Connecting with God, Celebrating Creation, & Cultivating Community in Southwest Florida

An Interview with Matt Shick, Executive Director of Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center

by Jonas Hayes

Dear Peace River Presbytery,

This month, I sat down with Matt Shick, Executive Director of Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center, just as he was wrapping up his first camp of the season.

Matt has attended Cedarkirk since he was three years old and attended family camps there every year after. He is currently in his sixth year serving as Executive Director of the Camp; Matt served for eleven years as Program Director prior to that.

Cedarkirk has been a transforming place for Matt’s life of faith, witnessing it as a place of transformation for so many others. Matt has attended camp at Cedarkirk over fifty times growing up; he proposed to his wife, Kathryn, at Cedarkirk.

Matt was a Chemistry major at University of the South in Sewanee, TN. After college, Matt was invited to serve as Interim Youth Director at Hyde Park Presbyterian Church in Tampa where his father, Ken Shick, served as Pastor for many years. While serving in this position, Matt experienced a call from God to serve in camp ministry at Cedarkirk.

I invite you to consider what God is doing at Cedarkirk as I share a few highlights from my interview with him.

Matt, your call to serve at Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center is powerful and intriguing. What was your call to serve in camp ministry like?

While serving as Interim Youth Director at Hyde Park Pres, I had a dawning-awakening that camp ministry fills me with joy and at camp I am the best version of myself. I recognized that camp ministry is something that suits my abilities and that I can be a force for good. Call it God, or call it providence, the call to serve in camp ministry was too obvious for event a hard-headed person like me to ignore. Looking back, I can see the events in my spiritual journey taking me to that point in my life. Helping people connect with God in new and energizing ways is as much a gift for me as it is for them.

Tell us about this first camp of the year you just had at Cedarkirk.

Camp HOPE America is a nationwide camping and mentoring program designed for children and teens impacted by the trauma of domestic and/or sexual violence. They aim to break the generational cycle of family violence by fostering pathways of healing, hope, and resilience – and they have lived that mission as a partner of Cedarkirk for the past four years. Cedarkirk was their first Florida summer camp partnership, and it’s a true partnership. Our summer staff serve as counselors and group leaders for the small groups of children and youth they bring to us, and their staff and volunteers provide additional mental health, counseling, and clinical support during their week at camp.

It is a privilege to nurture and walk alongside these campers from the greater Tampa Bay area, and to provide a space where they can leave some of their trauma at the front gate and spend a week at camp just being kids.

How are this year’s camp programs different from previous years?

We are being more creative and intentional with how groups do Bible study. While that has been a cornerstone of our summer programs for years, we have made a renewed effort to keep things fresh and grounded in our faith in Christ and in the abundant resources we have here at Cedarkirk. This year’s curriculum is entitled: “Into the Wilderness.” It is all about how the people of God encountered God in wilder spaces throughout the Old and New Testaments. Our beautiful property is such a natural fit for the many scriptures that highlight the presence of God in places like this.

What are some short-term and long-term plans for Cedarkirk?

Cedarkirk is working to partner with more non-profit organizations in the community. We are a mission of the Presbytery, but we also seek to be a place of mission to our community. Our leadership plans to have a bigger influence in our immediate community as well as the Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida areas, and to serve those communities in new ways. Developing closer relationships with local churches and Presbyteries is a renewed commitment of ours. Cedarkirk is also developing its programs: two years ago we started a day camp program (K-5) because the housing in our neighborhood is growing considerably. These camps are intended to develop a safe and welcoming place for campers to explore their fatih and God’s creation. Also, this is the first year we will be doing a middle school day camp, which will be a weeklong program toward the end of the summer.

In terms of capital projects, the Board at Cedarkirk undertook a Capital Campaign in 2016 to build a new dining hall. Long ago we outgrew the current one and it is difficult to access for guests with mobility issues. We have officially begun work (we’re in permitting now) and are anxiously awaiting details to welcome folks to a groundbreaking ceremony. The goal is $4M and, so far, Cedarkirk has received nearly three quarters of that goal, including a $1M gift from the Presbytery of Tampa Bay just this past weekend!

How does Cedarkirk see itself serving the local church?

I see Cedarkirk being a spiritual home for a lot of folks. Some had their first or foremost faith experiences out here at camp, and countless people have told me they felt called into ministry here. There is something special that happens when we leave the dailiness of our lives and go into wilder spaces. There is a tangible and experiential quality of faith that we can have out here that we can’t always tap into in our daily lives. At camp, we put into practice the things we talk about and study at church.

How can Peace River Presbytery be most helpful and supportive of this camp ministry?

We are so grateful for your commitment to hold this ministry in prayer – not only for the ministry, but for the people to have a transforming experience while they are attending. Also, please reach out to us with ideas you have for how Cedarkirk might be able to support or augment the ministry that happens in your own congregations.

What have you found most personally fulfilling in this ministry?

I grew up knowing the characters and stories of the Bible as a preacher’s kid. But when I came to camp as part of Cedarkirk’s high school leadership program, it was the first time I lived closely with people who were different from me. We worked together and learned together and figured out how to get along. Cedarkirk showed me how to practice what I believed. At camp, I had to learn what I believed and how to practice it. We’re in our second week of camp and I am seeing that all over the place. There is a real spirit of taking faith and moving it from a knowledge to a practice, from the head to the heart. That’s how camp changed my life. It’s a ministry that helps people to understand the mysteries of our faith in spiritual and tangible ways.

It has been life-giving to attend camp as a youth, then to serve as a counselor, and then on staff. It’s a joy to see and be a part of people’s journey of faith for many years, to watch them go to college, start jobs, and begin families. It’s moving to meet campers who come back to Cedarkirk and remember: “You took me on the river when I was in Elementary School.” It’ spowerful for me to see campers bring their children to camp and hear both generations share how this place has touched their faith.

In closing, (and just for fun) what is your favorite outdoor activity here at Cedarkirk?

It’s really hard to choose only one, but right now I would say my favorite outdoor activity is canoeing. It’s so peaceful to be on the water and to see the land from a different vantage point.

God bless Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center.

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Jonas M. Hayes