Our History, con't

Early documents are sketchy, but what can be ascertained from the documents indicates that Edwin and Veva Bernhardt of Florence actually bought the property and held it until the corporation could be formed and funds raised to purchase the camp. On January 1, 1958 the Bernhardt’s were issued an insurance policy for the property in the amount of $10,000 for “the one story approved roof frame building while occupied as Club House for rental to groups for dances, banquets with a caretaker on premises.” On November 17, 1959, George Allison, Lyle Kellogg and Arthur Lindley signed the incorporation papers for the Willamette Valley Christian Service Camp. The churches represented were:
Norkenzie Christian Church
University Street Church of Christ
West Side Church of Christ
Florence Christian Church
Irving Christian Church
Fall Creek Christian
Jasper Christian Church
Lorane Christian Church
Mapleton Christian Church
Marcola Christian Church
Mount Vernon Christian Church
Oakridge Christian Church
Thurston Christian Church
Trent Christian Church
Coburg Christian Church

On November 1, 1959, the camp became the property of the Willamette Valley Christian Service Camp. No one has been able to determine the exact age of the lodge, but the house which is now the director’s residence was built in 1910. We also know when there was extensive remodeling to the house which added the current kitchen space as there were repairs made several years ago and a number of newspapers were found in the walls for insulation or windbreak. One of them was from 1941 with the headline, “French Scuttle Fleet in Harbor to Prevent Capture by Germans”.
At some point early on, the original restroom/shower building was built and campers stayed in the old barn and army tents, and swimming was done in the McKenzie River below the lodge. Churches began building cabins with the number eventually reaching ten and an athletic field was built with a baseball backstop on the south side of Deerhorn Road. The walk-in cooler was purchased from a bar in Florence and transported to camp and installed in the lodge. In 1964, the Christmas flood was large enough to change the channel of the river, moving it to the camp side of the river resulting in the need to bus campers to Hendrick’s Bridge Wayside for swimming. That was remedied in 1968 when the camp pool was built, and campers did not mind that the heater and filter was not installed until 1969, simply because it was so much warmer than the river.
On March 31, 1966 the official name of the organization was changed to Camp Christian, Inc. In the 1980’s and 90’s the basketball court and cover were added along with the current camp store and craft area. In the 1970’s the change was made from part-time caretaker to full-time manager and later to the current status of executive director with additional staff. In the late 1970’s board member Don Kimball who was the Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Springfield was able to arrange for a shop class at Thurston High School to build, transport and install four gazebos at the camp. In the 1980’s and 90’s there were proposals to either sell the camp and rent another facility or to merge with Grove Camp. All proposals were soundly defeated and met with great resistance from people that connection with the camp and board members. In 2002 the commitment was made to make the ministry a full-time year-round ministry for all age groups. In 2002 it was discovered that the camp qualified to buy from Federal Surplus and this allowed us to do significant upgrades to the kitchen and install a full-service stainless steel food service line with a separate beverage bar.
The Articles of Incorporation and board make-up have been modified several times to reflect the changes in the camp and modifications necessary in the governance of the ministry. Originally there were two representatives from each member church with board officers elected from that body and they met either monthly or bi-monthly depending upon the year in question. On December 12, 1995 the representatives at large were changed to an advisory board that met twice a year and a board of directors consisting of no more than eleven members that met once a month to take care of the majority of the camp business. There were additional changes in the by-laws in 1995 and 2000. On September 19, 2002 the Articles of Incorporation, Constitution and By-Laws were rewritten and adopted into the form they are today which included changing the name to Camp Christian Ministries, Inc. This resulted in the abolishment of the advisory board and increasing the board of directors to a number of members not to exceed 12. At this time a board manual was adopted which includes a board member agreement and statement of understanding. Provisions were also put in place with regard to the acceptance of board members and election of board officers to protect the vision and direction of the ministry and provide for continuing continuity of the goals of the ministry even with the change of board members.
There are plans currently drawn for remodeling and expansion of the women’s restroom facility, a new lodge entry and restrooms and the expansion and enclosure of the existing camp store/craft area. Other changes that are planned include a game and recreation building, the enclosure of the swimming pool for year-round use, enclosing the basketball court to create a gym and additional meeting facility and additional over night accommodations to increase the capacity by over fifty percent. As funds come available, we also plan on adding an ADA compliant bathroom on each of the cabins.