Cedar Bay exists to serve Jesus Christ by stewarding a sanctuary where people can come away, meet God, and be renewed by His Spirit and His Word.
Cedar Bay is the new name for the historic camp previously known as Cedar Campus which started its ministry in 1952. Cedar Bay’s property is covered in the handiwork of God’s creation.
Tucked away in Cedarville, Michigan on the north shore of Lake Huron, Cedar Bay stewards 512 acres of beautiful woodlands and 6 miles of waterfront property. In the past, thousands of families, young adults, and youth have come to this spot on the north shore of Lake Huron to soak up the wonders of creation and receive counsel from God’s Word.
Cedar Bay exists to serve Jesus Christ by stewarding a sanctuary where people can come away, meet God, and be renewed by His Spirit and His Word.
Cedar Bay strives to model Christ-like love and service with intentionality. We use hospitality, freedom from distraction, purposeful programming, and Biblical teaching to equip staff and guests for a Spirit-filled life.
The Spirit of Cedar is an environment, set apart to provide silence and solitude, for “Meeting God” in a more intimate way (Matt. 11:28-30).
The Heart of Cedar is the divine disclosure of spiritual wisdom and understanding of God's will through Biblical teaching, worship, and experiencing creation (Col. 1:9; 2 Cor. 3:18).
The Character of Cedar is experiencing the Love of God through deepening relationships and the care from a servant-hearted staff (John 13:35).
Birthed from our core values, we want Cedar to be a place that fosters an atmosphere of biblical learning and spiritual growth. We desire to provide a place of rest and renewal so that all who come to Cedar may be spiritually refreshed in the Peace of Christ.
We seek to develop an atmosphere that stirs the soul to worship, prepares our guests and staff to influence their families, friends, co-workers, and communities for Christ, and provides opportunities to engage in God’s creation in a delightful, profound, and powerful way.
God designed people for relationships. We want to see families, friendships, the Church, and the local community flourishing. Our family camps, adult retreats, and student retreats are opportunities to come away to a place where God is first, and His creation boasts of that.
We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and the 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 conduct (Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2–3; 18:28; 26:22–23; 28:23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13; 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:18–19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1–3; Rev. 1:4–6).
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man(Luke 1:30–35; John 1:18; 3:16; Heb. 4:15). Luke 2:40; John 1:1–2; Phil. 2:5–8).
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 are accountable as sinners in thought, word, and deed (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).
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 ground of His shed blood (John 1:29; Rom. 3:25–26; 2 Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5–14; 1 Pet. 3:18).
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. (John 20:20; Phil. 3:20).
We believe in "that blessed hope", the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:51–52; 1 Thess. 4:13–18; Titus 2:11–14).
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 (John 1:12). 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 (John 14:16–17; 16:7–15).
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Rom. 10:9-10; I Cor. 6:9-11).
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Cedar Bay.
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Gen. 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of God’s choice of gender for that person.
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated by Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (I Cor. 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, cohabitation, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18-20; I Cor. 6:9-10).
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life (Psalm 139).
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 16:19–26; 23:42; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; Jude 6–7; Rev. 20:11–15).
The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of the Cedar Bay Camp and Retreat Center’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Board of Directors is Cedar Bay's final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Cedar Bay Camp and Retreat Center as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical model to the Cedar Bay staff and community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Cedar Bay agree to and abide by this Statement of Faith.
('76, revised '89, ’12, ’16 and ‘21)
Cedar Bay Camp & Retreat Center in Michigan is under the direction of the Forest Springs Ministries Board of Directors.
Forest Springs Ministries is a family of Christian camping and retreat facilities in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You can learn more about the individual facilities as well as the overall mission of Forest Springs here.
