THE EMMAUS ROAD - Winter 2025-2026

Camp Emmaus • PO Box 128, Mt. Morris, IL 61054

www.campemmaus.org

FALLING FOR CAMP

The fall season brought an abundance of activity to Camp Emmaus, including the well-attended annual leaf-raking day and youth retreat in mid-November, and an Escape to Emmaus primitive shelter
building day that involved several families learning new skills later that month. Volunteers made short work of the leaves in the camp’s main program spaces, preparing camp for winter.

2026 DATES

May 22-25: Memorial Day Family Camp

June 12-14: Counselor-in-Training (CIT)

June 13-14: Elementary Camp June 14-17: Target Sports Camp July 5-11: Senior High Camp July 12-18: Survivor Camp

July 19-23: Intermediate Camp July 24-26: Young Adult/Young at Heart Camp

July 26- Aug. 1: Middle School Camp

August 6-8: Women's Camp September 4-7: Labor Day Weekend Family Camp

CAMP CLOTHES

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? The Church of the Brethren Outdoor Ministries Association is selling a new line of logo T-shirts, tank tops, and hoodies this winter, with proceeds going to support OMA’s environmental grants for camps and congregations. Check out the available inventory at https://www.bonfire.com/2025-oma-shirt-fundraiser/

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FELLOWSHIP AROUND THE FIRE

Camp Emmaus hosted a fall event and campfire for the district on Oct. 18. In addition to campfire time, the day included hayrack rides, hiking, food, and good fellowship.

CAMP NEWS & NOTES

• The final Escape to Emmaus day of 2025 is slated for Dec. 13 with “Earth Tones: A Creative Songwriting & Poetry Workshop” from 9 a.m. to noon. Cost is $15. Camp manager Randall Westfall was featured on the local “Along the Rock” podcast to talk about the workshop. Watch for more Escape opportunities in 2026!
• The camp’s annual Camp Celebration Day and Lunch took place Sept. 13. After the meal, a program shared summer highlights. Outgoing Senior High Camp co-directors Sara Garner and Aaron Gerdes received the first-ever Campfire Award for their service. Pat Heid received the Bill & Betty Hare Volunteer of the Year Award.
• Three new camp board members were affirmed at the Illinois/Wisconsin District conference in Bloomington, Ill., Nov. 8. Welcome to Andy Brooks, Melyssa Otake Greenacre, and Monica Pandya Burchfield! The camp also had a display at the conference, and manager Randall Westfall shared a report during the business session.
• Before the year ends, please consider giving a gift to camp: Mail a check, donate on the website, or visit https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/8596dd75-871a-458b-b5d2-5f0f3054367c.

CAMP MANAGER'S CORNER

The first snowstorm of the season hit this past weekend, and some 10+

inches later we’re clearing paths and shoveling around entrances to camp. It was the first significant snowfall that we’ve had here since January 2024.

Snow has a way of quieting camp. Trails that rang with summer laughter now lie hushed, waiting. The lake rests beneath its frozen veil, and the trees stand bare yet steadfast, reminding us that even in stillness, life endures. Winter is not absence; it is preparation. Beneath the frost, roots deepen. Beneath the silence, renewal stirs.

At Camp Emmaus, we know that ministry is not only about the busy seasons of programs and gatherings. It is also about the quieter rhythms—those moments when we pause, breathe, and listen for God’s whisper in the wind. Winter invites us to embrace Sabbath, to trust that rest is holy, and to believe that transformation is already underway, even when unseen.

This season also reminds us of the warmth we share in community. A fire in the lodge, a song lifted in worship, a story told around the table: these are embers of belonging that glow against the cold. They remind us that Christ’s light shines brightest when we gather, even in the darkest nights.

The lyrics of an old-time tune written by Molly Mason captures winter’s essence beautifully:

Darkest days, brightest nights 

Mother nature got it right 

Silver sky, full moon light 

Darkest days, brightest nights

As we step into these darkest days and brightest nights of winter, may we carry both the hush and the hope. May we honor the gift of rest, and may we kindle the fire of community that sustains us until spring. And may we discover, in the waiting, that God is already at work—shaping us, renewing us, and preparing us for the seasons yet to come.

Respectfully in Christ,

 

Randall Westfall

CAMP BOARD

Sara Garner, chair; Gary Baisden; Patrick Benassi; Michelle Bowman; Amanda Burch; Shannon McNeil Smith; Monica Rice Frye; Mike Sondgeroth; Jonathan Stauffer; Callie Surber; Everett Teetor, financial secretary; Randall Westfall, camp manager

Escape to Emmaus: Songwriting & Poetry Workshop

Due to low registration, the Escape to Emmaus Eco-Tones workshop has been canceled.

Giving Tuesday

This Giving Tuesday consider giving a gift to Camp Emmaus where we are called to a life of service, peace, and deep connection with one another. Help us to create a welcoming space by giving of your time, talents, and resources.

Give here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/8596dd75-871a-458b-b5d2-5f0f3054367c

Escape to Emmaus: Primitive Shelter Building

Thanks to the folks who came out for our EtE Primitive Shelter Building day this morning.

Leaf Raking

Report to District Conference

 3011 W. Camp Rd. • Oregon, IL 61061
(815) 734-4268 • manager.campemmaus@gmail.com
www.campemmaus.org

Encounter Creation. Experience God. Ignite your Faith.

September 30, 2025

To the Delegate body of the Illinois/Wisconsin District Conference:

On behalf of the Camp Emmaus Board, Staff, Volunteers, Investors and Supporters, I bring you greetings and I am honored to share with you the many ways that Camp Emmaus is impacting the lives of many people on the local level, in congregations, and in the church at large.

The theme for the 2025 summer camp programming was Another Way, where campers, staff, and volunteers embarked on a journey to discover how they experience the way of God that often presents another way of living out their faith. The ministry at Camp Emmaus is one in which we continually seek to discover the way to God’s love; embodied in Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. In doing so, lives are forever changed and that is why camp is more than just a setting, it’s an embodied experience that we share with others. I pray that camp will always be a place where we discover the another way that is different from the world’s way.

Camp Emmaus 2025 Highlights:

• We celebrated 77 years of outdoor ministry.

• Memorial Day Family Camp attendance was 35 and Labor Day Family Camp also had 27 people.

• Spring into Camp had 41 people in attendance

• Summer Camp by the numbers: 127 campers (up 13% from 2024) and 54 staff and volunteers representing 13 congregations in the northern tier of the district.

• New amenities and features: New water heaters in the Retreat Lodge and Pool house, new LED Lights in the Craft Cabin and Bathhouses, new ceiling tiles in both bathhouses, new bridge across the creek wide enough for the mower to cross, walk-in cooler flooring & shelves, new wood shed by the council fire circle, new wood shed at the basketball court, new sand at the gaga pit and volleyball court.

• We were able to raise over $25K this summer to purchase a new commercial dishwasher that will be installed before summer 2026 camps.

• The camp board had our winter retreat in which we created a new mission statement for the camp as well as continuing to lay the groundwork for the next decade of ministry at Emmaus and where God may be leading us to new ministry opportunities. We’re excited to dream together and imagine what camp will grow to be in the next chapter of outdoor ministry.

• Our camp staff, board and volunteers have both done incredible work extending the ministry of Camp Emmaus to several guest groups, and they have sought to be wise and diligent stewards of our financial resources. We continue to have a variety of rental groups and are always looking to find creative partnerships and programming to widen the circle of our ministry.

• A big thank you to our staff and volunteers for all the work (seen and unseen) that goes into keeping this camp looking and functioning as well as it does. Thank you for your passion and gifts to make Emmaus the sacred space that it is and will be for future generations.

• Come see us at our display booth to pick up some Emmaus gear, brochures and more.

2026 Summer Camp Schedule:

May 22-25 Memorial Day Family Camp
June 12-13 CiT Training
June 13-14 Elementary I Camp (Gr. K-2)
June 14-17 Target Sports Camp (Gr. 7-12)
July 5-11 Senior High Camp (Gr. 9-12)
July 12-18 Survivor Camp (Gr. 6-8)
July 19-23 Intermediate Camp (Gr. 3-5)
July 26-Aug. 1 Middle School Camp (Gr. 6-8)
Aug. 6-8 Women’s Camp
Sept. 4-7 Labor Day Family Camp

We share this report about the ministry taking place at camp so that you may know how such experiences of immersive Christian community help people know and experience first-hand the presence of God in ways that nurture hope for our present and future. As we continue the work of Jesus at camp, we ask that you prayerfully consider how you might have a role in the ministry of Camp Emmaus. And as always, we look forward to partnering with you and look forward to what God has in store for us in 2026.

Check us out at www.campemmaus.org or follow us on Facebook.

Respectfully,

Randall Westfall
Camp Emmaus Manager/Administrator

Camp Emmaus is an outdoor ministryof the Illinois/Wisconsin DistrictChurch of the Brethren since 1948. Nestled on 99 acres of rolling woodland in the Rock River Valley in north-central Illinois; We provide a setting where you can encounter creation, experience God, and ignite your faith.

District Campfire

Escape to Emmaus: Wood Carving

The Escape to Emmaus wood carving day has been canceled due to lack of registrations.