Holy Joes — Not your average work crew
by Ana Watts
Members of the Guild of St. Joseph, sometimes affectionately called 
Holy Joes, are so impressed by the revitalization of Camp Medley they established a group dedicated to support of the camp’s fundraising campaign.
The Guild of Saint Joseph — Camp Medley 2010, was established at the Guild’s annual meeting in October 2009. It provides a skilled workforce able to tackle some major camp projects. “Every hour that a member of the guild spends on a project saves the diocese about $50 an hour,” says Jack Walsworth, interim president of the dedicated guild. “Collectively our members are well trained and skilled. They have years of experience in carpentry, painting, wallboard, masonry and finishing. They have mechanical and electrical expertise, they are professional engineers and project managers.”
The guild estimates the cost to hire the skilled trades people necessary to undertake some of the camp projects would average about $50 per hour. So a project that takes a guild team 200 hours to complete saves the camp about $10,000 — money that can be used in support of the mission and ministry of Camp Medley.
At the beginning of 2010 the guild requested a list of priority projects from the Synod Office and from the Camp Medley Director. After some review, the guild decided to accept the project to repaint the exterior walls of all five camper cabins. It’s a big job. Each cabin is about 5,000 square feet. They painted one in May and another in September. The work took a total of 240 worker-hours and saved the camp about $12,000. Two more cabins are scheduled to be painted during the spring of 2011 and, if all goes according to plan, the fifth and final cabin will be painted either in the fall of 2011 or the spring of 2012. Once all five cabins are painted, it is estimated that the Guild of Saint Joseph will have donated in-kind support of about $30,000. The Diocese of Fredericton pays only for materials and supplies. In addition to the labour, the Guild of Saint Joseph provides everything else — from scaffolding and long paint-poles to a barbecue and terrific fellowship.
During September’s painting there was some unexpected entertainment during a lunch break. Harold Rice reported it to Jack and the rest of the guild in an e-mail, complete with photo.
“We had a very good day for painting and the banter was enjoyable as usual, but we had a surreal moment during the session,” says Harold. “During our lunch break we were sitting in two groups about six or eight feet apart. Some sheep grazing nearby decided to walk between us, and part way through they started running and jumping. After they passed through us they stopped and resumed their browsing again. Totally surprising and quite a display. When I saw the sheep it reminded me of what Camp Medley is all about — “feed my sheep.”
Clearly Guild of St. Joseph work crews are of the insightful variety.
“I can not say enough about the men of this diocese who belong to the Guild of Saint Joseph,” says Jack. “They are caring and sharing Christians who dedicate their time and skills willingly and faithfully in tangible ways. They transform work energy into mission and ministry. The guild is also a ministry for the men of the diocese: it provides a way for men to support each other and to use their time, talents and professional skills to maintain the fabric of their parishes, to support other church organizations — ACW, Mothers’ Union, Sunday school, health ministry, vestry / Bishop and Chapter, and now, collectively to support the fabric of the diocese and the ministry of Camp Medley. We do all that we do in His service."
