Indiana and Western Yearly Meetings
- Heather Clark
- 24 hours ago
- 3 min read
Hey Friends!
We wanted to keep you posted about some changes that will be coming in the next few summers. But first, a little context on what you know as Quaker Haven Youth Camping:
QHC youth camps that we all know and love have been ran by two Friends Meetings- Indiana Yearly Meeting and Western Yearly Meeting. The two yearly meetings have worked together for years to make QHC a great place for youth to come and grow in faith, community and friendship.
The two yearly meetings have been the entities in charge of running youth camps which are hosted at Quaker Haven Camp.
Indiana Yearly Meeting (IYM) and Western Yearly Meeting (WYM) have made the decision to pursue separate youth programs.
What does this mean for you?
This means that our dates for summer youth camps will look different this upcoming summer as each yearly meeting has its own programming.
Camp is still camp!! It just means some of the dates and details of camps might look a little different! Don’t worry! Quaker Haven is still awaiting your arrival in the summers!
Please see our website to see when each camp is being held, the price, and the age range of campers eligible for that camp.
Registrations will be held through separate platforms, but will likely remain promoted through our website under the youth camps page.
Below is an updated statement that Indiana and Western Yearly Meetings released about their decision.
Indiana and Western Yearly Meetings engaged in conversation about programming at Quaker Haven Camp (QHC). QHC is a shared commitment of the YMs. Both groups are working toward shared programming through summer 2025 and are discerning the future direction of their respective Yearly Meetings.
Each YM is addressing and endeavoring to lead their demographics: WYM is moving away from an authority model and seeks to focus more on encouragement as the primary work of the YM. IYM maintains an authority model and emphasizes an Evangelical Christian focus with a Friends flavor.
Theological Differences
Theologically, the WYM camping program is guided by a commitment to nurture and grow That of God in everyone and emphasizes discernment through community, experience with Christ, and the Inner Light(Spirit), using the Bible and the Quaker community as important sources and authorities in shaping faith. In contrast, IYM holds to a more traditional evangelical theology, viewing the Bible as the authoritative Word of God and grounding its teachings and practices in that understanding.
Youth Camping Vision
Each YM has a distinctive emphasis of its own. We believe it is important to respect these differences. IYM looks to maintain the camping experience as an Evangelical outreach. WYM seeks to focus less on doctrine and more on what it is that Quakers and Christians do in living out their faith as a means to growing the number of Friends in our area.
We hope to make the decision to separate programming clearly and without unnecessary delay. There is no expectation that a separation will be completed quickly. There is a shared desire to work out logistics in a way that does not place undue burden on any individual or group. This might include a progression of steps (i.e. one summer of some shared and some separate camps)
The representatives of both YMs and QHC met to discuss scheduling logistics and concluded this gathering with a preliminary draft of summer 2026 and 2027 schedules.
If you have any questions about what this may look like for you and your camper, feel free to reach out to any of the following people:
Pat Byers - QHC Executive Director
Lauren Reynolds - IYM Youth & Camping Director
Shawn McConaughey - WYM General Superintendent