CHOOSE YOUR SUMMER CAMP!

The Vermont Conference Outdoor Ministry Team is in its second summer of offering camp programming for children and youth under the umbrella of Horton Center. Horton Center is  the New Hampshire Conference UCC Outdoor Ministries camp located on Pine Mountain in Gorham, NH.
 The Vermont Outdoor Ministry Team is offering youth who are entering 5th--8th grade a weeklong camp at Rock Point in Burlington, Vermont on July 30-August 4. This camp is located at the site of Episcopal Conference Center on Lake Champlain.
All Vermont children and youth are encouraged to look at the many opportunities for summer camps at Horton Center or the week at Rock Point. We are happy to share that Dave McGowan  from Waterbury Congregational and Laura Labrie from College Street Congregational in Burlington will be deaning the Rock Point Camp. They each bring with them many years of experience working with youth in faith formation, outdoor ministry settings and in schools. To register for any of the camps, go to www.hortoncenter.org.  If you are in need of a scholarship, there is a link on the website for the Vermont scholarship form or you may connect with the Vermont Conference office.  All are encouraged to connect with their local church first. 
Horton Center is a summer camp with program for children, teens, and adults that sits atop Pine Mountain in the heart of the Presidential Range near Gorham, New Hampshire. Owned and operated by the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ, Horton Center is dedicated to building community, and to discovering and tending the divine spark within each of us. The camp is surrounded on all sides by National Forest and includes two separate mountain peaks.  Emphasis is placed on community building and exposure to the natural world. Options include rock climbing, archery, caving, and hiking as well as traditional camp activities. Our program leaders and counselors are volunteers, carefully trained and screened with protocols in place for physical and emotional safety. At Horton Center we promote a respite from our technology centered world and allow children to unplug. We encourage campers to think for themselves and tend their own connection to creation and to others to find a deeper connection to God and their authentic self.
Summer Camp at Irons Homestead, a sacred space that enables lives to change through encounters with God, nature and others, might be just the right place for you this summer.  Our Mission is to honor each child’s integrity and worth, while providing a nurturing and safe environment for them to grow socially and spiritually. For 2016 we are offering Church Camp. We will work with your congregation to create a custom experience for whomever you bring to camp. You provide the campers and adult staff.  We will provide housing, food and programming.  Come for a weekend, half-week or full week.  Prices will vary depending on what activities you choose.  We offer swimming, boating, field games, nature activities, archery, crafts and a variety of other activities.  Check out our webpage for more information or call 401-710-9478.  Irons Homestead is a year-round retreat center available for group rentals and also for mission trips.
Pilgrim Lodge is the Maine Conference UCC Summer Camp on the shores of the stunningly beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee in West Gardiner, Maine. . It's about two hours away from the Mass/NH border on I-95. Inspiration is infused into lives through the power of love, nature, and God.  Amidst all the fun of summer camp (and we do mean fun!) we teach stories from the Bible, as well as critical thinking. We find creative and fun  ways to bring meaning and enjoyment to worship. We celebrate and explore the awesome power of metaphor. We set the table for the feast God offers, without the arrogance of assuming we have all the answers, or that everyone’s experience of God is identical. We encourage and enable people to listen for God; we do not claim to speak God’s voice. Often empowerment comes from recognizing the divine through healthy human connection: Christ is in the eyes and hearts of our brothers and sisters. In seeking, and finding that connection in one another, we recognize it within ourselves. Outdoor ministry has two foundational elements: community and creation. As our culture is increasingly withdrawing from community we believe that intentional periods of living together surrounded by the beauty of the earth, away from the stress and strain of ordinary, technology-centered routines, give our spirits a chance to be open to life in a real and vital manner. Pilgrim Lodge is accredited by the American Camp Association. Click here to find out more and sign up!  
Nestled in the scenic foothills of the Berkshires in northwestern Connecticut, Silver Lake offers a fabulous, outdoor, UCC summer camp experience for youth age 8 to 18.  At Silver Lake you can challenge yourself on the high and low ropes courses, sing fun songs around the campfire, shoot hoops on our basketball court, swim in our beautiful unspoiled lake, walk in the woods, run on the ball field, and so much more!
Why do kids return Silver Lake every year?  The fantastic food, great outdoor activities and wonderful friendships they make so easily here!  Most of all, kids say Silver Lake is a place you can just be yourself and everyone accepts you for who you are.     
​Silver Lake is committed to being a welcoming community sharing God's Love in creation.  Join us in deepening your understanding of community, justice, inclusion, environmental stewardship, faith and love.
Click here to find out more and sign up!   
For over 40 years, people have been coming to attend UCC Star Gathering Conferences. The Family Conferences are open to all – singles with or without children, couples with or without children – with all ages invited and included! Each year there is a Guest Speaker and a Minister of the Week who provide leadership on a topic and during the morning chapel services. There is children’s programming for infants thru 8th grade in the mornings, with lots of activities available in the afternoons and evenings for all. Your time on Star Island can be as filled as you would like it to be or can be completely unscheduled. 

The Youth Conferences run separate, but simultaneous to the family conferences, and are open to any youth entering 9th grade through the summer after high school graduation.