Ron Whitehead has served in four North American Division unions as a local pastor, conference youth, and church ministries director. He has also served the NAD as associate youth director and directed five International Pathfinder Camporees. At Andrews University, Ron has served as assistant to the president for Spiritual Life and currently serves the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary as assistant professor for Youth Ministry and executive director for the Center for Youth Evangelism. Since 1996, Ron has been honored to serve the Lake Union Conference as youth director.
Some of Ron’s most recent ministry projects include an International Camporee for over 50,000 participants and the development of COR (Church of Refuge) congregations that support senior youth/young adults with their walk with Christ and their local church.
Ron is married to an amazing woman, the former Betty Lou Becker. Together they have three young adult children, Stacy, Heidi, and Ryan. Ron’s hobbies include but are not limited to: high-tech toys, classic cars, boats, and large events like Passion Plays.
The International Pathfinder Camporee is held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, every five years. Pathfinders from over 100 countries come to play, share, learn, and worship together. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime–sure to strengthen attendees’ relationships with God.
Petr Cincala, on behalf of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership: How did God call you to work in youth ministry?
Ron Whitehead: I don’t think I ever “started” youth ministry; it’s always been a part of my personal and professional lifestyle. Ever since I was a young person, I loved youth ministry. As I got older and started pastoring, I continued to be involved in youth ministry. It was my number one form of evangelism. When I did children and youth programming at the local church, I had some amazing results: baptisms, bringing families back to the local church that weren’t active, etc. We were able to make church relevant again to a lot of young people.
JACL: When did you realize God had given you unique leadership skills?
RW: God has given me unique leadership skills in the context of building organization and structure–specifically in formulating ways that involve other people. At my first church in Waynesville, North Carolina, I partnered with the local Channel 4 news for a health fair. During that event, I found that I was gifted in the area of building teams around an idea and getting a large group of people to work together for a common goal. I found the same methods worked well with my elders and their responsibilities
JACL: And this led your church to grow?
RW: Yes. My background was in business, which I studied in college. My dad was a businessman, and he influenced me as I grew up. In college, I took a lot of business courses, but late in my undergraduate career, I switched to religion. My business experience and spiritual life blended for me. The resulting leadership style ultimately led to church growth.
JACL: Now, you are known for heading up the Oshkosh Pathfinder Camporee–an event that was once about to go extinct, if you will, but now it is booming with an attendance of 55,000+ participants from around the world. How is it possible to organize such an event, especially considering it is built upon a base of volunteers?
RW: I first give credit to the Holy Spirit because I believe He uses different people for different callings, different responsibilities. Years ago, the Camporees were going away. But God put it on my heart; He’d wake me up at night, telling me, “We need to gather our Pathfinders together, support them, and celebrate them.” In 1994, we started with 12,000 attendees; then it went to 22,000 in 2004, 32,000, 42,000, and now 55,000+ in 2019. It is all God doing something extraordinary.
However, I also believe people want a good, quality experience. If you offer something spiritually impactful, they will respond.
JACL: How do business practices help in making the Camporee successful?
RW: I believe there are three or four business principles that make Oshkosh so successful. One is that in the Adventist culture, we never really charge what things cost. We always think if we charge less, more people will come. But then we offer less experience–whether it’s a mission trip or a summer camp, etc. It’s better to charge what things actually cost and then give more than expected. That’s how the secular world works; why do we think the ministry context can’t work in the same way?
I believe this event should be world-class because we represent God. Of any significant event on the planet, ours should be the most seamless, the easiest to understand.
JACL: That’s great. What’s another principle?
RW: In many churches, no one sets a ceiling of who can come. There’s always “more room” at a camp meeting, summer camp, or at a youth rally. But for the Camporee, we set a ceiling because we want to provide a quality experience. Specifically, for this Camporee, we wanted 55,000 people to have the most amazing Camporee experience on the planet.
I believe that God has blessed this endeavor, too. That’s why we had over 100 countries present, and our tickets were sold out nine months before the Camporee! Eight to ten thousand more people were interested in coming. But we were focused on catering to the early adapters–those who really “got it”–instead of “hanger-oners,” people who come to a Camporee who aren’t Pathfinders.
Another business principle that we applied to the Camporee is that we made this event nonrefundable. It’s just like if you buy a concert ticket in the real world or buy a ticket to a sporting event. You can’t say, “Oh, I can’t come now, so give me my money back;” it doesn’t work that way.
JACL: Of course not. What’s the last principle?
RW: We committed ourselves to making the best possible event at a specific price point. It cost $32.50 a day for six days to attend the Pathfinder Camporee. We have had graduate students study this event; they have found that no other large event on the planet includes all the camping, daytime activities, evening programming, at the quality we have for that price. This is the least expensive large event on the planet–no matter what the age! And we’re proud of that. We want the best possible experience for each Pathfinder club.
JACL: Wow, thank you for sharing those principles. Now, are there any Christian leadership principles that you consider crucial for your ministry?
RW: First and foremost, for me, it is to be aligned with Christ in both personal life and professional life. I take to prayer everything I do in my work–especially in the context of the Camporee. I ask, “God, is this the best way forward?” I study and research the Scriptures and beyond, asking God to influence my reading and what I’m watching so that the Camporee can be fresh, current, and relevant to this generation. That’s one example.
JACL: Let’s talk about the goal of the Pathfinder Camporee. How would you describe this in your own words?
RW: The mission statement for our Camporee states that this is event is a “rite of passage” moment for young people and adults to gather together. It should remind them of the powerful influence and importance of club ministry at the local church level. It’s all about the local church. Our Camporee celebrates everything that happens every week at the local church level. Our job is to point tens of thousands of people to the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives.
JACL: So, the goal is that when Pathfinders go back home, they are encouraged, filled with excitement, and motivated at the local level?
RW: Exactly! They are more motivated, more excited about Christ. They see their church as more relevant than ever before. They see their leaders in a different light–specifically how sacrificial they’ve been to invest in the lives of young people. This event gets them enthused about Pathfinder ministry all over the world.
JACL: When it comes to the concept of “making disciples,” can you give examples of how the Camporee contributes to discipling?
RW: There are several ways discipleship is offered. There is formal training on youth ministry, club ministry, and discipleship. We also have the Master Guide service. Another way of discipling is the Pathfinder honors we teach–different skills in so many different areas–whether related to hobbies, helping, or mission. There were also other discipleship opportunities, for example, the Team Leadership Training program. Young people were given tips and tricks on how to lead and influence others.
There is a great emphasis on various forms of evangelism. For example, 6,000 young people went out to do outreach/community service in the community. They were handing out literature, praying with people, discipling them, encouraging them to think about Jesus as their best friend. We had people from the local community come to Christ, be baptized at the Camporee, and are talking about joining a local church.
JACL: Even people from the local community are being impacted?
RW: Oh, yes.
JACL: That’s amazing.
RW: Yes! God is good.
JACL: How do you generate support for such an event?
RW: There’s a phrase about raising money: Money follows vision. You don’t go to someone and say, “I need $100,000, and by the way, I haven’t decided yet how I am going to spend it.” No! You go to them and say, “Here’s a vision to disciple and impact this generation. And we’re thinking about these approaches . . .” People respond with their cash or their influence.
All of the volunteers at Oshkosh bought a ticket to come, whether to be a medical physician for that week, help in security, cook food, or speak for the evening meetings. Everyone coming to Oshkosh bought a ticket. They did this because it was worth it!
JACL: This Camporee utilized the first virtual reality Bible game showing David and Goliath in the true Biblical geographical setting, using existing VR and gaming technology. Why is this important?
RW: This was a very innovative and very creative method to connect with the young generation. The makers of this game understood that the new generation has to be mentored, discipled, trained, and inspired in a fresh approach. This interactive experience was epic; there were long lines of kids (and adults!) who wanted to experience the whole story of the Bible in that interactive way.
Of course, we also had the largest scarf in the world (the Boy Scouts had it before us) and set the Guinness Book of World Records record for the largest human cross on the planet.1
JACL: Creativity and discipleship are constant issues in a community concerned with regarding the preservation of truth. How do you balance these two aspects: honoring the past and implementing creativity and innovation for reaching the current generation?
RW: We need to celebrate, honor, and respect the past because we’re building the present and the future on the shoulders of the past. But to live only in the past is a mistake. It’s like driving down the road in your car. If you look in your rearview mirror and start driving your car by watching what’s behind you, you’re going to crash and burn. You need to glance at the past, not to live in the past. We have to live looking forward. I believe that’s a biblical mandate; in Scripture, we see that Christ was always pointing people forward–even beyond our earthly lives. I think that’s what the Camporee tried to accomplish.
JACL: I’m sure you face criticism and misunderstanding. How do you handle that
RW: Anything you do in ministry, including orchestrating and implementing any large event, will always have some naysayers. Some people go through life to criticize someone else, always viewing the glass as half empty. These are people we need to love and care for, but we can’t live our lives based on their opinions. I call them the 1%.
However, if we have 20% or 30% of people saying something is out of bounds, we need to listen differently. If there’s a significant percentage that is constructively critical, we need to respond to that and possibly make some changes.
It is important to ask people to take surveys and provide their input. I believe that we don’t ask for feedback enough. When I travel on an airplane or go to a hotel, I am asked all the time, “What did you think?” or “What can we do better?” Why don’t we do that in our churches? Why don’t we ask people, “How’d we do? What can we do better?” We shouldn’t be afraid of feedback and evaluation.
JACL: So, by striving for excellence, you are continually improving.
RW: To tell you the truth, excellence drives me; I can’t do things halfway. Why would we ever try to do ministry halfway? We should push each other and encourage each other. In our church culture, we don’t celebrate each other enough. When someone does something successfully, instead of talking about them in jealousy or envy–which are not of the Spirit, according to the Bible–we should celebrate. “Wow, they’re doing a great job at that church. I love what they’re doing! How can I learn from them? How can I use that idea?”
JACL: I agree! Thank you for sharing. In regards to the Pathfinder Camporee, I hear you saying that it is a result of not getting discouraged and striving positively always to improve.
RW: Yes. As I said, our Savior, Jesus Christ drives me to strive for excellence. Also, I am humbled to work alongside of amazing club directors at the local level. Every single week they invest in the lives of young people. They work hard for a couple of years to attend the Camporee and engage in this amazing event. I am driven and inspired to excellence by the local club leaders and their staff, as well as local pastors. They are incredibly dedicated to young people.
Spiritual warfare is real; the Great Controversy between good and evil is real. Instead of just laying down our weapons, and acting like the secular world has won and we’ll never be able to compete with them, I think we can compete with them and be more effective than we give ourselves credit for. If we push ourselves to excellence, push ourselves to celebrate each other, we are stronger together than we are separate.
JACL: Do you have any final thoughts for our Christian leaders?
RW: Find your passion in ministry, whether you’re a layperson or a paid professional. You will know you’ve found your passion when you can’t turn your mind off about a topic–something that occupies your time and your creativity. It might be a certain age group, a certain event or activity, or a resource you want to build.
Find your passion, but take counsel from people who possess wisdom, those whose opinion you value, to make sure that your passion is something you can accomplish. Be sure your passion matches your gifts. If others validate that you have the calling and spiritual gifts to accomplish that passion . . . when those two line up with your personal connection with God, the sky is the limit. I believe there are big things yet to be accomplished by workers of all ages.
1At the time of publication, the International Pathfinder Camporee still holds this record: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-human-cross/
Petr Cincala, Ph.D., is director of the Institute of Church Ministry, Andrews University, assistant professor of World Mission, the director of NCD America (Natural Church Development), and the managing editor of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership.