Our Mission
To lead the way in creating inclusive, healthy, and sustainable community through the Spirit of outdoor adventure.
What our Mission Statement Means - An Analysis
Lead the Way:
Leadership is a core quality that our staff possess and model, and a capacity that we strive to develop in our staff and campers.
As an organization we will actively continue to grow and push ourselves to become more helpful to the people we serve. We welcome new ideas, and understand the value of re-thinking what is traditional in the spirit of innovation.
Creating:
We celebrate creativity!
Community is something that we come together to create with ever-expanding room for fresh approaches and ideas.
Creation is ongoing. Being an inclusive, healthy, and sustainable community requires the constant teaching, practicing, reflecting, reworking, teaching, practicing... of knowledge, skills, and strategies as part of what our staff and campers DO during their time at Camp.
Inclusive Community:
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are important to us.
Everything we do at Camp should be designed to be inclusive of people of all backgrounds, abilities, and identities.
Beyond accessible, beyond kind, Camp Menesetung is celebratory of people who are: Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, racialized, have a mental or physical disability, from different religious or non-religious faith contexts, from a variety of socio economic statuses, and everyone else!
Healthy Community:
The community we create together is one that promotes a state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing.
Physical & Mental Wellbeing looks like: eating well, sleeping well, staying active, comprehensive safety protocols/training, excellent staff:camper ratios with specific staff trained to support physical and mental health challenges; empowering campers to have an influence over the activities they do in their week.
Social Wellbeing looks like: feeling celebrated, facilitating strong friendships, inspiring mutual care & support, having clear boundaries, teaching and supporting conflict resolution skills and consensus based decision making.
Spiritual Wellbeing looks like: Exploring faith and Christianity. Being inspired by a connection with something bigger than ourselves, living with a sense of purpose and meaning, getting in touch with our values that make life worth living, challenging ourselves to be open to wherever our spiritual journey takes us.
Sustainable Community:
Environmentally sustainable, personally sustainable, financially sustainable.
Thinking ahead to ensure the impact of Camp Menesetung is long-lasting and positive on our planet, staff, and ability to continue to serve our community in the future.
Through the Spirit of Outdoor Adventure:
Our work of building community is facilitated through the medium of nature and outdoor adventure.
We prioritize outdoor activities, with a focus on activities that can only be found at a summer camp like ours.
An adventure is unique, exciting, and incorporates a level of challenge and risk that promotes personal growth when undertaken in a safe environment with supportive leadership.
The capital S in Spirit signifies our pursuit of a deeper connection with spirituality, and our belief that nature; our awareness and appreciation of it, can serve as a powerful part of a journey in Faith.
Our Mandate
To Accept & Affirm
We place a high value on inclusion.
We believe that all kids should have the opportunity to attend camp.
How we live it
We open our doors to all children and youth. We welcome anyone, regardless of faith, race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, ability, socio economic status, or vocal range.
We offer a bursary program for those who can't afford to come to camp.
Our staff are trained to be committed to celebrating differences, and seek to support rather than change. Menesetung is not about converting campers with a religious agenda. Menesetung is a place of discovery, where good role-models and adventure can change a life, and inspire new ways of thinking.
To Challenge & Empower
This place has the ability to change lives. This place will challenge you to define yourself and how you see the world. We seek to create opportunities where real life steps can be taken.
How we live it
Our programming is diverse and designed to challenge and spark inspiration for individuals of any level, and groups of all make-ups.
We build choice into the activities at Camp. We offer opportunities for campers to choose their own adventure, pursue unplanned tangents, and have input into their schedule.
To Listen & Learn
We do not know everything. Your voice is valuable. As an organization we are committed to growing and learning from our campers, parents, nature, and the world around us.
How we live it
Our staff are passionate about the value of each camper in their care. They are trained to accommodate, and understand that 'different' means 'new possibility', it does not mean 'bad'.
We actively seek feedback, through our day-to-day interactions, parent surveys, and staff reflections.
We reevaluate. Programs are thoroughly debriefed and rehashed based on how they went, and fresh ideas - whether they were sparked by a camper, staff, or camping conference.
To Teach & Provide
We are committed to providing safe, healthy, and quality skill building opportunities for all campers.
How we live it
All staff are hired based on the skills, and knowledge they have to offer their campers.
We offer a rich variety of program areas to broaden possibility.
All staff are trained and certified to run programs in a safe and healthy manner.
We challenge ourselves to teach the morals and lessons of the United Church through practical experience and open conversation.
Our Campers are the centre of what we do at Menesetung. Always.
Land Acknowledgement
Menesetung is an Ojibwe word meaning “Laughing Waters” in reference to the nearby Menesetung River now called the Maitland River (Lee, 2004). We wish to acknowledge that the beautiful land on which we gather has been lived on and cared for by the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and Neutral Peoples for thousands of years. We are a treaty people - we are part of Treaty 29. We wish to honour the land on which we gather and the people who cared for it by caring for it ourselves and pursuing reconciliation in the face of Canada’s unjust treatment of Indigenous peoples in the past & present.
Our History
Camp Menesetung is a non-profit, charitable corporation, that operates as a United Church overnight & day camp located just north of Goderich, ON. on the shore of Lake Huron fully accredited by the Ontario Camping Association. Today we offer recreational and spiritual programming throughout Spring and Summer, hire a staff team of 30 post-secondary and high-school students, run a youth leadership training program, and impact the lives of hundreds of campers from 5-16 years old each year. How did we get here? This is our story.
We began as Goderich Summer School, which met for a week each July in Goderich (at North St. United Church - now Lakeshore United Church) every year, beginning in 1921. Edward Lawson was one of the 100 people who attended. On October 1, 1933 Edward sold what is currently the present camp property for $2160 as a part of a combined purchase of land by Huron Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, and a group of ministers and lay people in the church. The 15 lakefront lots were purchased by the ministers and cottages were built. By the summer of 1935 some buildings had been erected on camp property; training and inspirational sessions occurred throughout the summer for children and young people, families and single adults.
There was a close relationship between the cottagers and the camp. Many were actively involved with various camp activities, including program leadership, campfire, chapel services, kitchen help, and sharing water resources.
Gradually the property was developed further, with permanent structures for sleeping quarters, and a recreational hall. The original outdoor chapel was replaced in 1953 when the church building from Leeburn was moved on site. The present dining hall was constructed in 1964 to replace the original, which is currently used as a craft hall. The inground swimming pool was also built in 1964, an exciting year for the camp! A house for the Director was built in 1974. After the Walkerton water fiasco a pumphouse was built in 2001, a chlorination system was installed, and the camp no longer supplied water to the cottages. In 2002 a new septic system was installed to replace the 5 existing septic systems which were all failing. In 2010 a 40 foot Climbing Wall was installed along with a forest low ropes course to facilitate initiatives and adventure programming. In 2017 a central accessible washroom & shower facility (‘Big Red’) was built to replace the old maintenance shed.
Goderich Summer School was incorporated on April 8, 1947. The name was changed to Camp Menesetung, meaning ‘Laughing Waters’ in 1968. Our volunteer Board of Directors provide oversight and insight to our Executive Director who manages camp operations. School field trip opportunities are offered in May & June, youth camps are offered in July and August. The facilities are available for rental during May, June, September, and October. A partnership with Reach For The Rainbow was established in 2005 to offer 1:1 support programs for families in-need - since REACH’s bankruptcy in 2018 we have developed our own in-house 1:1 support program.
Life and programming has changed over the years as different directors have come and gone with a central theme of building strong community and friendship outdoors. Outdoor games, walks to the beach, arts & crafts, campfire songs, archery, cook-out, free-swim, vespers in the evening… are a few of the Camp Menesetung touch-stones. In 2016 some of our specialty camp programming began taking campers off-site for trips with our Outdoor Living Skills Outtrip campers undertaking camping trips along the Maitland River Valley, and Pay It Forward campers taking field trips to various community events and organizations. In 2019 a move to choice-based programming was implemented with great success.
During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, for the first time in our history our gates were closed to the public - our bunks were empty. In response, a small on-site team and generous group of volunteers re-imagined a summer camp experience online bringing ‘Camp Menesetung @ Home’ to life for our campers through interactive community focused activities. While our fields were quiet, our community spirit was alive planning for summers to come.
Continue the Tradition!
Logo designed by Audrey Peters
The Camp Menesetung Logo
An Analysis
In 2022 a new logo was adopted to represent our camp.
The overall shape being divided into four quadrants is inspired by the United Church of Canada Crest, which features the diagonal lines in the shape of St. Andrew’s Cross. Camp is a community of faith within the United Church of Canada.
The overall shape is also inspired by a compass, with the dotted line referencing a map texture, and the cabin shaped arrow pointing the way forward. Camp is a place of curiosity, exploration, and adventure. The camp experience can help give us the skills and supports to navigate a busy world.
The phrase ‘Laughing Waters’, is an approximate translation of the Ojibwe word ‘Menesetung’ in reference to the nearby Menesetung River, now called the Maitland River.
Each of the four symbols represents an important aspect of camp:
The Cabin at the top symbolizes community as we gather to live together under one roof, and also implies the overnight nature of our camp.
The Fire to the right symbolizes the energy of camp. Camp is a place of energy and fun, a vibrant campfire is an important part of every camp experience.
The Canoe on calm water at the bottom symbolizes the peace of being in nature, and references our strong connection with Lake Huron and developing outdoor adventure skills.
The Tree on the left symbolizes our strong connection to the outdoors, commitment to environmental sustainability, and also references the magnificent pine trees that surround our cabins.