Camp Meeting is something you experience on so many levels. First and foremost, it is a time for spiritual renewal. What a blessing it is to come together as one large church family and open God’s Word, pray, and enjoy the fellowship of believers. It is a gathering like no other.

Camp meeting also gives families a time to build memories that last a lifetime. Diana Clark, who now lives near Collegedale, Tennessee, still comes every year to Indiana Camp Meeting with her family. In the next few paragraphs, she shares her story.

"For the past seventy years and covering a span of five generations, our family has attended camp meeting. My grandparents Herschel and Violet Nicholson of Bedford, Indiana, were baptized in 1936 and started attending camp meeting, which at that time was held at Battleground, Indiana. My mother, Betty Bowden, and her sisters, Jeanette Thompson and Wanda DeBolt, also attended camp meeting, which was moved to Cicero, Indiana. I grew up attending with my two sisters, Twinkle Cummings and Trenace Orender. When I had my daughters, Jennifer Towles and Stephanie Clark, camp meeting was part of our family tradition every June. Now my two granddaughters, Mariah and Ciarah, are part of this tradition as well.

"My earliest memory of camp meeting is when the King's Heralds would walk around the grounds with flashlights and sing to us at nighttime. This experience is remembered so fondly that I still enjoy their a cappella sound to this day.

"When I was very young we stayed in a tent, then later rented one of the cabins near the auditorium. After a few years we had a cabin on Bunker Hill, then we upgraded to a room in the old girl's dorm, which my daughters called "the apartment." The purchase of a travel trailer put us out on the grassy knoll where we enjoyed an awning and a kiddie pool. Later, we had a room in the "Holiday Inn" (boy's dorm), and as my age progressed, I secured a room in the "Hilton" (new girl's dorm) complete with the luxury of air conditioning. I’d finally arrived!

"As you can see, I've sampled every available accommodation and discovered that it really doesn't matter where you stay (with the exception of a tent during a thunderstorm)—the blessings are the same.

"The love and enjoyment of camp meeting is something for which I have always been grateful and my life has been enriched because of it. Summer will be here soon, and it's time to start thinking of camp meeting. I can hardly wait!"

Why don’t you decide now to build your own family memories at camp meeting? As the Second Coming of Christ nears, it is more important than ever to come apart as a church family.

Indiana Conference Camp Meeting

Our theme this year is “Going Home.” Highlights this year include:

David Asscherick, ARISE director

Shawn Boonstra, It Is Written director/speaker

Evelyn Cole-Kissinger, a lifestyle consultant who teaches in the Department of Nutrition and Wellness at Andrews University

Roger Coon, retired associate director of The Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.

Hans Diehl, CHIP founder/president

Ruthie Jacobsen, NAD prayer ministries director

Rudy Micelli, a recording artist, will bless us with a musical concert on Sabbath afternoon, June 17.

A variety of workshops and seminars will be presented, including "Your Child? Essentials of Discipline," with James Dobson, which will be shown Monday through Thursday. A guided discussion and review will be hosted by Ron and Collene Kelly, Indiana Conference family ministries directors.

Visit www.indianaadventist.org and click the "Camp Meeting" link on the home page for more information. For lodging information and registration, call Julie Loucks at (317) 844-6201.

Hispanic Camp Meeting

In conjunction with the Indiana Camp Meeting, Hispanic Adventists converge on Sabbath for special messages, music, and fellowship. This year, Hispanic Adventists will meet June 17 at the Cicero Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 24445 State Road 19 in Cicero.

For additional information, contact Orlando Vazquez, Indiana Hispanic ministries coordinator, at (317) 209-8246; or e-mail: yorland@juno.com.

Let us join together in prayer, asking our Savior to pour out a special blessing as we look forward to Indiana Camp Meeting 2006.

Gary Thurber is the Indiana Conference president.