History of Whitewater Bible Camp
Whitewater Bible Camp has been a Christ-centered youth ministry affiliated with the Assembly churches, as well as other churches, around the Cincinnati area since 1964. The Assembly churches have also been known as the Plymouth Brethren and their history dates back to England in the early 1800’s.
Since the beginning, Whitewater Bible Camp has been a one week camp that takes place each summer in July. Because of this we have never owned our own facility. Over the years we have rented various camps around the Cincinnati region. The first Whitewater Bible Camp was held at The Higher Grounds Camp facility which is located in West Harrison, Indiana. Whitewater wanted its own identity and drew its name from the fact that the Whitewater River flowed nearby.
Besides the facility at Higher Grounds, Whitewater Bible Camp has also held camp at Kings Domain, Kirkwood Camp and Conference Center, and most recently, at Camp Chautauqua in Franklin, Ohio. A new chapter begins Whitewater Bible Camp history in 2025. We are excited to now be at Wilderness Ridge Retreat Center in Camden, OH.
Although Whitewater Bible Camp is currently considered a “junior camp” we have previously had junior high and high school aged campers, as well. Currently, we draw 8-12 year old campers between Columbus, Ohio and Northern Kentucky and west into Indiana. For 2025, we will be extending our age group to be ages 8-14 years of age. We have averaged between 80-110 campers in the past for our 6 day overnight program. We have not switched to a 4-day overnight program.
For over 40 years, Whitewater Bible Camp has seen the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father and has been a place where the seeds of the Gospel have been planted and in some case, we have enjoyed the harvest as we see young children accepting the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.