Church family,

As I indicated on our Sunday livestream, I wanted to communicate some things about Camp Elements and about some of our part-time staff and the changes that this whole COVID-19 pandemic have brought about.

Part-time Staff

Following discussions with some staff members and our treasurer, we decided to put a temporary halt on some of our part-time workers in terms of doing work for the church. For some, there was little work for them to do since our ministry has changed so drastically. For others, the financial situation suggested it would be prudent to begin cost-saving measures and so for the time being we will not be offering them any hours. We hope that the current situation in regards to the pandemic gets resolved quickly at which time we can re-evaluate this situation. We appreciate their understanding and graciousness in regards to this decision.

Camp Elements

Making a call on cancelling Camp Elements this early was a difficult one. Camp does not begin until July, and we certainly hope that things have returned to normal by then. Nevertheless, the reality of how Camp is carried out operationally required an immediate decision.

Though Camp does not begin until July, the Camp has expenses throughout the spring in terms of payroll which increases somewhat in April and significantly in May and June. These expenses have never been considered problematic because we have always had good reason to believe the income from Camp (in the form of registration fees for campers) would be forthcoming. This year we do not have near as much confidence that those revenues will be realized, and further we have good reason to believe that we will not see them or that they would be significantly less than needed. The combination of the current financial pressures on the church combined with camp revenues being doubtful, we thought it prudent to cancel Camp Elements. It is important to note that even if there were no financial pressures on the church, an indication for whatever reason that Camp revenues were in question would likely result in a similar decision.

We hope that all potential campers, their parents, and camp staff understand why we felt it necessary to make this decision. It is our hope that making this decision earlier rather than later will help parents, campers, and Camp staff make alternate plans whether that be to attend other camps or find other summer employment. We did not want to get into a situation where we cancelled the Camp just before camp staff were to begin work or if later, just before parents and kids were expecting Camp to be running. Camp Elements has been a big part of the ministry at West London Alliance Church for many years, and not running Camp will be one more reason this pandemic will never be forgotten.

We are definitely open to discussing running  Camp if things return to normal or even if the situation with this pandemic changes in some significant way that gives us reason to believe that proceeding is a wise course of action. Perhaps that can be an item of prayer for some of you; that God would see fit to allow Camp to run in 2020.

Finally, without the prospect of a Camp Elements to run this year combined with the financial pressures this pandemic is causing, we made the very difficult decision of laying off the two people responsible for leading and directing Camp Elements: Maddy Postma and Emily Stranks. S’mores and Tigger, as they are known in the Camp world, have been filling in for Angela Hamilton who is on parental leave. They filled in for Angela admirably for last year’s camp, Club Elements, and Rockin’ Christmas and were off to a great start this year when the pandemic struck. They have been diligent and competent in their work at West London Alliance Church and they have been willing to serve in whatever ways they have been asked. They have ministered to the church and the community graciously and we truly thank God for them and for their service. Our prayer for them both—and we would ask you to join us in praying for them—is that they would continue to be used by God for his glory, for the spread of the gospel, and for their own joy even as we have been witness to the past year and a half.