Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to welcome our staff and students to “Camp Jubilee” this upcoming summer!
The Holy Spirit is moving mightily in this new ministry of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. The Lord has already been faithfully providing for our every need as we “start from scratch” in many ways. We want to take this opportunity to bring everyone up to date on this new ministry and the transition.
After some 10 plus years of litigation between the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC), the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Episcopal Diocese regarding the property of St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island. This ruling came down on April 20, 2022. Shortly thereafter, the Anglican Diocese and the Episcopal Diocese agreed that the transfer of property, staff, finances, programs, etc. would take place on October 1. In short, our diocese was able to oversee and run one last Summer Camp and get our fall Barrier Island program started before turning St. Christopher over to EDOSC. We quickly realized we needed to do three things:
- Pastor the staff, campers, and diocese through this significant loss
- Find an interim place to run summer camp beginning with the summer of 2023
- Pray and work towards the establishment of a new “Camp and Retreat Center” to serve the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and the greater ACNA Province
Trusting God’s call on our diocese to continue to lead young people into a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ, we were confident in His call to continue the ministry of summer camp. On October 1, 2022, the Rt. Revd. Chip Edgar appointed the Very Rev. Ken Weldon as Executive Director of Camp Jubilee. On the same date Ken Weldon hired Justin Johnson as our Summer Camp Director. Our Bishop and the leadership from around the diocese have come together to help fund and support these appointments as a strategic means of moving forward with a summer camp in our diocese.
“Camp Jubilee” has been established and will take place this summer at Camp Kinard outside of Columbia for seven weeks, and at Awanita Valley for two weeks. Registration opened on Monday, January 9 and we are expecting to be able to share the gospel with over 650 students this summer! We are also committed to continuing the process of raising up present and future leaders for our diocese and for the greater church. We are expecting to hire 20 full-time summer staff and countless volunteers to serve as counselors, chaplains, and helpers this summer. We have created a website, www.campjubileesc.org and Ann Claire Gaillard has been hired as our Assistant Director, working on social media, our website, and the myriad of administrative details needed for this new ministry.
Camp has been a significant place and a ministry of far-reaching impact for the gospel for almost 90 years. Trusting in the Lord’s call, we are praying and working diligently to locate a new permanent home for this ministry. We are seeking suitable property and to establish a new Camp and Retreat Center for our diocese and for the greater Anglican Church in North America. We need lots of prayer and help as we search for it. We need lots of help and generosity to acquire and equip it once the Lord reveals it to us. “Camp Jubilee” asks for the prayers and support of our entire diocese. We invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in this new endeavor. We are keenly aware that alone, we cannot accomplish a thing of this magnitude. We know our Lord can and we believe He will. We are already seeing His Holy Spirit working mightily. To Him be all glory, now and forever.
Let’s go Camping!
The Rev. Canon Ken Weldon
Executive Director, Camp Jubilee
Mr. Justin Johnson
Camp Director, Camp Jubilee