We often have churches ask us how they can help support DuBois Center! Our answer? Help us spread the word! We are often referred to as a best-kept-secret in Southern Illinois – well, let’s get that secret out there! See below for a list of ideas on how to share information on DuBois with your church, your community and below. Click here for a full list of additional information and downloadable promotional pieces.
Celebrate FAITH FORMATION through OUTDOOR MINISTRIES in April and May! Pick a Sunday for your Camp Sunday. Recruit a planning team and help them brainstorm a list of creative possibilities, then turn them loose to implement the best ideas.
Personally invite young people and their parents to participate in the spring events and summer camp program at DuBois Center. When pastors and key lay leaders speak, people listen. Your passion for church camp can be infectious.
Community Outreach: Consider how your congregation might partner with DuBois Center to send children from low-income families in your community to camp. Special funds are available to assist.
Involve experienced campers, volunteers and summer staff in the Children’s Message or a special Sunday School event. Personal testimonies, special camp stories, games and songs are especially helpful.
Focus on the goals and values of Christian camping during worship on Sunday. Music, responsive readings and sermons can all be effective tools for this.
Invite a guest from DuBois Center to join you on a Sunday to share a sermon, extended mission moment, children’s message and/or activities in Sunday School.
Plan something special for Coffee Hour. Try s’mores or “ants on a log” instead of cookies. Set up a BBQ pit and roast hot dogs, hamburgers or marshmallows.
Designate and PROMOTE a couple of Sundays during which DuBois alumni are at a table, before & after worship, to distribute brochures and answer questions.
Encourage grandparents to send their grandchildren to camp.
Utilize DuBois Center bulletin inserts – copy, cut and insert.
Gather a group together and attend the RUSTIC BLOCK PARTY at DuBois Center. Enjoy free youth-friendly activities and tour the facilities – Sunday, May 6.
Post the CAMP SCHEDULE, POSTERS and FLYERS throughout the church.
On two or more Sundays, advertise and insert a special offering envelope in the bulletin designated to provide financial assistance for your church’s youth to attend camp.
Have a Chili Cook-off and use the funds raised to help send kids to camp.
Have the Sunday School or mid-week program make a special camp banner,
then hang it in the Sanctuary or Fellowship Hall from March through June.
Kristian is from Columbia and a member of St. Paul UCC. He attends Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studies Music Education and participates in a variety of music related activities – from vocal jazz to opera. Kristian served as a delegate from the Illinois South Conference to the UCC General Synod. His selection is an honor and a significant responsibility. Kristian attended summer camp at DuBois Center while growing up. He attributes much of who he is as a person to his weeks as a camper and his first summers as a counselor. In addition to finding mentors at camp, another mentor at school has made a significant impact on this life. Kristian wrote, “Every day this semester I have been more and more inspired by my choral director… He overcame a great deal of adversity to pursue his passion. He struggles with anxiety every day and has been open about how this affects his life. He reminds us every day to feel lucky to be alive and able to make music. His humility and passion for inclusion have taught me many important lessons to help me when teaching in the future.”
