Sabbatical for Joe…

Over the next three months I will be away from the office on a sabbatical from Pearce Williams Christian Centre. A sabbatical is a time away to do education and research.

I love what I do and want to continue at Pearce Williams for many years to come. I find that now, nine years into my time at Pearce Williams,

I will use this sabbatical time to renew my curiosity and desire for the camping ministry.

Pearce Williams has so much potential and I want to make sure that I can bring that potential to light and make Pearce Williams the most amazing summer camp and retreat facility. By visiting other programs, reading histories and thinking about the future of camping, my sabbatical time will help me to come back with a renewed energy to be a steward of Pearce Williams for years to come.

My sabbatical starts on November 1, 2013. The first part of my plan is to travel to Australia for 40 days and tour various summer camps and outdoor education facilities. I will be flying to Australia on November 2, 2013 and returning on December 11, 2013. I have 10 facilities lined up for visits already with the potential for 5 to 10 more – just depends on timing and distance to drive.

After returning I will prepare a session about my Australia Tour to present at the Ontario Camping Association Director’s Conference at the end of January 2014. This session will also be shared with the Board of Pearce Williams and potentially with our AGM in on March 4, 2014.

I will also read and research more on Fundraising and how to facilitate sharing the Pearce Williams Story with others and having them invest in our plans and facility. As my job changes I find that my desire to continually learn new things is renewed so that I can give the best benefit to Pearce Williams.

I will also continue to work on a long standing project that I have been putting together – the digitizing of the Canadian Camping Magazine archive. This will involve figuring out how to put the archive online in a searchable format, potentially some travel to the Ontario Camping Association Archives at Trent University, and the work of scanning the remaining magazine. This is a project that started in 2002 and I hope to move it closer to completion.

This sabbatical will give me time to reflect on my time at Pearce Williams and my mission as I move forward at Pearce Williams. It will allow for a new energy and clarity when I return to lead Pearce Williams into the future.

I have nothing but faith in our staff team to oversee the camp operations from November to the end of January. If you have questions or need to talk to the office – Shannon, Jessica, Shawn & Patrick can help you out.

Joe Richards, October 31, 2013