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Camp Corban 2024: Family Camp in London, ON
A few years ago, Pastor Jared and the HIllside congregation dreamed of hosting an event with people with disabilities. Pastor Jared knew so many families in need. He understood the challenges of caregiving and accessing support, and how important it is to be with other going through similar things. HIllside wanted to be a place of support and respite for these families but recognized it would be a huge undertaking. As they looked for partners, a church member connected Hilliside with Karis Disability Services.
Pastor Jared recalled volunteering at Karis’s Paisley Camp as a teenager. He described this experience of supporting people with disabilities as a formative, significant time in his life. Excited about this partnership opportunity, a weekend family camp started to take shape.
Hillside’s building is a renovated bowling alley; they have a “Statement of Inclusivity” and consider themselves an accessible church where everybody belongs. However, when planning for the camp, they realized their stage only had one means of access – stairs! The camp keynote speaker uses a wheelchair and wouldn’t be able to access the stage. Pastor Jared realized that their commitment to belonging was an ongoing journey. The stage would need to be made accessible. It took planning, time, effort, and expense, but the church installed a ramp to increase people’s experience of welcome for years to come.
In November 2023, “Camp Corban” (named lovingly after Corban Panth, son of Ian and Vanessa Panth who passed away in 2019) supported six families to have an accessible family camp experience where they could grow in faith and have a genuine respite/retreat experience. It’s amazing what can happen with God’s grace and a church that’s willing to follow His desire that everybody is included in the Body of Christ.