Camp Mimanagish was started on land in the national forest, up a very rustic road 40 miles south of Big Timber, in 1932. The name “Mimanagish” was suggested by a Congregational Christian Church executive from “back east.” People were told that it was an “Indian” word meaning, “the Place of Singing Waters.” Sounded good to them, and the Boulder River certainly does sing!
Family camping was the thing then, and as a couple of structures got built, the Congregational Conference began having youth camps. After WWII, things really took off. Baby Boom kids as well as their families filled the Camp and the forest with singing, whooping, praying, and the kind of faith development that can only happen in the forest with people around who are on the same quest. And it has been a quest, to unite campers of all ages with God’s marvelous creation, with one another, and with God. Generations of life-changing and life-affirming experiences have happened because of Camp Mimanagish.
After our Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference took the difficult vote to “divest” ourselves of the camp — numbers attending weren’t sustaining the camp in the way the aging buildings needed, and it had become more a burden than a blessing in some minds — a new vision emerged in the hearts of many who didn’t want to let go. Singing Waters Montana was born, with the sole purpose of continuing and expanding the mission of “the Place of Singing Waters.”
This past week, after lots of prayer, talk, outreach, planning, and lots of fund-raising, Camp Mimanagish belongs to Singing Waters Montana and all our friends. Hallelujah!
We certainly want to be the camp that welcomes folks from UCC churches, and we want to be a “camp for people who don’t have a camp.” People still need wilderness to encounter the Sacred, and Mimanagish will be there.
We extend a welcome to you this summer and into the future. Look for details at our website: www.campmimanagish.com
And thank you!
— Rev. Dick Weaver currently serves as Supply Pastor for Pilgrim Church