"The Wisdom I Found"

For Rev. Ron Bartlow, camp was not just a destination; it was a formative space that would shape his call into ministry. Many years after being a camper, Ron was serving faithfully as an elder in the Desert Southwest (DSW) Conference when camp ministry once again called his name. This time in a very different way. With no conference-level camping executive leadership in place, Ron stepped into service on the DSW camp and retreat board and eventually said yes to becoming a part-time executive at the bishop’s request. It was a faithful response in a season of transition. Yet Ron had never led a camp organization before. Camp and retreat ministry, he quickly realized, was very different from local church leadership. He was carrying responsibility with care and conviction, while also sensing there was more to learn than his experience alone could provide.

That realization came into focus at the 2013 Executives’ Summit. Surrounded by leaders who had been navigating camp systems, governance, and sustainability for years, Ron became acutely aware of what he didn’t yet know. What could have been an overwhelming moment instead became an opening. Through intentional, active connection with UMCRM, Ron discovered a wider community of practice ready to walk alongside him. “UMCRM was my professional introduction to meeting others in this ministry and traveling the country,” Ron reflected. Through shared learning, Compass Points training, and exposure to how other conferences structured their camp leadership, Ron’s imagination expanded. He began to see not just how to meet the mission in front of him, but how to build systems in DSW camping that could sustain that mission for the long term.

Ron eventually served on the UMCRM board and later as board chair in 2019. As Ron’s engagement deepened his leadership was shaped by a simple but transformative posture: choosing connection over isolation. “We chose to be a part of UMCRM, and the support I found was incredible. The wisdom I found was incredible,” he shared. Two guiding questions emerged that Ron now carries into all of his ministry: Is it missionally effective? And is it operationally sustainable? UMCRM helped him hold both together, grounding faithful innovation in shared wisdom.

During those years when Ron served as the DSW Executive, Desert Southwest’s camping ministry grew healthier and more resilient, strengthened by practices learned through connection with peers across the country. Yet for Ron, the impact goes even deeper. UMCRM became his first tangible experience of the broader United Methodist connection, reinforcing a truth he now names often: “We can do far more together than we ever could alone.”

Ron is quick to trace his own call to ministry back to camp, back to a pastor who saw something in him and offered an invitation that changed the direction of his life. Today, he sees UMCRM offering that same kind of invitation to leaders across the connection: an invitation to learn, to share wisdom, and to lead together. It is a reminder that no matter the season, camp ministry is strongest when no one is asked to lead alone.