News about KCO 2017

Posted Feb 15, 2017 in News

The annual children’s camp KCO (Kids’ Camp Out, formerly KUCA Camp Out) has a long history of discipleship and faith formation in the Uniting Church SA. This year, primary school-aged children will again be invited to join with church groups to attend KCO and explore the 2017 theme, Big World – but there are some changes in the works.

Since 2015, a number of structural changes have been made to the KCO Event Office. This year the plan was to implement a new event management program to streamline the KCO registration process. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this new system will not be ready for use in 2017; instead, KCO Group Coordinators will use the Uniting Portal “site pass application” system utilised in recent years.

This change in plans has led to some additional people joining the KCO Event Office! Malcolm Wilson (Associate General Secretary – Planning and Management) is overseeing the administration and registration processes for church groups, and several other Synod staff members will assist with registration. Julianne Rogers will continue communications for the event, and will also be the first point of contact for any queries about KCO 2017 (Turn on Javascript! or 8236 4270).

Uniting Church SA Moderator Rev Sue Ellis offered her reflections on these changes and the importance of KCO in the life of the Uniting Church SA in a Pastoral Note sent on Monday 13 February. The Pastoral Note has been republished below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.

KCO is an important part in the life of this Synod and has undergone significant consultation and several changes over the past 18 months. The Mission Resourcing and Intergen team continue to visualise and shape the ways KCO might best nurture and disciple our young people for the years ahead. 

When changes happen, many challenges present themselves to those who are organising such large events. As many of you may know, KCO has been undertaking changes to the way it handles participant registrations. The new changes to registration are still yet to be implemented and there was some uncertainty about the capacity to effectively run the event. This stemmed to discussion around whether KCO would be able to operate in March this year. 

Last Friday, the Standing Committee strongly committed to the event going ahead as planned on the 25th and 26th of March. Synod staff and KCO staff have worked hard today to adapt the existing registration system to ensure the event will be held this year as planned. We praise God for this!

KCO is an iconic event in the life of our Synod and demonstrates the intergenerational qualities that are needed for discipleship development in our young people of faith. 

To participate in KCO 2017, please fill out an Intention to Attend form and return it to Turn on Javascript! as soon as possible.

[Editor’s note: Intention to Attend forms were due on Monday 13 February. If you are concerned that you were not able to meet this deadline, please contact Julianne Rogers on 8236 4270 or email Turn on Javascript!]

As Moderator, I welcome any thoughts and comments about KCO from the congregations and in particular, our children and their leaders. Email me (Turn on Javascript!) with your questions, comments and dreams!

Grace and peace,

Rev Sue Ellis,

Moderator
Uniting Church SA

Comments

Write comment