On Saturday, 9th of November, the Ichthus Ministry Vision Day was held at St Francis College, Milton. In their September meeting, the Anglican Youth, Children & Families (AYCF) Advisory Committee made the recommendation to suspend the Ichthus Camping Ministry in 2025 for several reasons. In response, it was decided to host a Vision Day to hear feedback and suggestions directly from members of the Ichthus community before acting on the recommendation.
The Vision Day was well attended, with about 23 participants made up of current and past Ichthus camp leaders, parents of campers, camp spiritual directors, AYCF Advisory Committee members, and other members with a general interest in the Ichthus Camping Ministry.
During the Vision Day, we asked the group what they value most about the Ichthus Camping program. Participants offered their responses, which were collated onto sheets of paper. Once all the responses were collected, participants were given three coloured stickers to place next to the response(s) that they thought were the most valuable. The highest-ranking response, which received the most stickers, was that Ichthus Camps provide a safe space for campers to ask difficult or hard questions that they otherwise might not be able to ask. Several responses tied for second place, including: faith and friendship development for campers and leaders; a gentle entry point for campers who do not come from a faith background; learning about and challenging faith while having fun; and the overnight experience that only residential camps can provide.
The responses collected from the sticker exercise will directly impact AYCF’s planning process and schedule of events for 2025 and beyond. To build on the momentum for new and exciting events, we have produced a calendar of events for the first six months of next year, outlining dates and some basic information about AYCF’s upcoming events, which can be found on the AYCF website (aycf.org.au). The first event of the year, AYCF’s Family Day, is happening on Saturday, 18th of January 2025 and will feature structured family fun and games at the beach. Everyone is welcome! Coming up from 14th – 16th of February 2025 is the Young Adults Retreat, and following the retreat is AYCF’s Family Trivia Night on 22nd of March 2025.
In addition to these events, a refreshed and regular AYCF newsletter will be sent out to the community every other month with links to resources, videos, event notifications, news, prayer points, feature articles, and lots more. This newsletter will act as a point of information and inspiration for those working and volunteering in youth, children, and family ministry settings across the Anglican Church Southern Queensland. The AYCF website will also be given a remodel to include resources not only from the newsletter directly but from a much larger database of websites and online resources. You can join the AYCF Newsletter mailing list here: https://www.aycf.org.au/contactus.
Whilst the recommendation to suspend the Ichthus Camping Ministry in 2025 has been accepted, there are continuing conversations occurring about the camping program and what this could look like in 2026. What ideas could we come up with? How could we change the camping program and refresh our ministry? If you are interested in being involved in these discussions, you can contact Elissa at elissa.cotroneo@ministryeducation.org.au and express your interest.
If you have any questions regarding this email, you can contact Elissa Cotroneo (Director of AYCF) at elissa.cotroneo@ministryeducation.org.au or Rev’d Dr Ruth Mathieson (Executive Director of MEC) at ruth.mathieson@anglicanchurchsq.org.au
