Birch Bay Ranch Association
owns the land it sits on. “Birch Bay Ranch Association” appears as the owner on
the Land Title itself.
At the information meeting
on September 10th, the following question was raised: “How can the current Board of Directors
say that removing the asset from the books of BBR Association and putting them
on the books of North Pointe, when the land title is in the name of the BBR
Association, is in the best interests of the BBR Association?”
We think this is an important question to consider, and is really the
crux of the whole issue surrounding Birch Bay Ranch Association transferring its
land and assets to another non-profit organization. The answer that was given
at the meeting was: “I have yet to see where owning the assets have had any
material effect on the operation of the Ranch. So owning the assets, to this
point in time, not having any material effect on the Ranch in days gone by,
would seem to be somewhat superfluous at this point in time.”
We posit that owning the land has been, and will continue to be
extremely beneficial to the operations of Birch Bay Ranch. Here are the reasons
why:
The Christian camping ministry model
Camp ministry is a unique ministry.
It differs from others in that we invite people out to our property, to
live together in temporary community. Campers don’t just come for a few hours
to hear about Jesus. They come to stay.
While we live with them in temporary community, we show them the love of God,
both through intentional programming and through giving them life-changing
experiences like engaging in nature and challenging themselves physically on
our ropes course, horses or other outdoor activities. For these reasons, our
land and buildings have proven to be crucial to the ministry and business of
Birch Bay Ranch.
As Steve Archibald, General Director for Medeba (a successful
independent camp in Ontario) and Chair Elect for CCI/Canada, says, “Aside from
human resources, our greatest resource that we leverage for ministry is our
property, buildings and activity structures. We need property for these things
to sit on. It is a ministry tool! It’s like saying the dining hall or the rodeo
ring don’t benefit the Ranch.”
Some ministries or charitable organizations are capable of existing
anywhere. An organization that clothes the homeless can rent space anywhere there
is a need and complete their ministry objectives. Some churches don’t even
necessarily need to own their own building (there are many churches in Edmonton
whose ministry model dictates they can operate out of any space – movie
theatres, university lecture spaces, school gymnasiums, etc.). But our ministry – one that requires kids
and adults to experience nature and stay in our permanent structures – depends
upon our land. The property of Birch Bay Ranch is a ministry tool in the same
way that our horses, chapel skits, or ropes activities are. We use these tools
directly to minister to our guests. We could not run the same ministry
somewhere else.
Sustainability and
ministry continuance
While Birch Bay Ranch Association owns its own land, it can be empowered
to make its own decisions regarding the development and use of that land. As
ministry needs change, we are able to adapt – whether that means building a new
shop to better maintain our property and equipment, or building new cabins to
house more campers and guests. These are changes made to our own property, not
made to benefit an asset that belongs to some other organization.
Birch Bay Ranch currently owns the land. If the land were to be taken
away, there would be little incentive to improve the land or buildings. It
seems unwise to invest in buildings or structures that could be lost, should
the lessor choose to terminate the lease or sell the property. At the
information meeting, multiple individuals asked what will happen at the end of
the proposed five-year lease period. The answer that was given repeatedly was,
“we’ll see when we get there.” That isn’t enough assurance that all of the
work, volunteer hours, donations and funds that can go into the property in
that time won’t just be lost at the end of five years.
“No ministry that requires buildings to do ministry would not want to
own and have control of the land portion of those assets, otherwise you risk
ministry continuance, as control is in the hands of non-stakeholders,” says
Steve Archibald.
Grants, donations and fundraising
efforts
Prior to the mid-eighties, Edmonton Central Pentecostal did own the land
and assets of Birch Bay Ranch. However, it was decided by the Board at the time
that it would be in the best interests of Birch Bay Ranch if its own, separate
Association were formed and the land and assets be officially transferred to
it.
This decision was a good one. Many granting organizations will not fund
churches. By becoming its own Association, incorporated under the Societies Act
and registered with the Canadian Charities Directorate, Birch Bay Ranch was
able to apply for and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of funds
that it would not have received otherwise.
There is also a large donor base that will happily donate to a kids’
camp, but would rather not donate to one church in particular. These people all
have their own churches that they would rather donate to, but have camp
ministry in their hearts as another avenue for giving. Many of these people
will no longer donate to Birch Bay Ranch if they know the funds are really
going towards the asset owned by a particular church.
Furthermore, many individuals and organizations will not feel
comfortable donating to capital projects (like the building of new cabins or
further development of the land) if they know those new developments are not
actually owned by Birch Bay Ranch and truly belong to a particular church.
There are other camps in Alberta who are leasing the land they operate on, and
have experienced serious difficulty securing funds from donors to develop land,
buildings and other facilities. Because donors feel uncomfortable contributing
funds that will ultimately go to a land owner separate from the camp they
support, these camps have found leasing to be a huge detriment to their
ministry. Several camps in this situation have shared their struggles with us.
One of the biggest detriments to giving the land away and being expected
to buy it back is the fact that instead of fundraising to build new cabins,
which the Ranch definitely needs, it will be forced to launch a massive
fundraising effort to raise enough money to purchase the land that it already
owns. In this sense, the Board of the Birch Bay Ranch Association will be
crippling its own organization by essentially putting it in debt for the buyout
value of the land.
If the ministry hopes to continue beyond the five-year lease period,
there is simply no choice but to buy back its own land. For this reason, it is
so obviously in the best interest of Birch Bay Ranch to continue owning the
land and assets that it has owned for the past twenty-five years.
