2022 LCA Annual Meeting Recap

LCA Annual Meeting Summary – 2022

On November 5, 2022 the Lutheran Camp Association (LCA) held its annual membership meeting. The LCA is the legal name of the organization that owns and operates Camp Arcadia’s ministry. There are 1,740 LCA members and 292 were represented either by proxy or in person at the meeting. 

Watch the video recording of the 2022 Annual Meeting.

LCA board election results:

John Basler of St. Louis, MO and Kim Eveler of Granger, IN were re-elected to their second three-year terms. Adam Thies of Bloomington, IN was elected to his first term on the LCA board directors.

Highlights from the LCA Board President, Paul Culler’s remarks:

• Paul Culler opened the meeting thanking God for Camp’s 100th anniversary and recognizing all of the work staff and volunteers put into the milestone celebration this past summer. The opening celebrations over Memorial Day weekend were a highlight and the largest event in Camp’s history with around 400 people in attendance. 
• Special thanks to Ryan McKenna and archives volunteers for creating the amazing 100th anniversary exhibits throughout Camp. Paul recognized author Stephanie Jass, along with Ryan McKenna, Cambray Sampson and Jackie Bywater for creating the 100th Anniversary history book: Days Filled with Sunshine – One Hundred Years of Camp Arcadia. 
• Paul also thanked LCA member Jon Leetz and his company Indiana Beverage in Valparaiso, IN for hosting the Annual Meeting.

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  On behalf of the LCA Board and membership Paul gave thanks to God for Stan Scheumann’s Board service. Stan is term-limited and has served 18 years on the board, two different 9-year stints over the past 30 years. He served 11 of those years as the LCA board President. Gifts of appreciation were given to Stan and it was announced that $6,500 in donations were received in honor of Stan’s service and directed to the Arcadia Foundation to support Camp’s teen ministry. 

• Paul Culler remarked on Stan’s influence, saying, “Stan has been a mentor of mine as I’ve been on the board. He is patient, accessible, kind, and his faith runs deep.”
• Chip May also shared the impact of Stan’s leadership: “Stan was President of the board that hired me 23 years ago and was with me as we faced the rising lake levels and the pandemic. Stan was always there for me and his steady, calm, and passionate support of Camp’s ministry has steadied me over the years. I will miss working with him on the board.”
• Paul thanked the Arcadia Cottage Colony and Nancy Berg for helping with the weekly 100th anniversary celebrations through getting and serving Cherry Hut cherry pie and ice cream each week. 210 cherry pies were served over the summer – that’s 1,260 slices of pie!

Highlights from Executive Director, Chip May’s presentation include:

• In addition to thanking Jess Knoll and Ryan McKenna for their efforts making the 100th season so special, Chip recognized Camp’s management team members for leading Camp through a successful 100th season. 
• Chip thanked Taryn Woell for serving as Camp’s chef for the last four years. “I will be forever in debt to Taryn for her strong leadership of Camp’s food service. She managed through some difficult times as she came in right as the 2019 season was starting and through two pandemic seasons. We will miss her and ask God’s blessings on her next chapter,” Chip said.
• The chef hiring process is nearing completion and a new chef should be on board in early 2023. Chip said he is pleased with the quality of applicants.
• Registrations update: We were back to full capacity and filled for our family weeks. The fall women’s retreats and fall confirmation weekends were full as well. The summer starter, teen weeks and men’s retreats have room to grow. 
• On Camp’s surveys we ask a question that allows us to calculate our Net Promoter Score (NPS). This question is, “How likely are you to recommend Camp Arcadia to your friends and family?” They then rank it from 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely). To calculate the NPS score we take the percentage of 9’s and 10’s (promoters) and subtract the percentage of people who said 0 – 6 (detractors). 7’s and 8’s (neutral) are discarded. The average for the travel and hospitality industry is 51 and the Ritz Carlton is 74, which is one of the highest in the industry. Camp Arcadia’s average NPS score for 2022 was 91 and historically we are between 87 – 93. 
• In the weekly guest surveys, 96% of people ranked various categories on our survey with either “met” or “exceeded expectations.”
• Chip recognized Pastor Bill Yonker’s distinguished service as the Omega Teen Retreat Dean for the last 34 years and announced that Pastor Matt Popovits will take over as Dean for these retreats. 
• The 2023 General Brochure will be out in the coming weeks and registration opens on December 1, 2022 with the priority date of January 6, 2023. 
• Seasonal Staff Report: Chip reported that we had an outstanding summer and fall staff. 40 staff were hired for the summer and 103 for the fall, with 52 serving for the first time. Our biggest staff needs are for Family Weeks 8 and 9 and for our Fall Confirmation Retreats in October. Staff applications go live on December 1, 2022. 
• For the summer staff we significantly raised salaries (33%); offered more robust internships (6); increased staff training by a week; increased staff spiritual and personal care through more time off (shortened retreat schedule), more programmed community building (small groups), and more one on one check-ins.  Staff continues to serve in two departments, 86% of the staff rated it 4 or 5 out of 5. 
• Chip announced that Stephanie Jass will serve as the seasonal Summer Program Director in 2023. This is a position that we have been trying to fill for a few years as Jess Knoll, who will supervise the Summer Program Director, has taken on more responsibilities as the Assistant Director. The Summer Program Director will serve from staff training at the end of May through Labor Day weekend.
• Off-Season Projects include:
  1. The tennis courts were replaced this fall and they will be painted in the spring. 
  2. The kitchen’s dish room will get a new tile floor and rehab of the walls, sinks and dishwasher.
  3. Juniper Cottage will be winterized as this is the third year in a row where we have housed off-season interns. 
  4. A bathroom will be added to the Barn.
  5. New bathroom partitions in the Inn.
• We have an exciting $100,000 match to help Camp reach its $500,000 Annual Campaign goal. At the time of the meeting, we were 68% of the way there with $339,000. Chip encouraged people to support Camp with their year-end gifts and help Camp end the 100th on a high note.
• Chip presented newly approved updated Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Goals.
• Chip finished by looking ahead to the next 100 years and our need to continually ground our hope in the future in Christ Jesus. “In 1922 when Camp was founded, it was in the wake of WWI and the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Throughout Camp’s history we have seen Camp’s leaders remain faithful to its mission despite uncertainty in the world. Today, that is our calling again: to remember that God is in control and we humbly ask that he continue to bless our efforts to be a place where all people can come and experience the love of Christ through Camp Arcadia.”