Keep in touch with what is happening at Camp Koinonia. We will post updates to our camp, news about camp and how to get involved.
Join us on Sunday, June 9, 2024 for an open house for our summer day camp program. This will be a chance for parents/guardians to see the facilities, meet some of the staff, observe the check-in/out procedures and familiarize their campers with our program.
There is more information you can find and prepare for online // click here
Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) is part of the service ministry branch of the Church of the Brethren, matching volunteers of all ages with domestic and international nonprofit organizations for a year of service. BVS holds two to three orientation sessions annually, where volunteers gather to build community and prepare for their year of service ahead. This year, fall orientation took place from September 24 through October 4. Nine volunteers were joined by three orientation leaders – Chelsea Skillen, BVS Director; Virginia Rendler, BVS Volunteer Coordinator; and Benjamin Hoffman, BVS alumnus and photographer. Of the nine volunteers welcomed by Camp Koinonia and BVS, six were sent to BVS by EIRENE, a partner volunteer organization based in Germany. For some, Cle Elum was their first experience of the United States! From Camp Koinonia, BVS sent volunteers to Colorado, Washington D.C., Oregon, California, and Arkansas to serve at summer camps, food pantries, shelters, and more.
Volunteers loved utilizing the space at Camp Koinonia while getting to know each other and adjusting to a new experience. They participated in archery tag, hiking, hatchet throwing, an escape room, and endless hot chocolate. The BVS group also participated in a service project on site with the assistance of the lovely camp staff. They were also able to spend a day exploring Seattle, chauffeured and facilitated by Kent Verbeck, a friend to Camp Koinonia and whose brother, Grant Verbeck, volunteered with Brethren Disaster Ministries.
Orientation was also joined by Ed Groff, member of the Peace Church of the Brethren in Portland, Oregon, who filmed a short segment for his community television program, Brethren Voices. You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFXjvjRZnbo BVS is grateful to Camp Koinonia for their flexibility and gracious hosting. Orientation is sure to return to Camp Koinonia, and camp itself is both a BVS project site and site for FaithX.
In early June, the Church of the Brethren’s FaithX short-term service program visited Camp Koinonia for a week of volunteering. Thirteen high school youth and five adults enthusiastically worked to complete projects that would prepare camp for retreat groups and summer visitors. Projects included building picnic tables, construction in the Waldorf cabin, staining of the gaga ball pit, building of a dodgeball court, weed removal in the pond, wood stacking, a kitchen deep clean, and groundskeeping. One adult who worked with a group to build the dodgeball court remarked on the initiative of the youth, saying that he may have been the advisor assigned to that project, but that “the youth were the ones leading the way and providing him with the directions for building and completing the project!”
In addition time spent volunteering, the group also enjoyed many of the fun activities of camp – swimming, campfires, human foosball, disc golf, archery, archery tag, and more! The week was meaningful for all involved and FaithX is looking forward to returning for another week of service in June of 2024!
Senior High 2024 Mission Trip | June 8-14, 2024 at Camp Koinonia in Cle Elum.
Recharge and refresh in the beautiful Pacific Northwest forests while participating in service at Camp Koinonia! Last year we built a dodgeball court, installed insulation and drywall, stained the gaga pit, and more – there are always many cleaning, construction, and maintenance projects going on in preparation for camp and retreat groups. During recreation time, we will have the chance to swim, practice archery, eat s’mores, and enjoy other camp activities.
In our small community, I frequently get asked questions about our camp...
“Are you the Christian summer camp by the golf course?” or “If you are a summer camp, what do you do all winter?”
I always enjoy sharing who we are and what we do at Camp Koinonia. Yes, we are the camp by the golf course and yes, we are a summer camp. However, as the years have gone by, we have grown to be so much more.
Last year we served 2,577 adult camper nights which includes Narcotics Anonymous groups, men’s & women’s retreats, as well as adult service teams. We also served 1,540 family camper nights and 1,792 scouting nights. Our passion is serving children and teenagers. One of our newest and largest offerings is a homeschool collective with over 75 children and 30 parents attending 24 Wednesdays per year. On busiest time on the weekends is when we serve youth retreats. This last year we served 4,166 youth retreat camper nights. These campers use our facility to grow in their faith and grow closer as a youth group. We facilitate some of their programs, offer delicious meals and assist in the day-to-day need through radical hospitality. If we have breaks in our schedule, we spend time creating punch-lists of broken items in our 22 buildings as well as coming up with fun upgrades like painting cabins, updating our escape room or creating new team building elements.
We are a very busy summer camp with almost half of our annual income generated during June-August. What people may not know is that we serve a wide variety of groups. To begin our summer, we serve a Jewish group called Sephardic Adventure Camp for 22 days. For the last 10 days of summer, we serve Camp Kesem a group dedicated to providing an outlet for kids who have lost a parent to cancer. The vast majority of the middle of our summer is dedicated to our Christian summer camps. We host Cascade Camp Cedarbrook, several Slavic Christian organizations, Larchaven summer camp and about five other non-denominational churches. In total last summer we served 8,874 camper nights. We train our staff to cook, clean, lead archery, swim lessons, kayaking, mountain biking, escape rooms and more. Several of our staff volunteer to serve as cabin counselors and are willing to cross train in other areas of camp.
Moving forward our camp will explore opportunities to meet the needs of people with love. We are beginning a summer day camp ministry, exploring outdoor education and looking to add day events on a monthly basis. Our core reason for existence is for people to come to camp and grow in their understanding of their faith, grow in their relationships with each other and spend time learning about nature. We have a chance to make an impact on God’s kingdom and we will work hard everyday to remember our vision and goals. As we move toward the end of our fiscal year, we welcome financial support or consideration for joining our volunteer team. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
In His Name,
Kevin Eichhorn | Executive Director of Camp Koinonia
““For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” ”
My family moved here in 2018 and have loved our small community. We have joined a church, connected with community events and shared wonderful memories exploring our area. Now that our oldest son and middle son are in elementary schools, we are quickly discovering that there are not a lot of options for kids in the summer. We have loved the Washington Outdoor School and have been sending our kids to the amazing program at Little Explorers for over 5 years. However, we want our kids to have the traditional summer camp experience without having to choose the overnight option. We want our kids to be singing songs of worship, reading the Bible and growing in their faith alongside trusted adults and peers.
I spoke with several members of our community and many of them shared this desire. Over the course of the last 2 years, we have been experimenting with a summer day camp through Cascade Camp Cedarbrook. Their 1-week program was very successful and the kids loved the option. They were split up into different groups and traveled all over camp learning about nature, making crafts and swimming in the pool. They came home singing songs of joy and laughing at their silly counselors jokes.
Over the last year, Camp Koinonia has been developing our own summer day camp program. We have hired a Program Director to design and implement the day camp and we are well into our first round of registrations.
Our goals of the program will develop in time, but for now we are excited to see offerings for day camp for children ages 5-11. Learn more about the program online.
We are accepting registrations beginning March 31, 2021 and we will work with our lifeguards and swim instructors to decide who and how many we can take for each session. We will create a waiting list after we gather the first month’s registrations. The details are below. Parents must stay onsite during the lessons and in the pool area for non-swimmers. EVERY DAY swimmers and parents need to self screen their temperature and attest to standard Covid-19 precautions. Currently we are only offering Levels 1-5 and mommy and me classes will be scheduled at a later date. Open swim and private swim sessions will be available for registration in May.
Registration - Before we schedule the times for each lesson, we need to know the swim levels and who is going to seriously register. Last season, we had a lot of no-show lessons costing us thousands of dollars. The only way we can make this work for our community and our camp is to have everyone pre-pay in full. Here are the steps.
Registration Opens March 31, 2021 & Closes April 30, 2021. When we receive our first 20 registrations, the site may close for a brief period to catch up and leave room for slotting children.
Lessons will be 25 minutes with instructor and 20 minutes free swim. 15 minutes to clean and exit pool before next session. There are a total of 8 lessons per session and you may choose to pay for more than one per child.
During registration, you will select Monday-Thursday or Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday.
Monday-Thursday will be back to back weeks for 8 daily lessons
M/W or T/Th will be 4 weeks back to back for 8 lessons total
No swapping, switching etc will be allowed per instructor requests for consistency, safety and Covid-19 guidance
Level 1 - 5 Options with Level 1 being brand new to swimming. Our registrar will ask you a series of questions on the phone and will work with you to slot your child in the appropriate class. Please remember that it is based on the child’s ability, not age or sibling pairing etc. This is very important to the safety of the swimmer in the class.
Level 1 is beginner, not able to swim on own. Level 2 is beginner, can swim briefly on their own. Level 3 is novice and can swim from one side to the other on their own. Level 4 capable of swimming and treading water for lengths of time. Level 5 advanced swimming ability and looking to refine skills.
Our Volunteer Registrar Suzanne Delp will contact you directly inside of 1 week of your registration to slot your preferred time with child’s swimming level.
Facebook: @campkoinoniawashington
Instagram: camp.koinonia
