BRETHREN HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES

Title:                Outdoor Ministries Association- Linda Logan Records

Series:              11/

Boxes: 1 Records Center carton        

History: In 1975 district camp leaders formed an ad hoc group called the Brethren Camps Committee to tie together the nationwide camping movement. Walter Bowman became a part-time denominational coordinator in 1976 and the Outdoor Ministries Association was formally created in March of 1977, at the Consultation on Outdoor Ministries.

            Since the 1970s, OMA and the Church of the Brethren camps have expanded their programming to include education in leadership, Christian living, and the natural environment. By 1979, fifteen Brethren camps offered year-round programming. The Outdoor Ministry Association continues to minister to youth, adults, couples, and families.

Description of the Records: These records consist of both files generated by Linda Logan on behalf of OMA and records created by OMA which she then used. The documents were used as research for her book Kum Ba Yah: The Story of Brethren Camping (Brethren Press, 2005). Examples of OMA documents include steering committee minutes, OMA Newsletters and correspondence. Items generated as research include surveys sent to each camp, camping statistics, and transcripts of interviews with camp coordinators and directors. Other files may include articles about the camps from local newspapers or histories written by former campers, or similar third-party documents. Two major subdivisions within the record set are those of OMA Files (organized by year) and Camp Files (organized by camp). Some items appear to have been printed out on paper which already had been used. The text and/or pictures on the reverse side do not appear to have anything to do with the records in this set and should be disregarded.

Provenance: 2006.024

Restrictions: None

Separations:     Excess copies of Brethren pamphlets and periodicals, including Brethren Life and Thought and issues of Messenger have been discarded. A large group of photographs have been removed and added to the BHLA photograph collection.

Processor: Logan Condon (19 February 2007)

Container List:

Box 1 Folder 1         Brethren Camps Committee 1976

                      2         Camp Atlas 1995

                      3         Camps Committee Correspondence and Minutes

                      4         Early Camping: Before OMA

Box 1 Folder 5         Early History of the Church of the Brethren Camping Movement- M. Houff

                      6         Haldeman-Scarr Materials

                      7         Haldeman-Scarr OMA History- Outline

                      8         Jones, Robert- Correspondence 1971-1978

                      9         Jones, Robert- Interview- 1999

                    10         Kum Ba Yah Research Materials

                    11         OMA History

                    12         Outdoor Ministries Conference 2000

                    13         Questionnaires 2000

                    14         West, Naomi- Annual Conference Speech

Camp Files

Box 1 Folder 15        Alexander Mack

                    16         Arizona Family Camp

                    17         Bethel

                    18         Blue Diamond

                    19         Brethren Heights

                    20         Brethren Woods

                    21         Carmel

                    22         Cedar Creek

                    23         Colorado

                    24         Eder

                    25         Emmanuel

                    26         Emmaus

                    27         Galilee

                    28         Greenhorn Mountain

                    29         Hammond Mill

                    30         Harmony

                    31         Hope

                    32         Inspiration Hills

                    33         Ithiel

                    34         La Verne

                    35         Mardela

                    36         Mount Hermon

                    37         Myrtlewood

                    38         Pine Lake

                    39         Shepherd’s Spring

                    40         Shiloh

                    41         Swatara

                    42         Other Camps

Outdoor Ministries Association Files

                    43         Undated Files

                    44         1977

                    45         1978

                    46         1979

Outdoor Ministries Association Files

Box 1 Folder 47        1980

                    48         1981

                    49         1982

                    50         1983

                    51         1984

                    52         1985

                    53         1986

                    54         1987

                    55         1988

                    56         1989

                    57         1990

                    58         1991

                    59         1992-2000