End of an Era in the CPC
This month marks the end of an era in the Central Pacific Conference. The transition begins this week, as Gayle Dee completes her work as Communications Coordinator. Then, in December, Natalie Becker will move to her new position in Colorado. Finally, Bob Becker, leaves at the end of February to join Natalie. I’ve greatly appreciated working with these talented and dedicated people, and can only imagine what the CPC will be like without them.
When Gayle became our Communications Coordinator, what it meant for a conference to communicate looked a lot different. We had never heard of Basecamp, and we didn’t have a Communications Hub Working Group. Without Gayle, we wouldn’t have been able to pull off the Starling Project that allowed the members of the conference to raise up our mission priorities, and we wouldn’t have a website that telegraphs those priorities so well. However, there are a bazillion other ways that Gayle has made small differences in the way the conference operates that will never be seen. Gayle lives her life in a state of perpetual Yes, and her willingness to take on any challenge on behalf of the CPC, no matter how big or small, has characterized her time as our Communications Coordinator.
Natalie literally saved Camp Adams. At a time when most camps in the UCC are struggling, and many are closing, our Camp Adams is on strong financial footing because of the visionary work Natalie did to create the easement that protects the forest and ensures Camp Adams’ financially viability for the foreseeable future. However, Natalie’s ministry at Camp Adams is so much more than the easement. Under her leadership as executive director, our camp has become integrated into the mission of the CPC in ways that are the envy of other conferences. With her years of study in childhood development and education, Natalie developed a program at Camp Adams that nurtures the spiritual growth our campers and volunteers and fosters stronger connections among our churches. And she has set our camp on a path toward living into the CPC priority of becoming anti-racist and toward amplifying the prophetic voice of the forest itself.
Bob prefers to be in the background, and likely no one other than him will ever know the many ways he ensured the future health of Camp Adams. Bob loves by doing, and I know some of how he loves Camp Adams, because I’ve spent time walking the trails and roads with him. Name any cabin or building on the camp site, and it represents hundreds (perhaps thousands) of hours Bob has put into planning for that structure’s future. Even the beloved Waverly Cabin, which we’ve made the hard decision must be removed, continues to be lovingly shepherded by Bob so that it can end its life well. If we have a Camp Adams fifty or a hundred years from now, it will be because Bob did a million little things to make sure it would last. Beyond the structures, Bob has put the same care into the sustainable working forest, which he managed with the help of our expert forester, Barry Sims. Where many of us see only trees and old camp buildings, Bob has spent his years at Camp Adams seeing deep history and paying attention to the future generations of people, plants, and animals who need us to make good decisions today on their behalf tomorrow.
