For 55 years, Bethel Horizons has been a place thousands of people connect with God, themselves, each other, and nature, and are renewed.
Whether they come as young campers in summertime, as artists to the Adamah Arts Studio, adults on year-round retreats, school groups participating in adventure programs and/or environmental education programs, Bethel Horizons beckons to people, inspiring them to live more deeply in harmony with themselves, with others, with nature, and with God.
Now is the time to make our welcome wider. While preserving the expansive wilderness that is our hallmark, we can welcome more people from diverse backgrounds, including children, to experience the beauty of the land and learn about our natural environment.
A past worth celebrating. A future worth embracing.
Watch and listen as current and former staff and board members, long-time campers, local pastors, and others share how their lives have been changed for good because of their experiences at Horizons.
Looking Forward
with Excitement
The accomplishments over the last decade have all made possible by generous community support.
Now we are preparing to make another investment – likely the last major one for some time – to welcome guests more graciously, maintain our remarkable staff, and ensure a sustainable future for decades to come. See how we’re looking forward with excitement about the future of impact through Bethel Horizons, further details about these plans, and how you can play a pivotal role.
We will invest in the following three pillars to provide a better experience and learning environment for all who come to Bethel Horizons. Select a pillar to view the details
TOTAL: $1,575,000
Investing in Welcome
Hanson Harmony Center
$1,225,000
Serving as the front door to camp, the new Welcome Center will be a clear, central place for people to gather, creating a better welcome. It will be named in honor of Pastor Duane Hanson, whose vision has fostered personal growth in the harmonies of “God, Self, Others, and Nature” for 55 years at Bethel Horizons. The centralized administration space will help build collegiality, improve communication, and stimulate creativity - all values Duane nurtured in his staff – and make Horizons’ operations more efficient and effective.
Workshop & Road Improvements
$350,000
Currently, the first thing people see when they arrive at Horizons is our work shop and garage door. Moving the entrance will improve people’s initial impression and give staff better access. A new stand-alone heated building with water will make it easier to maintain camp equipment used to care for the buildings and land. In addition, with more people and deliveries, it is time to provide more durable roads to the main camp areas.
TOTAL: $1,675,000
Investing in Campers & Camperships
Forest Village Cabins
$415,000
Campers are thrilled with four cabins in Forest Village and we’re eager to complete the final two now. The new cabins will accommodate 24 more campers each week, generating revenue to support the camp’s operations – especially “campership” subsidies for low-income campers.
The cabins honor the camp’s rustic identity while meeting today’s guests’ expectations. In addition to sleeping space with modern shower/bathroom facilities, they offer great gathering spaces for meetings, sing-alongs, and group cookouts, making them ideal for summer camp, reunions, family camping, and youth retreats.
Summer Staff Housing & Year-Round Retreat Space
$985,000
REBUILT FARMHOUSE $615,000
Our hardworking summer staff are the lifeblood of our summer camp. In an environment that runs 24/7 when guests are present, we want to provide them with living spaces where they can feel they have a “home” away from work.
We will rebuild and furnish a 5-bedroom farmhouse for summer staff housing with new showers, two bathrooms, laundry facilities, and a welcoming lounge, echoing the original farmhouse that came with our land.
Importantly, this space will now also be suitable for retreat space during the remainder of the year, generating more revenue for Bethel’s long-term sustainability.
AMISH CABINS/CENTRAL LIVING SPACE $370,000
We will build five Amish cabins, each housing up to 8 staff. These 3-season cabins will have A/C and limited heat, with a path leading directly to the farmhouse’s walkout basement, complete with additional laundry, bathrooms, showers, picnic tables, and furnished gathering space.
Infrastructure Upgrades
$250,000
Our water distribution and septic systems have been in place since 1969 with occasional updates. A redesigned water distribution system in the Hanson Harmony Center and upgrades to our well pump will ensure distribution is more consistent throughout main camp. As our septic system nears the end of its life span, an upgraded system will set us up for success for years to come.
Educational Kiosks
$25,000
We’ll enrich programming for campers by adding an interactive trail system, using the kiosk-style education stations around the site. This will improve access to nature through self-guided tours, and provide locked equipment storage for activities led by our staff.
TOTAL: $1,000,000
Investing in Staff
Year-Round Staff Housing
$750,000
Bethel Horizons’ creative, caring, and dedicated staff members make our programs great, and retaining them is essential to our mission and continued success. Providing good housing is critical, especially for the 14 year-round staff who host retreats, arts and adventure programs, and educational courses throughout the year. This fund will provide off-site spaces for increasing our year-round staff housing options.
Staff Compensation
$250,000
The camping industry is facing a national shortage of qualified leaders. Great staff are hard to keep, especially in small work environments where upward mobility is not always possible. Our 2024-2028 strategic plan, including the facilities' improvements described above, will increase our revenue to the point where we can invest in our staff through the annual operating budget. However, each time we lose a staff member we take a step backward. To bridge the gap until the completion of the strategic plan in 2028 we hope to fund retention-based bonus compensation for year-round staff.
Outdoor camping offers an opportunity not only to the youth but to families to come together and engage with each other.
PASTORS LAUREN & DAVID WRIGHTSMAN
I would not be where I am today without my experience at Bethel Horizons 27 years ago. My most impactful moment was sitting on Main Cliff with my group and writing a personal letter to God. That experience guided me throughout these years, helping me navigate difficult times and emerge a better person.
Horizons Camper
How You Can Help
To fund these investments, we have launched the Embracing the Future campaign with a goal of raising $4,250,000.
We will need the following gifts from individuals, multigenerational families, congregations, staff alumni, and foundations. We are respectfully soliciting contributions in the form of cash, appreciated marketable securities, and land or other assets that can be readily converted to cash. If you would like to make a non-cash gift, please contact us.
How We’ll Get There
We invite our supporters to respond, as able, with a 3- to 5-year commitment to this effort. One-time contributions and gifts over a shorter time frame are also appreciated.
Naming & Memorial Opportunties
Naming and memorial/honor gift opportunities are available at various gift levels to families, businesses, organizations, foundations, staff alumni, congregations, and others. If you’re interested in learning more, send us an email!
What happens when
Campaign Timeline
Campaign Team Recruitment
Leadership Gifts Begin
Leadership Gifts Completed
Staff Alumni & Public Campaigns Begin
Staff Alumni & Public Campaigns Conclude
Impact Beyond Our Lifetime
Donors who include Horizons in their estate leave a lasting legacy. These gifts ensure not only the future of Horizons, but will also ripple across the church, the community, and the world for generations to come.
During this appeal, our goal is to have 20 new families indicate that they have or will provide a new gift through their estate plans (will, trust, beneficiary designation, life insurance, or other means). These planned gifts will be used for the purpose designated by the donor or in conjunction with the policies of Horizons; if there is no designation, at the time of their receipt they will be placed in an endowment to support the work of the camp in perpetuity.
Please email Horizons Executive Director, Eric Knueve, if you are interested in learning more!
Horizons by the Numbers
470,000+ individuals have participated in arts, adventure, or environmental education programs, retreats, or camps
25,000+ young people have attended summer camp – with more than 16,000 low-income children receiving “campership” subsidies
Looking Back
with Gratitude
Thanks to generous community support, our facilities have improved significantly over the years, strengthening our ability to welcome guests of all ages throughout the year. Our most recent accomplishments include:
Improving the Adamah Art Studios with additional guest rooms, space to shelter in a storm, and separate space for those working with mediums other than clay
Four new cabins and a modern shower/ bathroom facility in the Forest Village
Vastly improved hiking trails and five new miles of mountain bike trails
Achieving all of the above without debt