Description

Camp Joseph Badger Meadows (JBM) is a 235 acre church camp supported by 50+ churches of Eastminster Presbytery--a district of Presbyterian churches which includes churches in Akron, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent, Warren, Youngstown, and Lisbon. While JBM has, at this point, no separate legal standing apart from the Presbytery, the camp's budget, operations, and programming are the responsibility of the camp committee, consisting of an approximately equal number of clergy and lay persons from the presbytery. During the boom of mainline Protestantism (mid 1960's) the presbytery bought a farm and converted it first into a summer camp where children, youth, and adults came for fellowship and Christian education. Over the years more housing was built, including housing that could be used year around--especially for weekend retreats. Given the steady decline of presbytery membership over the last 20 years, the camp's usage and revenue has also declined to the point that several years ago a committee was formed to study the continued viability of the camp. It was at about that time that the idea of creating a farm incubator was proposed and support for that idea quickly emerged. This particular business case seeks to leverage the value of the training farm, translating that into increased summer camp, retreat, student, and conference revenue. Larry Bowald, James Walawender, Casey Walawender, and Steve Fortenberry will be leading this effort.

Proposed Location

7266 Hayes Orangeville Rd NE, Burghill, OH 44404

Visibility

Public - accessible to all site users