A New Phase for Our Beloved Camp Sky Meadows

Over 80 years ago, a group of dedicated church members thought it would be a wonderful gift to the congregation to have a mountain camp retreat. Soon construction began on Camp Sky Meadows, a beautiful campus in the San Bernardino mountains. 

Many talented and committed church members brought their construction and creative skills to building and maintaining the camp—volunteering to clean, cook, manage, and keep it safe for church families and guests. 

Through the years at Camp Sky Meadows, we have held Labor Day and Memorial Day camps, summer and winter youth camps, children’s camps, arts and crafts camps, and more. Families and individuals have also held their own retreats and celebrated holidays amongst the beauty of the mountains.The camp has introduced many to God’s great creation. We are truly thankful.

Camp Sky Meadows is now entering a new phase of its mission. 

Due to the changing needs of our church, we made the difficult decision to sell the camp. Thankfully, God’s grace blessed us with an introduction to an organization called Camp Alandale, a Christian camp for children in the Foster Care system. Camp Alandale had previously rented Camp Sky Meadows when their own physical camp space was devastated by a severe storm.

The management at Camp Alandale enjoyed their time renting Camp Sky Meadows and felt the space was conducive to their mission as a Christian non-profit that provides a healing space for kids ages 9-18 who are in the foster system. Many of these children have faced abuse, neglect, and instability in their lives. Camp Alandale provides a peaceful slice of stability in a natural setting. We admire the work that Camp Alandale does with such love and patience, and how their organization complements our own mission work with the Adopt a Child Advocate Caseworker program through the Department of Children and Family Services. We are pleased to announce that Camp Alandale has officially purchased Camp Sky meadows.

Although we have sold Camp Sky Meadows, our relationship with this wonderful place will continue. As part of the terms of sale, Camp Alandale has agreed that First UMC can continue using the camp at no charge for our family and youth camps twice a year, on Presidents and Labor Day Weekends. Furthermore, with 60-days notice, we as a church (or individual groups in the church) can arrange other retreat opportunities at the camp so long as Alandale is not holding a youth camp of its own that conflicts. 

We are grateful that Camp Sky Meadows is in the dedicated hands of an organization committed to doing God’s work with young people facing great challenges, while also enabling our continued use of the camp we love.

We invite all in the community to join us this Labor Day weekend for our 2025 All-Church Camp! It’s a wonderful opportunity to spend time in the beauty of God’s creation with friends. 

Led by Pastor Amy Aitken. Meals and activities will begin Saturday, (8/30) with breakfast, and conclude following breakfast on Monday, (9/1). Join us! There is a place for you. You can register for camp here.: