Ken Roberts
For The New Era
On the drive east up McDowell Creek Road into the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, one begins to sense the serenity away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
It is where the pavement ends and the gravel road begins that you enter Camp Tadmor, a place designed to produce a different bustle, one connected to promoting Christ in people’s lives.
In 1971, this camp facility sponsored by the Conservative Baptists Northwest was carved out on the then 180 acre parcel of pristine property to serve as a retreat for what is now 280 churches in the four state area of Oregon, Alaska, Washington, and Idaho, one of five regions of the Conservative Baptist organization.
Centered around a four acre man-made lake, CBNW has recently added on an additional 24 acres that houses the main camp, partially consisting of a central dining hall with a capacity of over 200 and an adjustable Forum, which can be sectioned off for groups under 200 or hold 1200 people for large events. The Forum was recently remodeled with new theater seating no longer used by Sweet Home High School and an improved sound system, lighting, and video projector. The camp tries to retain its rustic feel with a variety of housing including their Treehouse Center, the Lakehouse, and 20 mountain and river cabins overlooking Cedar Creek, each with separate central restrooms.
“It’s Biblical that you see the creator through his creation,” said Dave Bertz, the camp’s head administrator. “When you get out here, it’s very evident that things just weren’t done by accident.”
Tadmor has a large buffer zone of timberland that prevents the encroachment of daily life from the outside that other camps might face, even though, as Bertz says, it’s a hassle to buy a gallon of milk.
“If you put it five minutes from Lebanon or Albany, it wouldn’t have the same impact,” said Bertz.
Bertz is one of four full time executive staff members, each with their own responsibility and, as stated in their ten core values, their unique ministry role. Ken Weigel is the program director, handling public relations and their summer camps. Steve Hauser serves as the guest services manager and Steve Ellingboe as the facilities manager. In addition to that, Luke Hendrix, the Executive Director out of CBNW’s Gresham office, provides the staff with vision and encouragement. They also have three year round assistants and two year round volunteers. Much of the staff lives on site.
In the summer, when their eight weeks of youth retreats are held for kids from third grade through high school ages, another 65 young people from ages 15 to 22 are hired or volunteer as counselors, counselors-in-training, or members of the SWAT team, servants working at Tadmor. The counselors are recruited from all over the United States to bring in the most highly qualified people that they can. Food service is provided by local caterers.
While the facility is open year round, its primary outreach is to service the needs of youth, not only from its sponsoring churches but also from the surrounding community.
“To be able to come into youth groups, inspire vision, and serve them through our facility really motivates me,” said Ken Weigel. “I rest in the fact that people are served.”
As program director, Weigel also likes to foresee future needs. Many of these needs center around motivational and fun activities for the youth. From the swimming hole, trampoline, and rental boats and canoes on the lake to the 90 foot waterslide, mudslide, and giant swing, campers have plenty of things to entertain them and to use in team competitions.
Sometimes they can be found on the basketball or actual sand volleyball courts. Other times they might be on the 18 hole disc golf course or paintball course. They also host a number of special adventure camps like rafting trips and triathlons involving hiking, biking and rafting away from Tadmor.
But primarily they are interested in returning youth to where they came from with a better sense of how to serve and worship Christ. In the youth camp schedule is time for worship, devotion, writing special thoughts on the God Wall in the dining area, listening to speakers each evening, and fireside debriefings. There is also time for cleaning up the cabin, though even that is centered around a creative competition for decoration.
In order to make sure that the ideas taught are transferred back to their homes, communities, and schools, Tadmor has changed in its philosophy of counseling. While they do have youth counselors still, they now require church groups to send a church leader, whether that be a youth pastor, a volunteer, or a parent. They feared that children might come in, share their innermost secrets or discover new methods of devotion, and then return home with no one in whom they could confer.
“The camp counselor’s ability to be relational is nothing compared to a youth worker,” said Weigel. “How to get parents to assume more of the spiritual head ship of their own children is one of our crusades.”
Weigel sees all kinds of evidence of local youth leaders who go home inspired and empowered to continue the effort at home. He also sees the same desire expressed by the staff brought in for the summer. In fact, in order to be rehired, these staff members must participate in the ROMDAT program, a reverse acronym for radical, ongoing ministry done after Tadmor.
“When they leave here, they are better equipped to go serve at their local church,” stated Weigel. “If we can impart anything on these kids over the course of the summer, it’s the ability to say that even at the highest level of leadership, we are all just servants.”
Both Weigel and Bertz relate stories of parents who are elated at the new work ethic of their children who look to help around the house when they return from service at Tadmor.
“We’re teaching them some skills, work ethic, the idea of serving others,” said Bertz. “When the parent sees that in their kid who has spent a summer with us, it’s very rewarding.”
Though Tadmor spends more time with youth, they probably service the needs of a higher quantity of adults through men’s and women’s groups throughout the year, groups that can reach as high as 2200 such as their Men’s Roundup scheduled for September. Bertz is especially interested in building community among men, who tend to live more independently. Women tend to already have the capacity to relate, so their focus might be more on training. But Bertz feels that men need time to get away from the distraction of their jobs and get into close conversations with one another.
“I think men need this more than we realize,” said Bertz.
The word has spread about Tadmor, mostly by word of mouth. The year is filled with other community groups such as local churches and the Raw Food Group, who wants a place with the untouched beauty that Tadmor provides. Schools in Corvallis and Philomath use the facility for their outdoor schools.
Tadmor also has a special relationship with the Linn County Police. They cooperated in building a shooting range, which is used by Tadmor during the day to provide instruction from the NRA on the handling of weapons and by the police at night as a training course. The police also have a program where they bring troubled youth out for a day of catch and release fishing in the stocked lake.
Tadmor is a non-profit organization, but like all organizations face difficulty with the ever- rising costs to maintain, insure, and provide utilities for their for over 40 buildings, a dozen vehicles, food service, and their staff.
“Non-profit doesn’t mean we can lose money,” said Bertz. “It just means we can’t make money.”
They try to keep the costs for youth as low as possible; a camper’s fee averages a little over $200. That covers the camper’s costs, but not the cost of running a business. In the last seven years, they have had to spend over $700 thousand just in restoration and improvements to keep up to current standards. Sometimes this comes from donations; sometimes from CBNW just to keep their commitment to the ideas stated in their core values.
“It’s a constant battle and a constant trust that God is going to provide,” said Bertz. “I work with a great team of people that are very supportive and a group of churches that believe in what we are doing. If it’s important, we are going to get behind it.”
The passion of the staff for their facility is obvious. Weigel, who originally planned to be a highly successful salesman with enough money to wine and dine people, never felt satisfied after a huge commission day.
“This is a job I’d do for free if I could financially afford it,” said Weigel.
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Here are some thoughts from local Sweet Home youth who recently attended camp at Tadmor.
Sean McGuyre: “It allowed me to refocus my life back on God and get more on fire for Him going into the school year. With your friends there, you know they are trying to do the same thing. It’s a lot easier.”
Elyse Ellingboe: I thought it would bring the youth group closer together. It gives everybody more of a sense of unity and being together. The surroundings calm us down and lets us know what God created for us.
Phil DeLong: I went to just have fun with my friends and learn more about God. When summer came around, I slacked off. It just made me realize what I was missing out on again.
Bethany Emmert: I wanted our youth group to become more like a family and get to know each other better through the team challenges and time to talk. You can pay attention to people because you are not paying attention to your busy life.