News
regarding Sewee, December 2007,
The
Board of Camps and Retreats met in retreat in early November. At this
meeting it dealt with next steps at both Sewee and Asbury Hills and made some
very important decisions. As partners in ministry with you, we wanted to
share a significant shift that is being put into place for the Sewee Coastal
Retreat Center.
The
board affirmed the long standing vision of building an adult retreat center on
the Sewee property. The board discussed the many questions about
developing on that piece of land, including: sewer capacity, concerns
with zoning and restrictions, costs for building on the waterfront, financial
viability and funding available for major capital construction. There was
also significant conversation about the present operation at Sewee. The
number of guests who use the site are very limited and a very small percentage
of them are groups from SC United Methodist Churches. The operation at
Sewee loses over $100,000 each year with little hope of doing better with the
limited number of beds on the property.
After
much discussion, the decision was made to temporarily pause the operation at Sewee
effective December 31, 2007 and to reduce the expenses at Sewee to costs
for security and necessary repairs and maintenance.
The
“savings” (or costs not incurred) will be used to hire a
development director to begin raising funds for SC UM Camps and Retreat
Ministries, with primary focus on raising funds to build the kind of
facility needed in the lowcountry that will be viable and provide vital
ministry to SC United Methodist Churches. The chair of the
board has appointed a committee to develop a plan to re-open Sewee.
We
will be sharing much more information regarding the vision for the future for
both sites and how we are planning to move forward. Our hope is to share
a vision and plan with the 2008 Annual Conference session in June. Please
know that the board is committed to providing ministry at facilities in both
the upstate and in the lowcountry.
John Redmond, Chair, Board of Camps and Retreats
Jody Oates, Executive Director of Camps and
Retreats
