LEESBURG — The Florida Conference Summer Camp program reached a five-year high in attendance during 2000, according to Bill Walker, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries.

In 1996, 2,811 rising fourth- through 12th-graders attended camp. That number was up more than 30 percent to 3,662 during this year’s nine-week program, themed "Phil A. Voyd Expeditions." Walker said a major contributor to the increase in attendance was the improvement in the registration process, including "record response time…and heightened customer service."

While the summer camp ministry grows in the number of people it is impacting, the young people participating in the program are also growing spiritually, said Carol Sue Hutchinson, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries’ (CCOM) Discipleship office and one of the directors of the camping ministry.

"Watching children and youth grow in faith and awareness of Christ comes in so many pictures," she said. "A child awed by communion at the altar rail, a youth asking questions that build faith…a youth so turned on in worship…the excitement of first-time commitments."

Mike Standifer, director of the CCOM’s Youth Ministry office and another camp director, said the camp’s team members, including more than 200 adult volunteers, also grow through the camp experience.

"The Summer Camp Ministry is also the leader development of college youth," he said, adding he enjoys "seeing the ‘aha’ when they realize that they have made a difference in the life of a camper."

Hutchinson says the ministry’s success is due to the fact that it is "culturally-relevant" and interactive.