Grace Adventures History

Swimming Field Games

Grace Youth Camp was established in 1946 as a ministry of the Grace Gospel Fellowship. It consists of two different eras from 1946-1966 and 1966 to the present. Originally, GYC consisted of a traditional summer camp program hosted at various camp locations in Illinois and Michigan. In 1966, through the vision and support of many in the GGF, the present site was acquired and developed.

Over the next 38 years, Grace Youth Camp and Retreat Center grew from primarily a summer camp to a year-round camp and retreat center. The past decade has been a time of tremendous change in the facilities and programs. It was in 1998 that the Board of Directors approved the site plan, laying out the facilities needed to meet the current and future ministry demands. Significant progress has been made in developing and expanding Grace’s facilities, resulting in a comprehensive Leadership Training Center. In October 2004, Grace Youth Camp and Retreat Center changed its name to Grace Adventures to reflect the expanded ministries, particularly its Christian Leadership Training program.

In January 2005, a new ministry center, The Beacon, opened its doors to junior and senior high students participating in weekend retreats focused on leadership development. Since then, community and corporate leaders, school and church groups, university faculty and students, athletic teams, 4-H and Girl Scout groups and others have expanded their leadership skills in the year-round facility.

In January 2009, Grace opened another new building, The Keep. This provided a large group meeting space for up to 350, six small group meeting rooms, a new camp store, and a centralized location for all the office and administrative roles. This continues to open doors for Grace to work with those focused on building leadership and character. Grace will serve almost 10,000 people this year.

Grace continues to move toward being an industry leader in creating change in peoples' lives. Grace will work with children, adults, families, communities, businesses, teams, and organizations this year.