John Koch has been named executive director of the diocese’s Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., where he has served on-site in a
John Koch
n interim capacity since September 2011.
The center’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment at its September meeting.
“Our entire board is excited about our choice of John Koch as executive director, and we look forward to working closely with him. John has a bold vision for the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, and we are confident that he has the talent, passion and experience to ensure that the center continues to grow and thrive," said Mary Scott Wagner, President of the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center Board of Directors.
Under Koch’s direction over the past year, the Barbara C. Harris Center completed six adult-friendly cabins to increase capacity for retreat center groups and guests, has established an annual fund and a strategic plan for moving the ministry forward and has been intentional in its outreach to the six other New England Episcopal dioceses.
Koch has more than 20 years of executive experience in hospitality and camp and conference center settings, including as executive director of the Diocese of North Carolina’s former Summit Conference Center and as interim executive director of the Beckwith Camp and Conference Center in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. He attends All Saints Church in Peterborough, N.H.
Acting camp director also named
Sam Gould
Sam Gould, the diocese’s director of youth ministry, has been named acting camp director, effective Oct. 1. He will be in place over the next six to nine months to oversee preparations for the upcoming summer camp season while the hiring process for a permanent camp director gets underway. He will work on-site at the camp for two days every other week, on Thursdays and Fridays, while continuing in his position as director of youth ministry for the diocese.
Gould is filling the vacancy left by the departure of Matthew Lindeman, who has completed his two-year interim camp director position. “We are grateful for Matt’s service, especially during a time of transition between executive directors, and he goes with our best wishes,” the Rev. Canon Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, said. “We are also grateful to Sam for his willingness to step up to this challenge and offer his expertise and passion for the benefit of our camp and the children and youth it serves,” she said.
Named in honor of the Anglican Communion’s first female bishop, the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, which opened in 2003, is a ministry of the Diocese of Massachusetts, offering summer camp programs and year-round conference center facilities for church, education and nonprofit groups.