Imagine 10 days at a General Conference Session where instead of the children of delegates, guests, and visitors tagging along to squirm and fidget in meetings with moms and dads, or linger in the halls as parents converse, greet, and mingle with friends they haven’t seen for years, they escape to a safe, controlled environment devoted to meeting the needs of the children. It’s not an imagination. It is reality at the General Conference Session in Atlanta.

GC Day Camp 2010 provides a variety of activities, including crafts, swimming in Lake Alatoona, tours of The Georgia Aquarium and games, in an atmosphere where the emphasis is on interactive Bible-based learning, nature, and music. Each morning of the Session, approximately 40 children take the bus ride 18 miles to Carman Adventist School in Marietta where appropriate supervision and a support staff of energetic college and high school students lead out in activities in an environment which supports up to 100 children.

GC Day Camp sponsored by FLAG Camp International, Shenandoah Valley Academy, Pioneer Memorial church, Andrews University, and Camp Blue Ridge, was born out of the frustration felt by parents regarding a lack of activities for children at adult events.

Coordinators Scott Schalk and Buz Menhardt with the support of Denny Grady, Potomac Conference youth director, wanted to provide a purpose for the children to occupy. Not just fun. “We needed quality stuff for the kids,” says Menhardt. “We find more and more kids who are disconnected from the church. We want to reconnect them, and make the experience the best we can make it,” he says.

On Sabbaths the children once again have the opportunity to spend time with Mom and Dad experiencing Sabbaths under the Dome.

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