Jensen Woods Camp is ready for Spring and Summer

What would you do if your daughter told you that all the summer camps she wanted to attend were full?  Well, back in 1962, Everett Jensen donated 40 acres of his own land to the Central Illinois Conference of Methodist Churches to solve his daughter’s problem. Thus, Jensen Woods Camp was born.

Located in Brown County, Illinois, Jensen Woods Camp now consists of 550 acres. The staff offers all sorts of outdoor activities with the hope that spending time in nature will help not only encourage physical development, but spiritual development.

However, it wasn’t that long ago, that the Camp’s mission camp to an end. 

In 2015, the Illinois Great River Conference of the United Methodist Church put the land up for sale. Gretchen Forsythe, the President of the Foundation Board, thought they lost the Camp. “They (the buyers) were hunters, and they wanted to save it for hunting. And the day they bought the camp. A gentleman who was in his late 60s said with tears in his eyes, you cannot destroy this camp. You have to call Jensen Camp Foundation.”

Forsythe received the call and negotiations began with a selling price agreed upon.

“We ended up with $1,900,000. And we had to raise a half a million dollars in four months,” Forsythe said. “And so, they thought we couldn’t do this. We couldn’t do this. But God could do this.”

And the camp was saved.

Despite the rich Christian heritage of the camp, all are welcome … young and old. 

“We don’t care if you’ve ever heard about Jesus, we don’t care what your religion is,” Forsythe said. “We just want to share this piece of nature that God created with everybody.”

Forsythe has seen lives change. “The time spent at Jensen have turned lives around … have communed with nature, have discovered that there are birds, that seeing that there are stars in the sky. Americans don’t get a chance to embrace nature, and the nature that God has given us.”

To keep the doors open, the Foundation sells timber from the acreage. Jensen Woods Camp also relies on fundraisers like the first ever Spring Fling on Saturday, April 9 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.. A full buffet breakfast will be offered and a variety of crafts and games. Tours of the property will also be held.

Forsythe definitely recommends taking the time to make the trip. “I consider it an outdoor cathedral. When I drive in the gate, I consider that I am going to an outdoor cathedral. I mean, there is just something so special (about this place).”

For more information on camps and other offerings, visit www.jensenwoodscamp.com.