Four longtime Methodist youth camps across Missouri are facing an uncertain future following the dismissal of the sites' directors.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church camps will not be in operation next summer. The conference released a statement earlier this month saying its camping and retreat board decided to go in a new direction with camp programming.
Although the conference receives a $435,000 annual subsidy to run the camp, the year ended with nearly a $48,500 deficit.
Hundreds of people are rallying in an attempt to save them. A 24-year-old Chillicothe woman, who began attending a camp near Lawson when she was 8, says there's still hope because the camps haven't been sold yet.
The conference's director of connectional ministries says a decision to save the camps could be made at a June meeting.
