RMCNews – Casper, Wyoming … Camp meetings have been a defining tradition in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over 150 years, with James and Ellen G. White laying the groundwork for these gatherings in the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) region with evangelistic effort in Colorado in the 1870s. Playing a vital role in spiritual revival, community building, and denominational identity, these gatherings provided a space for both instruction in Bible truth and connection among scattered members.
Overtime, camp meetings evolved to include youth programming, health education, and mission promotion, but the original simplicity, rustic settings, and familiar format of worship, Bible study, and fellowship remains the trademark of the RMC Wyoming Camp Meeting.
The 2025 Wyoming Camp Meeting was held July 15-19 at Mills Spring Ranch (MSR) in Casper, Wyoming, with this year’s theme being “Walking with Jesus.” The featured speaker was Dr. Greg A. King, a renowned Bible scholar, a passionate teacher currently serving as dean of the School of Religion and professor of biblical studies at Southern Adventist University, and a man whose “greatest mission is helping people experience the abundant life that comes from a deep relationship with Jesus.”
When asked what message from his presentations Dr. King hoped would resonate with the attendees, he remarked, “That the key to the Christian life is an ongoing walk with Jesus Christ. It is important to have a daily relationship with him.”
And, for many attendees, their annual camp meeting experience is an important part of that ongoing faith journey. “I have attended camp meetings starting when I was about four or five years old with my mother, and I’ve been speaking at them for about 30 years or so,” reflected Dr. King. “So, I’m a long-time camp meeting camper. And the Wyoming Camp is just beautiful with sweet fellowship that is a foretaste of heaven.”
A long-time Wyoming Camp Meeting attendee and member of the Gillette Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wyoming is Diane Montoya: “I think I started coming up in the mid-1980s, and I’ve been to almost every one since then. I love the messages that I get here every day. There are things that I get in the messages that help me through the next year.”
But not all that joined this year’s event are long-time attendees. This was the first year for Mary Miles, member of the Torrington Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wyoming. “I have learned so much, and I am just so much more on fire for God than ever before. Pastors talking about fear and how to get rid of it … It made me feel like I’m not alone. This whole experience made me feel like I’m not alone.”
A lot goes into the planning and fulfillment of every camp meeting, and they would not run without a dedicated team of individuals. Wyoming district pastors Edrey Santos, Mark Phillips, and Kevin McDonald hosted and provided morning devotionals and workshops. Leandro Bizama, associate pastor of Worship and Evangelism at the Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loveland, Colorado, stepped up last minute to provide music programming and direction for the event, and RMC president-elect David VandeVere gave inaugural remarks.
With the relatively recent transition of new pastors in the Wyoming region, Liz Cornett, assistant clerk of the Casper Seventh-day Adventist Church, took on a leadership role in this year’s camp meeting as the coordinator. “My first experience with Wyoming Camp Meeting came in 1991 after I had just moved from the Oregon Conference to Casper. I was 14 years old and had left everything I knew behind,” Cornett recalled. “I arrived at Mills Spring Ranch, and I knew absolutely nobody that first day; how lonely that was! So, I decided to change that.”
“So, every young person that looked around my age that walked into camp, I immediately walked up to and said, ‘Hi, I’m Liz!’ I made so many new friends that week! When I went to Campion Academy in the Fall, several of them were there saying, ‘Hey! I remember you from camp meeting!’ Some people became my friends for life, and we still stay in contact,” she continued.
“Camp meeting to me is a time to leave behind the day-to-day grind of life and separate for spiritual renewal,” reflected Cornett. “This is made up of many things—friends, nature, uplifting messages, and music. This year’s camp meeting has become one of my favorites. The combination of spiritual messages, real-life application workshops, family activities, and making music filled my cup to overflow. I praise God that I was given the opportunity to be a part of it, and I am looking forward to camp meeting again next year!”
New to this year’s camp meeting experience was the presence of the RMC summer camp staff. They were facilitating the RMC Blind Camp session that ran concurrently with camp meeting, assisting in a number of facility projects at MSR, and providing support for camp meeting. “It was off the charts watching all of the young people this week—helping out, cooking, and taking care of things,” commented Mona Fellers, member of Torrington Church.
Also hosted at this year’s Wyoming Camp Meeting was the first of six regional RMC Town Hall sessions. The town hall was divided into two segments: the first being breakout sessions on mission and ministry topics followed by conference ministry reports from department directors. “I loved the town hall breakouts. I managed to catch parts of two of them and wanted to go to more,” remarked Cornett.
“I would encourage more of our members to attend Wyoming Camp Meeting,” closed Cornett. “It is where we support and lift each other up and see that we are not alone up here in the vast prairies and mountains but that we are one conference, one church, and one message to proclaim to a world in desperate need of Jesus.”
—RMCNews. Photos by Liz Kirkland and Susan Inglish.
