Meet the Susquehanna Conference Camp & Retreat Ministry Staff
 

Camp & Retreat Ministry Office
303 Mulberry Drive
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Phone:  (717) 766-7395
Fax: (717) 766-5976
 




Rev. Kevin Witt
Director
Growing Spiritual Transformational Leaders &
Camp/Retreat Ministry
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My most recent position was the National Camp and Retreat Ministry Director with the General Board of Discipleship of the UMC.  For more than 20 years, I have been serving in this capacity to provide consultations, training, networking to support and strengthen the missional effectiveness of staff, volunteers, and boards who lead camp and retreat ministries across the United Methodist connection as well as ecumenically. The focus of this ministry has been establishing Christian discipleship pathways and nurturing persons for growing spiritual leadership. 

My ministry as a pastor prior to entering camp and retreat ministry along with serving on Conference staff has inspired me to deeply value the alignment of Camp and Retreat Ministry with the vision and priorities of local churches and the conference. Camp and Retreat Ministries in its full expression is highly collaborative in the recognition that lifelong discipleship pathways must be connected so that the camp and retreat experiences build upon and are integrated with congregations and other extension ministries.  The combination of Camp and Retreat Ministry and Discipleship in my new position here in the Susquehanna Conference fits extremely well with my own calling and gifts.

I am committed to lifelong learning which includes a variety of passions, such as working with Hispanic Latino ministries, nurturing persons for spiritual leadership, and guiding wilderness adventure and fly fishing excursions that focus on deepening faith and connections with God.  I have written numerous resources including co-authoring two books – Twists of Faith: Ministry with Youth at the Turning Points of Their Lives and The Retreat Leader’s Manual.  I also served on the design team to help create the current United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministry Certification in collaboration with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministry Association. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   



Patricia "Tricia" Frye
Administrative Assistant
Camp & Retreat Ministry
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I have always enjoyed camping, whether with my family growing up, going to scout camp or church camp.  I grew up in Palmyra, so I attended church camp in Mt Gretna.  I loved spending time in the great outdoors, making new friends, cooking over a fire, all the crafts and activities that went hand in hand with going to camp.

As an adult, I still love the great outdoors, whether it is working in my flowerbeds or walking through the woods.  My husband and I enjoy camping, though we have graduated to cabins and rv's instead of tent camping.  Some times we travel with our children and grandchildren, who also love exploring in the woods.  We love to travel and explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.  We still enjoy cooking over a fire, though nowadays, it is sometimes a BBQ grill rather than a campfire.  And I still enjoy crafts, and have tried my hand at ceramics, and stained glass creations to name a few.     

My husband and I are active in our church, where I serve as chairperson of the Leadership Council and where we are involved in numerous children's ministries and outreach ministries.  One of our favorite adventures was the week that we spent at Red Bird with a group from our church.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   



Joni Robison
Camping Assistant
Camp & Retreat Ministry
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 I grew up as an Episcopalian in western Pennsylvania. After attending college in Ohio, I came back to Pennsylvania and worked in campus ministry at Robert Morris College (now University), where I met my husband, Barry. Barry was studying to be an accountant, but God had other plans for him! We married when he finished college in 1980, and a week later he started seminary in Ohio. He has now been a United Methodist minister for over thirty years.

Barry has served churches in Red Lion, Salladasburg, Berwick, Selinsgrove, and Stewartstown. On July 1, 2015 he will be appointed Superintendent of the Harrisburg District and we will move to Mechanicsburg.

When we were in Salladasburg in the 1980s our three children were born: Benjamin in 1986, Lindsay in 1987, and Gabriel in 1989. Benjamin was born with a genetic condition that took his life in early 1991. Lindsay is a surgical technologist at Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, and lives in Mechanicsburg. Gabriel teaches high school social studies at The Woodlynde School, a private school in a suburb of Philadelphia.

Our experience in the camping ministry began in 1985, when we were asked to be counselors at the first-ever Elementary Music Camp at Greene Hills. Thirty years later we are still involved, and loving it!

With the advent of the Safe Sanctuaries program in 2002, it became obvious that more administrative help in the Camping Office would be necessary. After a four-month term as interim assistant director in Discovery Place, I began my part-time position as Camping Assistant in late February 2003. My duties include tracking clearances for our camp volunteers, processing summer camp registrations, and a multitude of other day-to-day tasks to help the Camping Office run smoothly. I consider my position more of a ministry than a job, as I enjoy helping people become involved in the camping ministry of the Susquehanna Conference.