The Upper Missouri Ministries, a Lutheran Bible camp on 203 acres located on the shores of the Springbrook Dam near Epping sees its 63rd year of continuous summer camps this year.

The UMM web site states, “The camp was built in the early 1940's and inspired by dreamers Pastor Nelson and Pastor Norman as well as the work of many many volunteers. By 1945 congregations provided a sizeable sum to build the camp.”

The camp is owned by 42 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) and draws campers from as far as Glasgow, Mont., to north of Crosby, the Stanley area and Watford City.

“We have about seven to eight counties that we draw kids from,” said Nick Johnson, who has served as camp director for the past five years.

He reported that last year, 525 campers attended the camp. From two weeks of camp in the beginning, the facility offers 10 weeks of camp during the summer. That many people using the facilities for 62 years means it is time to improve and upgrade.

“The last major improvements were in 1981 when the retreat center, which is a year-round structure, was built,” Johnson said.

The camp is kicking off a capital campaign this year, which is hoped to bring in enough funds to update the facilities well enough to last another 60 years, he said.

“This campaign is going to focus on replacing cabins and adding on to the retreat center,” he said.

To do that, a goal of $2.5 million has been set.

The improvements and additions are focusing on three major areas of need-- around one year-round to meet the needs of the people of the area; the other two are safety and accessibility.

“Those were three important factors we considered as we developed our plans for this project,” Johnson said.

There are two areas for new cabins �“ with the first being built as the “south village,” just north of the retreat center.

The first building, which is being built now, is made possible in large part to the donation of time and materials from the Mountrail Williams Electric Cooperative.

“We raised some funds as well to get the first cabin going,” Johnson said.

The new cabins will be winterized structures in a similar fashion to the retreat center.

“The trouble was, we met the lifespan of the current cabins, which can’t be insulated without redoing the entire structure and there was the trouble with the restrooms,” which were located a distance away from the cabins, posing a safety concern, he said.

Each of the new cabins will have bathroom and shower facilities, which are shared. They are two-level structures, with the lower level as open space to serve as a shelter in case of inclement summer weather and as a recreation area for the winter.

The upper level features two rooms, each housing 10 people.

“The goal is to build five buildings like this with funds from this capital campaign,” Johnson said. That number of new buildings replaces the housing capacity of the current cabins, of which six or seven will remain to be used as people wish.

The retreat center addition provides “more adult-friendly accommodations with five more rooms that will have a couple of beds and private bath and shower facilities,” he said.

Currently, the center has six rooms with four beds each and bath and shower facilities that are shared.

Other improvements already made include remodeling of the lodge and the addition of a pathway to the chapel, which adds accessibility.

“The process has already begun,” Johnson said, “but to do more, we are engaging the capital campaign.”

For more information or to make a donation, call the camp at 701-859-4181, or to go the camp web site at www.campumm.org.