renovation (with downstairs area that will house a new Drama Den, cooking skill area, expanded laundry, and more activity space), chapel expansion, parking solutions, expansion of the Green, new activity field, new cabins and two new village areas, a second crafts lodge, new stables and riding ring, a new location for our climbing tower with additional elements, and a second archery range.
Both Camps – A high ropes challenge course to be constructed at Ridgecrest Conference Center for use by both camps.
Phase 2 (by Summer 2016)
Ridgecrest – Revitalization of the camp center, renovation of the Lake Lodge, new cabins and two new tribal areas, improvements to Lakeside Chapel, parking solutions, renovation of Rogers Retreat, several bathhouse expansions, expansion of Council Ring, a large recreation building where the tennis courts are currently located, an expanded riflery range, and a new Trailblazer Inn.
Crestridge – A large recreation building where the tennis courts are currently located.
Phases 3 and 4 (2017-2018): You’ll have to wait and see!

Where will all of these improvements fit?
At Camp Ridgecrest, we have plenty of land on our current property for the boys’ camp improvements.
At Camp Crestridge, we will grow our footprint onto bordering land we already own. Click here to see an approximate location.

Why are you staggering the phases? Why not do them simultaneously?

During our planning process, we determined that staggering the phases is essential to success. Camp wants to “grow into its new skin”. Not only is it physically and financially impossible to do all of the growth in one year, but we also want the change to be a bit more gradual as we grow. Our plan is for camp to still have the same close camp community atmosphere, just with more friends and more incredible, life-changing experiences!

How much will camp change?

Camp is always changing. We add and delete programs constantly. We have added wonderful facilities in the past few years, and have renovated all of our cabins, with strong positive support from our alumni, parents, and campers. We have grown in enrollment over the past five years by almost 25%, and have seen a greater energy in our staff and programs. And yet, while we’ll continue to enhance our facilities and program, our core mission remains the same: Impacting lives for God’s glory through discipleship and adventure.

What is driving these changes?
It’s all about our mission: Impacting lives for God’s glory through discipleship and adventure! We want to grow our camps because we want to minister to more people. We also want to increase our level of excellence. Our camps are always looking for ways to improve our program and facilities, as well as our ability to point the next generation to the person of Jesus.
LifeWay is supporting this in numerous ways, including a significant investment in our camps. Our relationship with LifeWay is a huge benefit for us in planning and funding as we increase our impact. Our initial meetings on the camps’ future involved LifeWay and camp personnel. Camps leadership have been integrally involved from Day 1 of the planning and helped author the proposal taken to LifeWay leadership for approval. One of our own, Art (PK) Snead, who grew up with us at our camps, is now the Executive Director of the Ridgecrest Conference Center and Camps division, and is a strong believer in our camps and the future growth of our camps. Our desire to impact the next generation through a proven model that each of us has already been impacted by is the driving force behind camps’ vision. We have had waitlists of campers we can’t enroll, and we are committed to finding a way to say yes to campers without sacrificing what we have all grown to love in our camps.

Is camp losing its focus?

Camp is becoming more intentional. As camp has grown over the past few years, we’ve realized the importance of thinking long-term with a strategic perspective. As we continue to grow, we are making design and construction decisions that will allow us the flexibility to grow as needed. We are sensitively seeking where the Holy Spirit is leading us on our mission. We don’t know exactly what our enrollment capacity will be in 10 years, but we are excited about being able to minister to many more campers and their families!

How do you plan to continue the close-knit community at camp?
Our camp culture is an important part of our ministry, as is the individual attention each camper receives. This will continue to be an important consideration as we move forward. We anticipate our camper to staff ratios to remain low, our cabin sizes to remain the same, and our age group sizes to be similar to current sizes (which is one reason we are adding two additional age groups at each camp). We are committed to maintaining the close-knit community that has always been a priority to our camps.

Will this mean camp will be more expensive?
Our tuition has traditionally been significantly less than that of similar residential camp experiences. We believe the improvements we are making will significantly enhance our campers’ experiences. While it’s likely that our camp rates will continue to rise (as they have previously) to keep up with costs and help cover these improvements, we will, as always, prayerfully consider these increases, and try to minimize the impact on families.