Canceled insurance policy forces Baptist association to sell 300-acre camp
Canonicus Camp in Rhode Island is the latest denominational-operated facility to feel financial stress.
The American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island (ABCORI), a group of 67 Baptist congregations, has decided to sell the Canonicus Camp and Conference Center on 300 acres of land, the Providence Journal reported.
The property in Exeter includes an 18-acre pond and nine buildings and is valued at more than $3 million. The decision comes after years of discussions, annual deficit budgeting, and increasing insurance costs to run and maintain the property. ABCORI's Interim Executive Minister Doug Harris said that the deficit averaging $100,000 annually has been created primarily by owning and operating the Canonicus Camp and Conference Center.
The church association first purchased property for the camp and conference center in 1946, and it has hosted various events such as Asthma Camp, Women’s Discovery weekends, and Columbus Day fall festivals. However, this year, the board reported that its longtime insurance carrier declined to renew its policy, leading to a search to find new liability coverage at a significantly higher cost and with more exclusions than its previous policy.
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The association was unable to obtain a new property insurance policy, which means that losses resulting from fire, flooding, or major storms would not be covered and could have a devastating impact on ABCORI. The proceeds from the sale of the property will generate funds to expand the ministries and programs ABCORI provides for its member churches and their pastors, as well as to develop new ministry opportunities.
Facilities Experience Financial Stress
Baptist denomination-operated retreat and conference centers across the country have been under increasing financial stress in recent years, resulting in the sale of properties.
LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention sold the renowned Glorieta Conference Center in 2013 for $1 to an independent group that continues to operate the 2,100-acre property near Santa Fe, N.M. as a Christian camp and retreat center.
In 2021, LifeWay finalized the sale of the 1,200-acre Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina to the Ridgecrest Foundation, a group that pledged to continue to use the property as a Christian camp and conference center. A year earlier in 2020, California Baptists signed a purchase agreement to sell its Jenness Park Christian Camp for $1.5 million to one of its convention-affiliated churches.