$71,658 raised by 62 donors
72% complete
$100,000 Goal
Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp, a non-profit corporation affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA, welcomes people from ALL beliefs and backgrounds. Sky Ranch is registered as a Colorado Non-Profit Corporation under the name “Lutheran Ranches of the Rockies,” and is located 55 miles west of Fort Collins near the Pingree Park area just north of Rocky Mountain National Park. For 60 plus years, Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp has been a beautiful mountaintop where thousands of people have come to encounter Christ. It is a sacred place where generations have gathered to lift their voice in celebration, worship and praise. Many come to the mountaintop to find and strengthen their faith and build a relationship with God. For some, it is a spiritual journey that encourages finding purpose in living life with kindness and serving others. Sky Ranch is known for providing radical hospitality and fostering the experience of an intentional Christian community where friendships and relationships are formed that last a lifetime. Sky Ranch is a safe place that empowers campers and staff to be their authentic selves and boldly proclaim the Good News! Here we help each other recognize Jesus in the highs and lows of everyday living.
Striving to be good stewards of the gifts we receive, our goal for this fundraiser is to raise $100,000 to build up our campership fund, maintain our facilities, reduce debt, and build upon our reserves. Over the past couple of years, we have seen an increase in the number of requests for financial assistance through our campership applications. Lowering the camp's debt will allow us to reallocate resources to mission and ministry, introducing more kids and families to God's grace in the mountains. Additional Colorado Gives Day fundraising goals are:
Sky Ranch's greatest achievement has been the continued rejuvenation of the summer youth program. Together, the year-round team have developed plans that enhanced the camper and staff experience.
Over the past several years, Sky Ranch has accomplished the following:
Major plans for the near future include replacing siding and windows at Christ Lodge, rebuilding the Backpack Center fireplace & supporting wall, building camp housing for fulltime/year-round staff, acquiring "new to us" reliable vehicles for our traveling day camp teams and for recruiting travel, and a future dining hall!
If you would like more information about how your gift can make an impact on the lives of many who experience our unique and special ministry here at Sky Ranch, please call Lori Bode at (970) 493-5258 or email Lori at lori@skyranchcolorado.org.
"I loved being a camper at Sky Ranch! I felt like I was accepted for who I am, and it didn't matter where I lived or what I looked like, or how silly I was. I learned about God and how no matter what I do, God loves me. I made true friends and had the coolest counselors!" ~Camper
"Thank you for the campership so I could help my younger brother experience camp as I did. We recently lost our parents, and I have taken on the responsibility of caring for my brother. I am a young adult, and it meant so much to us that my brother was able to get away from our everyday stress and experience being outdoors in God's beautiful creation. He came home after a week of being loved and mentored by his counselor, having a blast, and making new friends. This time at camp provided an opportunity for him that was important to our parents. Sky Ranch is such an amazing place where it is impossible not to experience God's loving presence. Thank you for helping me raise my brother in such a community." ~ Older Camper Sibling
"Sky Ranch is a place like none other. The love that spills out of every inch of this place captures every heart that enters the property. Sky Ranch is a place that welcomes every individual on any step of their faith journey and provides each and every person a place to feel welcomed and loved." ~ Katie Jo R
To Facilitate an Encounter with Christ on the Mountaintops!
Welcome Statement:
Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp is committed to facilitating an encounter with Christ on the mountaintops for all of our campers, staff, and guests. We believe everyone is welcome at Christ’s table. As a spirit-driven community, we are guided by a transforming hope revealed in Jesus and scripture. Because of our faith, we commit to disrupting injustices. We seek to confront biases, racism, and systemic inequities while working towards an environment characterized by God’s love and redeeming grace. Sky Ranch embraces and celebrates everyone’s differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and other characteristics that make our community unique. We especially welcome our LGBTQIA+ siblings, people with disabilities, people of color, and people who are a part of other marginalized communities as essential participants in our ministry. Our staff will work with you on a case-by-case basis to create the best possible camp experience for everyone.
The original inhabitants of the land where Sky Ranch is located were Native Americans from the Arapaho, Mountain Ute and Cherokee tribes.
Sky Ranch was once the homestead of Tom Bennett, from Soldern, England, who hoped to carve a ranch livelihood underneath the “Mummy Range” of the Colorado Rockies. The Bennett’s operated the Gold Nugget until the early years of World War II. Tom sold out in 1943. There were several intermittent changes in ownership of the Gold Nugget as new people attempted to operate a dude ranch or sports ranch. During this period, the property also became known as Sky Ranch. The facilities began to deteriorate until a group from the Lutheran church decided to purchase the property for a church camp.
Rev. Schwandt had heard that the Sky Ranch dude ranch was in receivership and available to the highest bidder. Schwandt organized a small group to visit the camp in January of 1963. Taking an International Scout 4 X 4, the group got miserably stuck and walked the final two miles into the ranch. The snow was too deep to walk about the grounds, so they took a quick look, saw the mountain grandeur and said, “let’s buy it." The group went back to Ft. Collins and placed immediate mortgages on their homes to gather the down payment. Then they sold the idea to other congregations. Early in 1963, Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp of the American Lutheran Church was incorporated, and 32 congregations of the Central District of the American Lutheran Church cooperatively purchased the 107 acres at a cost of $62,000.
The camp opened in the summer of 1963 with a ministry centered on Bible study, worship, hiking, fishing, and arts and crafts. The original buildings of the former Dude Ranch included a log-sided lodge, an original homestead log cabin and several old forest service cabins that had been built near the camp. Six cabins to house campers were built from 1964-1969 and a shower house was constructed in 1965.
In the late sixties, a backpacking and hiking ministry began. A family campground was also built on the premises and from its early days, Sky Ranch has offered a rustic camping setting deep in the mountains at an elevation of 9200 feet.
In the seventies and eighties, Sky Ranch received national attention with ALC congregations for its backpacking program. In 1983, the first traveling day camp was launched and in 1984 the Environmental Education program began.
Since the late '90s, Sky Ranch has survived its fair share of environmental and economic calamities, including lightning strikes, fires, floods, windstorms, recessions, bear destruction, and COVID. Through all of these challenges, Sky Ranch survived because of the support of many who love and believe in the life-changing impact of this ministry.
Sky Ranch began with those who believed that time away - in the mountains - living in community - was essential to helping people to grow in faith. Since that time, Sky Ranch has been instrumental in the faith formation of thousands of young people.
Organization name
Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp
other names
Sky Ranch
1963
Tax id (EIN)
84-0532335
Category
Religion-Related
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
1600 Forest Service Rd. 145Other
805 South Shields St.Larimer County, CO, US
Phone
970-493-5258
fax
970-493-7960
Other
970-881-2113