Together, Dave and Sharron Schar have more than 100 years of Methodist Camp & Retreat Ministry experience, and they’ve been at almost every National Gathering since their inception in 1976. You may recognize them sporting (sometimes matching) vintage vests, jackets, or t-shirts from a past UM camp event. 

These beloved members of our community have been, Forrest Gump-style, part of many pivotal moments and connections with legends in UMC camp history. Legacy of Leadership Award honoree Mel Moody (later the UMC National staff person for Camping Ministry), was the Director at Camp Wanake (OH) when Dave was a little camper in the 50s. Dave and Sharron participated in a training led by Bob Cagle (who literally wrote the book on Youth Ministry Camping in the 80s) at a backpacking event on the Appalachian Trail. They were there for the ideological shift from the camp caretaker to Director/Managers, uniting the logic of physical development of sites with the mission-and-ministry focus of programming. They became part of the movement to decentralize programs from the Conference model to small group camping, featuring beloved ideas like home-in-the-woods and outpost camps, and maximizing the relational and faith formation value of near-peer counselor leadership in the small group setting. They were present at an American Camp Association gathering when leaders began discussing the standardization of “best practices” in our industry; the seeds that grew into ACA accreditation. They were also witnesses to the professionalization of Camp & Retreat Ministry, moving away from reliance on volunteers from local churches and toward specialized vocational nonprofit ministry leaders. 

UMCRM has long been a vital connecting point for Dave and Sharron to know and collaborate with fellow camping ministry leaders. One of their delightful stories illustrates just how important those connections can be! At a National Gathering in California in 1978, they met a young Director from Tennessee who was there with her toddler daughter in tow. They found common ground with Jan Thomas when learning that her camp and theirs shared the same name: Wesley Woods. That summer, when they received a mysterious call from the Des Moines, Iowa airport from a confused international staffer, they went to pick him up, offered characteristic warm hospitality, and brought him to camp while they figured out what to do. Remembering their new friend from the National Gathering, they dug up the conference program booklet and looked up the landline phone number for Jan’s camp in Tennessee. Sure enough, the counselor was expected halfway across the country at the other Wesley Woods! The collaborative spirit and UMC hospitality bore fruit as that staffer returned for a visit to Iowa at the end of the summer to connect with the fellow Wesley Woods counselor friends he’d made during his confusing journey.

Amid their bottomless well of awesome stories, there are some deeply inspiring recurring themes for Sharron and Dave. They are lifelong witnesses to the faith-transforming power of Christian camp and retreat experiences. In fact, it was at church camp where each gave their lives to Jesus as children. They have invested their lives into paying that forward; making similar life-changing opportunities available to generations of young people through camp. They are committed members of UMCRM because of our Association’s shared investment in that mission. Throughout their years leading camps, they always sought to encourage, educate, and empower rising young adults in their journey of ministry leadership development. “When we met promising staff, we tried to always cover the fees so they could attend the National Gathering,” Sharron recalls. Now, as UMCRM Association donors, they’re still making it possible for young camp leaders to get the training and support they need to keep learning and growing. While Dave and Sharron have seen a lot of change in the world, the church, and in UMC Camp & Retreat Ministries, that commitment has remained the same all along. Thanks be to God!