About Wood Lake Camp & Retreat Center
Mission of Wood Lake
The mission of Wood Lake Camp & Retreat Center is to see lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ, through intentional relationships, creative fun, and staff who use the Word of God to encourage courageous living.
Our Photo Library
Wood Lake is excited to make our camp photos available to our guests. These photos can be downloaded at no cost, or if you'd like to support our efforts to make these photos available, you can purchase them through our online gallery.
History of Wood Lake
Wood Lake Baptist Camp was begun in 1933 by Phillip Carlson as a denominational retreat center and “Bible School and Young People’s Commission”. In 1937, they acquired the 235 acres we have today and held their first camp on site in August of 1938.
For 80 years Wood Lake experienced rich ministry to youth and families, but as operating camps became more difficult, the board closed its doors in February 2018 (their last event was a men’s retreat in January 2018).
In 2019, Wood Lake was purchased by a couple in the city who had a heart to restore it to Christian camping. They restored much of the property before ultimately passing ownership over to Forest Springs Ministries in July of 2021.
FOREST SPRINGS MINISTRIES
Wood Lake Camp & Retreat Center in western Wisconsin 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 below.
Wood Lake Statement of Faith
Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God provides a way to be rescued from sin and death. He invites us into a restored relationship with Him as sons and daughters. Forgiveness of sin and new life are available for all who trust in Him. Christ invites us to spend eternity with Him in glory.
1 We believe God’s ultimate goal in the world (his glory) and our deepest desire (to be happy) are one and the same, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Not only is God the supreme source of satisfaction for the human soul, but God himself is glorified by our being satisfied in him. Therefore, our pursuit of joy in him is essential.
The Christian life should be the pursuit of maximum joy in God — joy both in quality and quantity. Fullness of joy and joy forevermore (Psalm 16:11) are found only in him. We wholeheartedly believe that all scripture and our beliefs below ultimately lead to one's joy and satisfaction.
1 https://www.desiringgod.org/topics/christian-hedonism#
Our Final Authority
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).
The Triune God
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).
Jesus Christ
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).
Sinfulness of Man
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).
Jesus Christ as Sacrifice
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).
Jesus Christ as Resurrected Lord
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).
The Return of Jesus Christ
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).
The Salvation of the Children of God
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 Forest Springs.
Gender
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). Transgenderism promotes a new identity and body but misses the role of sin and Christ. Jesus addresses our need to be born again - a spiritual new body (John 3:5-7). Paul addresses the transition needed of becoming a new creation in Christ, and rejecting the old self (2 Corinthians 5:17). We believe the problem of gender identity and gender dysphoria are rooted in being trapped in bondage by our sin nature not our gender. We believe an identity in Christ provides the freedom our trapped bodies cry out for (Romans 6:6). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of God’s unique plan and design for that person and misplaces their deeper need for Christ.
Marriage and Sexuality
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, cohabitation, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18-20; I Cor. 6:9-10). Sexual immorality exchanges the truth about God for a lie. It switches our worship and service away from God the Creator and onto his creation (Rom. 1:24-27).
The Sanctity of Human Life
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).
The Eternal Souls of All Men
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).
Final Authority for Matters of Belief and Conduct
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 Forest Springs Camp and Conference Center’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Board of Directors is Forest Springs’ final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.
Subscription
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of each Forest Springs Ministries site as a community of like-minded believers and to provide a biblical model to the Forest Springs staff and community, it is imperative that all persons employed by each ministry site agree to and abide by this Statement of Faith
('76, revised '89, ’12, ’16, ’21, and 6/1/24)
