Life lessons for all ages at Camp Hanover

Outdoor ministry of Presbytery of the James sets the table for older adult ministry conferees

by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service

Doug Walters, Executive Director of Camp Hanover, teaches ARMSS/POAMN conferees a sung blessing. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – If camps are famous as places for roughing it, the tablecloths were an unexpected amenity.

“Because you are here at camp, there are tablecloths,” said Doug Walters, Camp Hanover’s executive director, to a dining hall filled with delighted laughter. “There are no tablecloths here in summer.”

With those words, Walters—who has served the 600-acre retreat center, summer camp, and outdoor ministry resource of the Presbytery of the James since October 2012—enthusiastically welcomed attendees of the 20th annual ARMSS/POAMN Conference, held October 11–14, in Richmond.

The national event, jointly sponsored by the Association of Retired Ministers, Their Spouses or Survivors (ARMSS) and the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN), is designed to resource persons engaged in ministry with older adults.

The 50 conferees were visiting the camp as part of an afternoon mission tour, one of two offered by the conference planners on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Stops on their tour included the historic St. John’s Church—where Patrick Henry delivered his famous “Give me liberty” speech at the Second Virginia Convention of March 1775—and the Polegreen Church, the site of the first non-Anglican church in Virginia, where Presbyterian dissenters were led in worship by the Rev. Samuel Davies.

Ready for supper at the end of their full day—which began, for some, at 6:00 a.m. with a labyrinth meditation, followed by morning devotions, a keynote presentation, and a workshop option—the visitors were treated to a hearty, family-style meal and an introduction to the camp’s ministry and history.

In emphasizing the significance and the uniqueness of the Christian camping experience—and the role that camps play in Christian faith formation—Walters shared a testimonial from one camper’s parent.

“We’re put on this planet by God to love one another,” Walters quoted the father as having said. “That’s what my daughter gets to learn when she comes to camp. She gets to practice being the kind of person God created her to be, so she’s ready to go out into the world.”

Walters then lifted up other Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related camps and conference centers—such as Massanetta Springs, Mo-Ranch, and Calvin Crest— as “incredibly important.”

“We need places where we can share God’s love with one another,” he said.

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