Author: Chad Hershberger

From the ELCA

From Amy Reumann, Director of ELCA Advocacy:
There are now several documents related to churches and church employees online and just posted on the ELCA Public Health page:  https://www.elca.org/publichealth
Here are the individual links:

LOM Letters from Don and Links

Email Blast 7.20.20

Letter from Don- June 10, 2020

Letter from Don Johnson- June 1, 2020

Letter from Don Johnson- May 27, 2020

Here’s the link for the webinar that the ACA did in regard to operational guidelines for camps, summer 2020: https://vimeo.com/420851013
Recording of the ZOOM Forum with guest resource person: Rev. Janelle Hooper, Program Director for Children’s Ministry, ELCA.  “What Guidance and Advice Can We Be Giving Parents on How to Talk with their Kids about Not being Able to Go to Camp This Summer?”

Letter from Don Johnson- May 14, 2020

ACA Virtual Town Meeting on May 8:  https://vimeo.com/416546048

Letter from Don Johnson- May 6, 2020

Letter from Don Johnson- April 27, 2020

Ready Goes Lyle Griner Conversation Starters

Letter from Don Johnson- April 16, 2020

Recording of the ZOOM Forum on Conservancy  (Access Password: h1@q6F0=)

Dave Holtz’s presentation from the forum

Recording of Zoom Forum on Living in the Possibilities  (Access Password: g1&36Wu9)

Dave Jarvis’ Outline for Living in the Possibilities

Letter from Don Johnson- April 7, 2020

Here’s the recording of the LOM ZOOM Forum on Leadership from 4/1/20. The forum starts at 0:19:25.

Letter from Don Johnson- March 31, 2020

Recording of the ZOOM Forum 3/26/20 (You can save lots of time by skipping ahead to the 0:22:00 point – which is where the actual forum begins.)

Letter from Don Johnson- March 23, 2020

Letter from Don Johnson- March 16, 2020

Coronavirus – A collection of thoughts and prayers ADDED 3/19/20


CDC & National Council of Non-Profits Links

RESOURCES FROM THE CDC:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a high-level infographic today as guidance: COVID-19 guidance today for youth programs and camps.
ACA is working in tandem with the YMCA to provide for more detailed educational resources to support camps with decision-making and implementation related to the new CDC infographic and your state/local board of health’s rules related to COVID-19. The CDC decision tree is in strong alignment with the educational resources being published in https://www.acacamps.org/resource-library/coronavirus/camp-business/camp-operations-guide-summer-2020?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=email&utm_term=cdc&utm_content=may-14&_zs=xwAPX&_zl=XwI62

RESOURCES FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NON-PROFITS

Federal Coronavirus Relief Bills: What Do They Mean for Nonprofits?  We’re writing this morning to share links to the recording of yesterday’s webinar and a few other resources. We will continue to update these materials and post additional resources as more information becomes available, so we encourage you to bookmark these resources and come back.

How the COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Bill Would Affect Nonprofits


ACA and Camp Pros Resources


Resources from LOM Sites

 


Personnel/Staff Contract Wording

From Nathan Pile at Sequanota:   We will be including a specific phrase in our contracts in regards to this pandemic. This is the wording from the attorney about staff contracts:”Should the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or federal government suspend the summer camp season due to a health pandemic, this contract shall be declared null and void.”

Also, posted on Facebook, from Isaac Mamaysky posted this:  In addition to running an overnight camp, I’m an attorney who represents a number of camps and other youth organizations. In response to many questions over the past two weeks, I put together this document with some employment law considerations regarding our seasonal camp staff. Hopefully it’s helpful.


Development/Fundraising Resources

FROM BRENDAMOORE.ORG:

This was written in regards to churches, but could apply to outdoor ministries.

Your church’s COVID-19 announcements have been carefully prepared and emailed. But they’re missing one critical thing…the invitation to your members to “be there” with their support even if they won’t be there at worship.  Drops in worship attendance wreak havoc on church revenues. Most congregations still rely too heavily on the offering plate. Just one good Minnesota blizzard has reduced a month’s income by 25%.  While you’re taking the appropriate social distancing precautions, I’m sure you’ve already started asking “What impact will COVID-19 have on my congregation’s budget?”  If you haven’t heard much good news lately, here’s some…churches are the LEAST likely of nonprofits to be negatively impacted during times of economic downturn. People of faith typically consider their congregation to be their highest charitable priority. But you’d be the foolish steward to take this faithful generosity for granted right now.  If your church is going to weather the weeks ahead, you need to make your members’ opportunity to give EASY and OBVIOUS.  Here are 3 things you need to do TODAY before this coming Sunday surprises you.
  1. Get your digital giving house in order.   Most churches now offer online giving, but sometimes your process is confusing and needs to be simplified.  If you don’t yet have a texting option or a Venmo account (no fees for bank transfers), this is the right time to get these more contemporary giving tools in place. Give your digital giving options a home on your website.
  2. Create a ‘click to give’ ad, button, or link.  This needs to give your readers one touch access to the menu of digital giving options you have to offer.  If you only use online giving, this touch will take them directly to that page. Make sure that it looks good and works well on your mobile app. Feel free to use the PLEASE GIVE graphic above if you need something ready-made.
  3. Use your ‘click to give’ option everywhere  – your emails, your texts, your website, your digital feed of Sunday’s sermon, your Facebook page…everywhere.  Redundancy is essential across every communications channel.  Statistically, people need to see this  an average of 15 times before they will act.

The weeks to come pose real challenges to the financial well-being of your ministry and your members.


2020 International Camp Counselor Program  

Mark Burkhardt, Director, Centers for Congregational Mission, ELCA, is pleased to announce that they will again be bringing up to 40 Lutheran young adults to the United States this summer to serve as leaders in our summer camping programs. All ELCA affiliated camps are eligible to participate. The ELCA is continuing to improve the interview process overseas and are making a strong effort to ensure appropriate conversational skills in the English language. The feedback from the last few summers is positive.

In keeping with the goal of moving the program beyond Europe we anticipate hosting 10-15 counselors from Europe and 25-30 counselors from Asia, Africa and Latin America. If possible, consider hosting an international counselor from an overseas church with whom your local ELCA synod has a companion synod relationship. Sometimes, there is financial assistance available through the synod to help fund an international visitor. If you need additional information about the ELCA Companion Synod Program, please give Mark a call.

He also wants to stress that international counselors should not be looked at as direct substitutes for your regular U.S. counselors. Instead, they should be seen as valuable resources who can bring a global perspective to your camping program. They have also discovered that international counselors work very well in day camp settings. The manual for host camps also offers helpful suggestions for making the experience a positive one for all concerned.

If you are interested in hosting an international counselor, please complete the form below and return it to Zara Tunstill by fax or e-mail. Requests from camps will be considered in the order they are received, with priority being given to companion synod relationships.

Camp Information Sheet:
https://www.lomnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Camp-Information-2020.pdf

Camp Application:
https://www.lomnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Camp-Request-Form-2020.pdf


2019 International Camp Counselor Program

From Mark Burkhardt, Program Director for Outdoor Ministries for the ELCA:

I am pleased to announce that we will again be bringing up to 40 Lutheran young adults to the United States this summer to serve as leaders in our summer camping programs. All ELCA affiliated camps are eligible to participate. I am writing to invite your participation in this exciting program. We are continuing to improve the interview process overseas and are making a strong effort to ensure appropriate conversational skills in the English language. Our feedback from the last several summers continues to be positive.

In keeping with our goal of moving the program beyond Europe we anticipate hosting 10-15 counselors from Europe and 25-30 counselors from Asia, Africa and Latin America. If possible, you should consider hosting an international counselor from an overseas church with whom your local ELCA synod has a companion synod relationship. Sometimes, there is financial assistance available through the synod to help fund an international visitor. If you need additional information about the ELCA Companion Synod Program, please give me a call.

I also want to stress that international counselors should not be looked at as direct substitutes for your regular U.S. counselors. Instead, they should be seen as valuable resources who can bring a global perspective to your camping program. We have also discovered that international counselors work very well in day camp settings. Our manual for host camps also offers helpful suggestions for making the experience a positive one for all concerned.

I am enclosing a more detailed information sheet about the program.

If you are interested in hosting an international counselor, please complete the form and return it to Zara Tunstill by fax or e-mail. Requests from camps will be considered in the order they are received, with priority being given to companion synod relationships.

Camp Information Sheet:
https://www.lomnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Camp-Information-2019.pdf

Camp Application:

https://www.lomnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Camp-Request-Form-2019.pdf