Published April 21, 2020
Just as the tomb was empty, so are our camps right now. But our hearts are full—in this Easter season, we are watching signs of new life bloom and grow all around us.
Camp is an important place where faith grows. In mid-April, we surveyed camper parents who shared a great desire to hold camp this summer, and we feel the same way!
We recognize the toll the virus has taken on our children and youth, as they’ve missed out on so much this spring. Our Board of Directors and Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (NLOM) Directors Team are weighing the strong desire to hold camp while also keeping Summer Ministry Team members, campers, their families, and the communities they return home to safe.
At this time, we will not be able to gather our Summer Ministry Team for training as scheduled on May 14. In order to give them adequate time for in-person training, we will delay the start of camp at Carol Joy Holling to June 7. We are communicating with families registered for Week 1 in hopes they can reschedule for a later week in the summer.
Like the rest of the world, we are learning more about COVID-19 every day. We are thankful to be a member of the American Camp Association (ACA) which is working closely with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop COVID-19 guidance for camps this summer.
The coming ACA and CDC guidance and resources will help our leadership team make knowledgeable, informed decisions about changes to our summer camp programming and schedule. At this point, they have encouraged camps to hold out as long as they can to make decisions for their summer schedules. The NLOM Board of Directors plans to review these camp-specific recommendations at their next meeting on May 1.
