Our primary goals at Quaker Ridge Camp & Conference Center are to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ so as to lead young people to salvation and to help Christians grow in their Christian lives. Our philosophy of camping is to blend all types of fun-filled recreational activities with clear, un-pressured, and simple presentations of the gospel and other spiritual truths from the Bible so that non-Christians can have an opportunity to meet Christ and Christians can find refreshment and mature in their spiritual lives.
Legally, as far as the State of Colorado is concerned, Quaker Ridge Camp is a non-profit corporation. It was chartered in 1949 and is governed by the Friends Churches.
Spiritually, Quaker Ridge Camp operates as a Protestant, non-Charismatic youth camp. Our charter states that the camp will "encourage and promote youth activities connected with local churches whose doctrinal position is compatible with this corporation's doctrinal statement." The doctrinal statement of the camp is as follow:
We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life.
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned, and thereby incurred, not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for all mankind's sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that man must only believe (trust in, rely upon, put confidence) in Him to be justified before God. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become children of God. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, His ascension into Heaven, His present life there for us, and His High Priestly ministry as Advocate. We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost. We believe God has given every believer as least one spiritual gift for the purpose of building up the body of Christ, the Church. We believe that a person, upon receiving salvation in Christ, immediately receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit once and for all, and thereafter He indwells every believer eternally. And this same Spirit fills, guides, teaches, and illumines Christians in their daily walk. We believe that Scripture clearly states that such acts as homosexuality, adultery, fornication, murder, thievery, lying, witchcraft, Satan and/or demon worship, fellowship with the occult, drug abuse, drunkenness, divisive behavior and any other act specified by Scripture as immoral are condemned as improper behavior.
Who are the Friends?
Quaker Ridge Camp and Conference Center is owned by the Evangelical Friends (Quaker) Churches of the Rocky Mountain region. The Quakers were founded during the mid-Seventeenth Century as "The Religious Society of Friends", an outgrowth of the ministry of George Fox and others.
The Friends are a Christian denomination with a reputation for earnestly seeking guidance from God and actively serving their fellow human beings. From their beginnings, Quakers have been distinctive for seeking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ -- in which all individuals, regardless of position in life, can hear the Spirit of God speaking to them.
Throughout the last 350 years, Quakers have advanced numerous social reforms, including care for the mentally ill, the imprisoned, and the impoverished. Friends have placed a strong emphasis upon the equality of all persons, believing all to be of identical value to God. For many years Friends wore only gray clothing, reducing distinguishing characteristics between rich and poor. In America, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, established a treaty with Native Americans that was later dubbed "the only treaty that the world has ever known, never sworn to, and never broken." More than 60 years before the Civil War, not a single American Quaker was known to own a slave, and Quakers helped direct the now famous Underground Railroad to assist African Americans escaping slavery.
Quakers are well known for peacemaking. The Friends Church has consistently taken Jesus' command to "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" as a call to oppose violence in any form. As a result, the Friends Church has supported non-violent means of conflict resolution, and has taken public stands against such things as abortion, war and the death penalty.
Today some who call themselves Quakers dispute the deity of Jesus, while still emphasizing social reform. However, the majority of Quakers -- including those who call themselves Evangelical Friends -- see social action as a means to serve Jesus Christ, whom they worship as Lord, Savior and "Friend."
The designation "Friends" comes from a passage in the Bible, where Jesus tells his followers: "Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves…but I have called you friends…" (John 15:13-15 NIV). In England some 1600 years later, George Fox was encouraged by these words of Jesus. God's son (Jesus) had come to earth and given up his life for his friends, and Fox realized that he, too, could be a friend of the God of the universe by obeying God's commands. From this, "The Religious Society of Friends" was born.
 In his journal, George Fox summarized his experience seeking truth as a 19-year old:
"And when all my hopes…in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could [I] tell what do to, then, Oh then, I heard a voice which said, 'There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition,' and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy."
"…Now was I come up in spirit through the flaming sword into the paradise of God. All things were new, and all the creation gave another smell unto me than before, beyond what words can utter. I knew nothing but pureness, and innocency, and righteousness, being renewed up in the image of God by Christ Jesus…"
For further information, please read the more detailed Who Are the Quakers? by Ralph K. Beebe. For details about Christianity in general, read Frequently Asked Questions About Salvation and Christian Faith by Billy Graham, or Luis Palau's What Is A Real Christian?
Additional writings by and about the Quakers may be obtained from Barclay Press. Quaker Ridge Camp & Conference Center is owned by the Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting of the Friends Church, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
|
