Overview
Pine Brook Camp is a non-denominational Christian Camping ministries sponsored by Camp Anderson Foundation, Inc. It is located 35 miles north of Springfield, Massachusetts and operates year-round to serve individuals, churches and other Christian organizations. Pine Brook is a non-profit corporation that is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Pine Brook is not owned or operated by any church or denomination.
MISSION STATEMENT:
Pine Brook Camp uses the unique experience of Christian camping to proclaim, equip and serve:
- Proclaim Christ through biblically centered programs
- Equip believers for spiritual growth and leadership
- Serve ministries and families through quality programs and exceptional hospitality
Camp History
In the beginning, the camp consisted of a Methodist Chapel, a parsonage, and a row of horse sheds. The first name was the "Robbins Memorial Health Camp." In 1931 Rev. Anderson renamed it "Camp Beth," the name shortened from the Biblical Bethsaida of Galilee, the native home of Philip, Peter, and Andrew, and the place where Christ fed the five thousand.
Under the direction of Rev. Anderson, the Rev. Herbert Dixon of Leverett, and the Rev. Gifford Towle of Southampton opened the first organized camp in 1933. In the fall of 1938 and the next summer, misfortune struck Camp Beth. The September 1938 New England hurricane knocked to the ground the dining section of the camp and felled many of the pines. The greater tragedy was the death of Rev. William Anderson in July 1939.
In succeeding months, after thinking over how much Camp Beth meant to Rev. Anderson, Rev. Dixon decided to reconstruct the camp. In honor of its founder it became Camp Anderson in 1940. In 1962, the Franklin County Child Evangelism Fellowship started Good News Camp. For seven years they used the Child Evangelism Fellowship Camp in Charlestown, New Hampshire. In 1969 Good News Camp started using Camp Anderson's facility to run their program. Good News Camp was associated with Child Evangelism Fellowship out of Boston.
In 1986, a fire burned down Dixon Hall, Camp Anderson's main meeting hall. This devastating fire, and Camp Anderson's struggling program, made the Board of Trustees decide to sign over the facility to a new Board of Trustees made up of Christian men, many of whom were involved with Good News Camp. The Good News Camp program was growing and the trustees felt the camp would grow under new leadership.
In 1992 the board of Trustees decided to separate their program from Child Evangelism Fellowship. They kept the name Good News Camp until the spring of 1994 when a new name was chosen for the camp. This decision was made with the plan of becoming a year round facility with year round programs. The name Pine Brook Camp and Conference Center, Camp Anderson Foundation, Inc. was chosen.
Statement of Faith
1. We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16)
2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
3. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. (Matt. 1:23; John 1:14)
4. We believe that man was created in the image of God; that man sinned, and thereby incurred, not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; that, as a result of this sin first committed by Adam, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, are accountable as sinners in thought, word, and deed. (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:23)
5. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. (1 John 2:2)
6. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us, as High Priest and Advocate. (Luke 24:39; Acts 1:10,11)
7. We believe in "that blessed hope," the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:11, 1 Thes. 4:16-17)
8. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, and only thereby become children of God. We further believe that the Christian life is exemplary of the teachings found in the New Testament as the Holy Spirit reproduces the life of Jesus Christ in and through each obedient believer. (1 John 2:15-16)
9. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost. (Luke 23:42; 2Thes. 1:1-9)
10. We believe in the reality and personality of our enemy, Satan (Rev. 12:9)
11. We believe in the evangelization of the world. (Matt. 28:19-20)