The Turning Point: The July Board Meeting, 2018
I had been asked to recall my memory of a July 2018 board meeting. I would like to start by giving a recap of the previous couple of years. At the end of 2014, CRC completed the construction of White Oak Lodge. While some funds had been raised before construction, there was still a two million-dollar shortfall upon completion of the lodge. CRC was strapped with nearly $2 million debt, with no plan to pay the loan back. The marketing plan and current usage of the newly constructed lodge was generating a little revenue, but not enough to pay on a $2 million loan. The Brethren in Christ (BIC) Foundation held the mortgage. During the time the lodge was being built (Spring of 2013) and continuing until the completion of the Lodge (fall of 2014), there were a number of things that took place that added to the situation CRC and the Board of Directors found themselves in.
Some examples include promised donations and gifts in kind that failed to materialize. Additionally, the Executive Director, who had been with the camp for several decades, developed some health issues and retired in the spring of 2016. That left the board with no director, no candidates for a new director, no plan to market the lodge to generate revenue, and no way to start making payments on the mortgage. Certainly not a good situation.
In the spring of 2016, CRC's board contacted Roxbury Camp about sharing their Executive Director with CRC on an interim basis to give leadership until CRC's board worked through everything that was taking place.
Over the next 12-18 months leading up to July 2018, the BIC Foundation had been gracious and had allowed CRC to not make payments for that period of time, but interest still accrued. After some 18 months of few and partial payments, in fairness to the Foundation and their investors, the Foundation sent CRC a letter giving CRC deadlines and a payment structure that mandated no more missed payments, and all back interest to be paid in full by the end of 2018. The letter stated that if CRC did not comply with their request and new payment structure, CRC would be foreclosed on. The Leadership Team from the Foundation agreed to come to a board meeting to present the letter to the Board of Directors. I, as acting Board Chair, had received a copy of that letter ahead of time. Between the time I received the letter and the July board meeting, Roxbury's Board felt their Director needed to focus 100% of his time to Roxbury as a major building project was about to take place. CRC did not even have a shared Director.
The leadership team from the BIC Foundation came to the July board meeting, along with three PA Bishops from the BIC Denomination. The Foundation informed CRC's board that by December of 2018 CRC would owe the Foundation $89,000 in back interest, which needed to be paid in full by December 31st, and starting January 1st all payments needed to be paid each month in full going forward. If CRC was unable to comply, the BIC Foundation would be left with no other option than to foreclose on the camp.
The old saying, “the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time” was forefront in my mind. The first thing we needed to accomplish was where do we come up with $89,000 in five months. If the board couldn’t come up with these funds, then CRC did not need to worry about monthly payments as foreclosure was going to take place.
The two BIC Conferences that oversee CRC stepped up as each conference contributed $15,000, for a total of $30,000. With $30,000 committed, I needed the board to raise $59,000 in five months. To say I had prayed and prayed would be an understatement. I was new to the board and even newer to the Board Chair position. The Lord directed me to think about the word sacrifice. At the meeting the letter was read. Questions & answers with the Foundation leadership team took place and they left. I then (along with help from the Holy Spirit) led the board in a devotional on sacrifice. I then handed each board member an envelope. Inside each envelope was a blank piece of paper. I then boldly (but also somewhat scared) told the board we are going to pray and then we are going to take five to ten minutes for silence and reflection. I wanted each board member to consider what they can “sacrificially” give to CRC in the next five months. They were welcome to spread out in order to privately pray and call their spouses if they needed to. There were no names on the envelopes or on the pieces of paper inside. Each board member wrote a dollar amount on the piece of paper, and placed the paper back in the envelope. I proceeded to give the envelopes to Bishop Bob Beaty (of the Susquehanna Conference), who was to total the amount pledged by the board.
As Bishop Beaty added the pledges, I started our regular board meeting. With the financial crisis as an item on the agenda, I planned to have Bishop Beaty report the amount contributed. While I nervously went about the business items on the agenda, I was on edge about what the amount would be. When that item came up on the agenda, I asked the Bishop to report the amount. NEVER underestimate God! When all of the pieces of paper were totaled, $42,000 had been pledged by the board.
At that point I felt with some additional giving from camp donors in the next five months, the $89,000 that was needed for the back interest was covered. Little did I know that God was just beginning to show us “miracles”. While the $89,000 of back interest was no longer a concern, needing to make a $12,000 per month mortgage payment, starting in January of 2019, started to loom large.
CRC did not have a person or plan to raise the amounts of money the camp needed. And CRC needed to do it quickly. I had reached out to Don Shenk, Executive Director of the Gospel Tide, and asked him how they did their fundraising. Don informed me that the Gospel Tide had recently hired a development director. While I had no experience with development directors and even less experience knowing where to go to get one, I liked the idea. After discussing the idea of a development director with Stan Burkholder (who served on the board at this time), he contacted me a few days later and told me he found CRC a development director.
You can imagine my first reaction was a sarcastic "yeah right!" Stan Burkholder informed me his cousin, Sharon Engle, who had been a development director for a denominationally affiliated elder care facility for 17 years, was looking for work after the care facility reorganized. Here God brought us a person who was very well connected within the denomination and liked by many people in the denomination. She was not looking for full-time work and CRC did not want a full-time employee.
I cannot adequately express the HUGE blessing Sharon Engle was to CRC at the depth of our crisis, but also for the next several years as she put her arms around the camp, the staff and everyone involved, and helped us right the ship. Sharon’s leadership, along with an estate gift, allowed CRC to not only meet that financial obligation, but also significantly pay down the principle far beyond what I and most others could imagine over the next several years. Her influence on the camp will be evident for many years to come. God is good.
I would also like to step back and discuss the executive director position that was vacant. Zach Bashore was hired on staff in February of 2016. He had been hired as a program director, by the former executive director who retired in the spring of 2016. Zach was on staff while CRC and Roxbury shared a director, and was on staff as the board brought on Sharon Engle in a development director role. I don’t recall if any conversation took place with Zach about if he wanted the executive director position or not, but it seemed like it made sense. He was new, he was on staff, available, and the person who was most acquainted with camp operations. There was some consternation on the board about his youth and lack of experience, but without any other candidates and the crisis the board found ourselves in, Zach became interim director in 2019 and then the executive director in 2020.
Never doubt what God can do. Zach’s skill set, eagerness to learn and take direction, his frugality, and overall disposition was exactly what CRC needed. As I look back, I cannot imagine there was a better candidate out there. In reflecting over the last five years or so years, I am amazed at how God lead the board and CRC through a very difficult and challenging time. I remember I once told my wife I would rather have a root canal than go to another CRC meeting. Fast forward a couple of years later and I remember one bitter cold night CRC had a board meeting scheduled (which I contemplated cancelling). One of the board members in attendance shared that he thought about staying home, but couldn’t wait to get to the meeting to see what else God was doing at and through CRC.
To God be the Glory, Great Things He Did at CRC.
Written by Stanley Gipe.
Board Member from 2016-2025
Board Chair from 2016-2022
Some examples include promised donations and gifts in kind that failed to materialize. Additionally, the Executive Director, who had been with the camp for several decades, developed some health issues and retired in the spring of 2016. That left the board with no director, no candidates for a new director, no plan to market the lodge to generate revenue, and no way to start making payments on the mortgage. Certainly not a good situation.
In the spring of 2016, CRC's board contacted Roxbury Camp about sharing their Executive Director with CRC on an interim basis to give leadership until CRC's board worked through everything that was taking place.
Over the next 12-18 months leading up to July 2018, the BIC Foundation had been gracious and had allowed CRC to not make payments for that period of time, but interest still accrued. After some 18 months of few and partial payments, in fairness to the Foundation and their investors, the Foundation sent CRC a letter giving CRC deadlines and a payment structure that mandated no more missed payments, and all back interest to be paid in full by the end of 2018. The letter stated that if CRC did not comply with their request and new payment structure, CRC would be foreclosed on. The Leadership Team from the Foundation agreed to come to a board meeting to present the letter to the Board of Directors. I, as acting Board Chair, had received a copy of that letter ahead of time. Between the time I received the letter and the July board meeting, Roxbury's Board felt their Director needed to focus 100% of his time to Roxbury as a major building project was about to take place. CRC did not even have a shared Director.
The leadership team from the BIC Foundation came to the July board meeting, along with three PA Bishops from the BIC Denomination. The Foundation informed CRC's board that by December of 2018 CRC would owe the Foundation $89,000 in back interest, which needed to be paid in full by December 31st, and starting January 1st all payments needed to be paid each month in full going forward. If CRC was unable to comply, the BIC Foundation would be left with no other option than to foreclose on the camp.
The old saying, “the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time” was forefront in my mind. The first thing we needed to accomplish was where do we come up with $89,000 in five months. If the board couldn’t come up with these funds, then CRC did not need to worry about monthly payments as foreclosure was going to take place.
The two BIC Conferences that oversee CRC stepped up as each conference contributed $15,000, for a total of $30,000. With $30,000 committed, I needed the board to raise $59,000 in five months. To say I had prayed and prayed would be an understatement. I was new to the board and even newer to the Board Chair position. The Lord directed me to think about the word sacrifice. At the meeting the letter was read. Questions & answers with the Foundation leadership team took place and they left. I then (along with help from the Holy Spirit) led the board in a devotional on sacrifice. I then handed each board member an envelope. Inside each envelope was a blank piece of paper. I then boldly (but also somewhat scared) told the board we are going to pray and then we are going to take five to ten minutes for silence and reflection. I wanted each board member to consider what they can “sacrificially” give to CRC in the next five months. They were welcome to spread out in order to privately pray and call their spouses if they needed to. There were no names on the envelopes or on the pieces of paper inside. Each board member wrote a dollar amount on the piece of paper, and placed the paper back in the envelope. I proceeded to give the envelopes to Bishop Bob Beaty (of the Susquehanna Conference), who was to total the amount pledged by the board.
As Bishop Beaty added the pledges, I started our regular board meeting. With the financial crisis as an item on the agenda, I planned to have Bishop Beaty report the amount contributed. While I nervously went about the business items on the agenda, I was on edge about what the amount would be. When that item came up on the agenda, I asked the Bishop to report the amount. NEVER underestimate God! When all of the pieces of paper were totaled, $42,000 had been pledged by the board.
At that point I felt with some additional giving from camp donors in the next five months, the $89,000 that was needed for the back interest was covered. Little did I know that God was just beginning to show us “miracles”. While the $89,000 of back interest was no longer a concern, needing to make a $12,000 per month mortgage payment, starting in January of 2019, started to loom large.
CRC did not have a person or plan to raise the amounts of money the camp needed. And CRC needed to do it quickly. I had reached out to Don Shenk, Executive Director of the Gospel Tide, and asked him how they did their fundraising. Don informed me that the Gospel Tide had recently hired a development director. While I had no experience with development directors and even less experience knowing where to go to get one, I liked the idea. After discussing the idea of a development director with Stan Burkholder (who served on the board at this time), he contacted me a few days later and told me he found CRC a development director.
You can imagine my first reaction was a sarcastic "yeah right!" Stan Burkholder informed me his cousin, Sharon Engle, who had been a development director for a denominationally affiliated elder care facility for 17 years, was looking for work after the care facility reorganized. Here God brought us a person who was very well connected within the denomination and liked by many people in the denomination. She was not looking for full-time work and CRC did not want a full-time employee.
I cannot adequately express the HUGE blessing Sharon Engle was to CRC at the depth of our crisis, but also for the next several years as she put her arms around the camp, the staff and everyone involved, and helped us right the ship. Sharon’s leadership, along with an estate gift, allowed CRC to not only meet that financial obligation, but also significantly pay down the principle far beyond what I and most others could imagine over the next several years. Her influence on the camp will be evident for many years to come. God is good.
I would also like to step back and discuss the executive director position that was vacant. Zach Bashore was hired on staff in February of 2016. He had been hired as a program director, by the former executive director who retired in the spring of 2016. Zach was on staff while CRC and Roxbury shared a director, and was on staff as the board brought on Sharon Engle in a development director role. I don’t recall if any conversation took place with Zach about if he wanted the executive director position or not, but it seemed like it made sense. He was new, he was on staff, available, and the person who was most acquainted with camp operations. There was some consternation on the board about his youth and lack of experience, but without any other candidates and the crisis the board found ourselves in, Zach became interim director in 2019 and then the executive director in 2020.
Never doubt what God can do. Zach’s skill set, eagerness to learn and take direction, his frugality, and overall disposition was exactly what CRC needed. As I look back, I cannot imagine there was a better candidate out there. In reflecting over the last five years or so years, I am amazed at how God lead the board and CRC through a very difficult and challenging time. I remember I once told my wife I would rather have a root canal than go to another CRC meeting. Fast forward a couple of years later and I remember one bitter cold night CRC had a board meeting scheduled (which I contemplated cancelling). One of the board members in attendance shared that he thought about staying home, but couldn’t wait to get to the meeting to see what else God was doing at and through CRC.
To God be the Glory, Great Things He Did at CRC.
Written by Stanley Gipe.
Board Member from 2016-2025
Board Chair from 2016-2022