Dear Camper Families,

Warmest greetings from our NGCRM Staff and Board of Directors! It is my hope that this email finds you and yours well in the midst of this pandemic. For those of you who may be sick or who have lost friends or loved ones during this unprecedented challenge, please know we think of you daily…

This is the email for which you’ve been waiting. We are grateful for you, and for your patience with us, as we’ve worked to determine the conditions under which we might operate our camping ministries safely. There is an enormous amount of information in this email that we’ve broken into four sections:

  1. Current Decisions and What They Mean for Your Family
  2. Timelines and Criteria for Future Decisions
  3. Changes in Summer Operations
  4. Implications for Camp

The fundamental assumption for all of the information we share is that our camping programs will not open until it can be safe to do so. For ninety-five years we have placed the safety of our campers and staff at the forefront of all we do. That priority for physical and emotional safety is one of the fundamental reasons our programs are so effective and why we have become so trusted by generations of families. Each camper we serve is a sacred trust.
Current Decisions and What They Mean for Your Family

Effective today, we have cancelled the first three weeks of our summer season, along with a variety of our family of summer programs for which we cannot assure camper and staff safety. All families with campers affected by these cancellations have been notified by email briefly before this email was sent. 

Our rigorous criteria for being able to open this summer begins with a baseline of meeting the Phase 2 gating requirements outlined by federal guidelines , and include a variety of other criteria (see “Timelines and Criteria for Future Decisions” below). The continued spread of Covid-19 in Georgia makes it impossible to meet federal Phase 2 gating requirements in time to open on May 24th, our originally scheduled first day of camp. 

In addition to the first three weeks, Grow Day Camps, Glisson’s Sparrowwood program, specific camps in the Glisson Outpost schedule, and Shoreline Camps have all been cancelled this summer. ELI has been condensed and its program moved onsite at Glisson. The factors that influenced these decisions are specific to each program, but these changes were made to ensure camper and staff safety. 

All of our decisions to cancel programs follow weeks of research, exploration of other options, and prayerful consideration.

If your camper’s summer camp program has been cancelled , you should have received an email just before this one arrived letting you know all options available to you. (If you do not believe you’ve received the cancellation email, please contact us at: summer@ngcrm.org) These options include:

  • Receiving a full refund of all fees you’ve paid for camp 
  • Transferring your fees to another camp session
  • Later this summer, if available to you, including the possibility of a Week 10 option for Village/Outpost/ELI, which we are working to make available
  • In Summer 2021, with priority registration when the schedule becomes available in late summer or early fall
  • Donating all or part of those fees to support our camping program in this challenging time through the “Stand in the Gap Relief Fund”, (more information in the “Implications for Camp” section below)

If your camper’s summer camp program has not been cancelled, you can be assured that we will honor our commitment to return all camp fees to you should we cancel your camper’s program. And we’ve eliminated our normal cancellation policy to allow you to receive a full refund should you choose to cancel for any reason.
Timelines and Criteria for Future Decisions

We believe in the power of camp. To facilitate self discovery. To deepen faith. To heal wounds and trauma. To build lifelong friendships. To reveal calling. To grow leadership capacity. To change the trajectory of lives…

These are the reasons we’ve not yet cancelled the 2020 summer camp season in its entirety. But in our desire to offer more abundance to our campers’ lives, there is a rule we’ve committed to follow: Do No Harm. 

It is for this reason that we have not assumed that camp will happen this summer. Rather, we’ve assumed that camp cannot happen unless it’s safe for campers and staff. That assumption, along with statistics and understandings about Covid-19 that are constantly changing in both positive and negative ways, has led us to set dates that allow us to gather as much current, accurate information as possible to inform our decisions about the safety of starting camp.

We have set two decision dates, June 1 and June 15, on which we will evaluate once again the Georgia Department of Public Health statistical trends and the IHME Covid-19 Projections for Georgia against Phase 2 gating criteria and our additional requirements for considering opening camp. On June 1st we will decide if we can safely move forward with opening camp on Week 4, June 14th. If unable, on June 15th we will decide if we can safely open on Week 6, June 28th, or if we will cancel the summer in full.

We’ve shared these decision dates to help your family with your decisions about summer. Please know:

  • We will be in touch. We are committed to communicating with all our camper families on each decision date whether or not camp will be able to open on the corresponding week. Information will not be available by calling or emailing our office prior to those dates with questions about opening. The decisions will be made based on conditions on those dates. 
  • We will announce as early as possible. If decisions by governmental authorities extend official bans or orders that must be lifted in order for camp to open, we will announce decisions in accordance with the conditions listed below.
  • You may change camp weeks or cancel. Campers may transfer their registration into other available camp weeks at no additional charge.
  • June 15 is the deadline for cancelling the full summer. The June 15 decision date will determine if Weeks 6-9 (and Week 10, if possible) will happen. A “No” decision on that date will cancel the summer in its entirety.



We have determined, after much research about the spread and impact of Covid-19, consideration of the varieties of our camping operations, and evaluation of the availability of equipment and supplies to mitigate transmission, the following criteria will guide our decisions of the possibility of opening camp.

  • Gating requirements for “Phase 2” of the Opening Up America Again guidelines must be met
  • Group gatherings are no longer banned or limited (again, per OUAA guidelines)
  • Ability to meet the recommendations of the collaboration of the CDC and the American Camp Association (anticipated to be announced by mid-May)
  • PPE, thermometers, and other essential equipment available to our health care team and other staff without reducing availability to “front line” health care workers
  • Availability of chemicals, supplies, and equipment essential for camp facility and equipment disinfection
Changes in Summer Operations

As you may imagine, not only have we established restrictive conditions to guide our decision about opening summer camp, we have also established a number of operational procedures and screening protocols to reduce chances of camper and staff exposure to Covid-19. Some of these require equipment and/or supplies that are essential to decisions to open camp. The following policy and/or procedural changes have been adopted or are under consideration. 

  • Campers who have physical or medical conditions that are at higher risk of severe illness with Covid-19, as defined by the CDC, may not attend camp this summer
  • New check-in procedures are being established that will not allow family members on-site
  • New health screening procedures for all campers and staff, including twice daily temperature checks
  • The following screening additions to the check-in form:
  • Does the camper have any symptoms of Covid-19, as defined by the CDC?
  • Has anyone living with the camper had Covid-19?
  • Please take and record the camper’s temperature on the Friday before camp at 3:00pm, Saturday before camp at 3:00pm, and Sunday just before leaving to come to camp
  • Campers presenting with a fever at any time during check-in or during the camp week will be sent home
  • Weekly electrostatic disinfection of camp facilities, daily touchpoint wipe down disinfection, and enhanced post-use equipment disinfection
  • Campers and staff may be asked to wear cloth masks at all times while at camp

We continue to consider and evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of other operational procedures and requirements, as best practices continue to be developed and better understood.

Implications for Camp

As you can imagine, the decisions and policies we’ve developed in response to the challenges posed by Covid-19 have been the result of many days of research and exhausting conversations of our staff. For the past 47 days we’ve worked to develop this plan so that if, against all odds, conditions made it possible to offer the transformative experiences of camp safely this summer, we might be ready. And yet we won’t hesitate to leave camp closed to keep your camper, our staff, and all of our extended camp family safe.

You’ll want to know that camp will be affected by the decision we announced today to cancel the first three weeks of summer and the other programs of our family of ministries that are so important to who we are. An estimated loss of $700,000 is guaranteed by our decision today. And, should we lose the full summer’s schedule, we estimate a net loss of $1.25M for 2020, since we rely on summer camp income for 64% of our annual income. And even that loss is a small price to pay for camper safety, and your trust, that will allow us to continue to serve your family for generations to come.

We enter this crisis in a strong financial position to weather these losses. But the losses will compromise our ability to withstand future challenges, whether they be the return of the coronavirus sometime in the coming year before a vaccine is widely available, a reduction in denominational support for camping ministries, or some other, unknown change, and we know changes tend to come with greater and greater frequency.

We’ve established the “Stand in the Gap” Relief Fund so that generations of our camp family can help to cover this summer loss. Your donation of fees can be a part of this campaign to help close the funding gap caused by lost camp weeks. And you can make camping ministries a part of your regular giving by setting up an ongoing donation online.


We continue to be honored by your trust in this family of ministries to serve you and your family. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, and remember that it may take a little longer than usual to respond to you during this time of our staff working remotely and providing homeschooling to their little ones.

May you continue to be well and may we find our way through this time together!

With gratitude,
Helpful Links

  • Account Login: To check your account balance, registration itinerary, and other details, use one of the links below to log in to your account:
  • Glisson
  • Grow Day Camps
  • ELI
  • Shoreline
WE KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN –
OUR PASSION IS FORMING FAITH IN THE PROCESS
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