The Presbytery of Dakota

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In the 1980s an organization existed called the Dakota Presbytery Youth Council. At one of its last camp experiences, more than 250 youth were in attendance. The presbytery realizes that today there is a large youth population on those Indian reservations where churches are located, and that there is a great challenge to reach out to these young people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

In June 2004 a camp for the youth of the Presbytery of Dakota was held at Camp Rimrock in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This was a significant beginning for the revival of the Dakota Presbytery Youth Mission Meeting because sixty-five young people attended and the counselors had expected only thirty. Word is spreading throughout the presbytery about the wonderful experiences the young people had at camp. The Rev. Ron McKinney of Flandreau First Presbyterian Church in South Dakota is the chairperson of the presbytery’s Christian Education Committee. This camp is a stepping-stone for establishing a Christian education program for churches. The churches paid most of the costs for the campers, but the committee still had to seek funds elsewhere.

“Train children in the right way, and when they are old, they will not stray” (Prov. 22:6). The Presbytery of Dakota asks for prayers for its Christian endeavor among its churches and youth, and for its reorganization. The presbytery is home to 21 churches with 914 members.