Pilgrim Center

The following is a history of the founding of the Green Lake Bible Conference by Rev. Elmer G. Hamley in his booklet Monapacataca, published in 1933.

“In 1894, I was camping over Sunday in a cottage on the South Shore of the Lake. Sunday morning, I held a service using the front porch for the pulpit and the front yard for the audience. Inviting neighbors from nearby cottages. After the service, a number of us talked over the possibly of summer religious Meetings on the Lake Shore.”

And the idea of the Pilgrim center was started. Reverend Hamley spent his childhood tramping the shore studying Indian Mounds, Indian Relics and Indian Worship of the area, and it was his dream to create a Chistian Summer feature on the shore. In 1901 Rev, Hamley attended a Bible Conference at Poynette. At the close of the conference, he was disappointed to hear that the conference was to be discontinued. When he returned home to Ripon, he  met with Mrs. L. A. Sutherland and discussed the possibility of a bible conference on the shore of Green Lake.

 As a result, they rented the cottage of Mrs. Churchyard and held a two-week Bible Conference in June,1902. In 1903 they secured grounds on the Spring Grove property and set up a large auditorium tent. Cottages were rented for those that were staying for the season.

By 1905 the attendance had grown to over 100 people, and all the vacant lots were filled with cottages. They were no longer able to secure grounds or cottages to continue their work. Mrs. L. A. Sutherland had found a piece of property in the area. After walking the grounds Mrs. Sutherland stopped under large black oak tree and declared,” The time had come to ask in prayer of faith this place for our work and the Lord would provide a way for us to have it.”   Mrs. Sutherland directed Rev. Hamley to drive to Ripon and negotiate with Mr. Ludke, the owner of the property. A price of one thousand dollars was agreed upon for two acres of land and 200 feet of frontage.

In 1912 the property that was known as “Karls Ruhe” was purchased and the house on the property was remodeled into what was known as the Sunset Cottage and the auditorium was constructed nearby. By the summer of 1932 over one thousand young people were attending various meetings at the camp.

On September 9, 2021, UCCI announced that the Outdoor Ministry site in Green Lake, Wisconsin, is being renamed. The new name is Daycholah Center. Daycholah is the original Ho-Chunk name for Green Lake.

Daycholah Center now rests on 20+ acres on the southeast shore of Green. The primary feature is 850+ feet of shoreline with an accessible dock. The grounds also include hiking trails, a labyrinth, a playground, and plenty of open space for games and other fun.

UCCI History
United Church Camps, Inc. (UCCI) is an independent non-profit corporation providing outdoor ministry for all people. UCCI operates three sites in Wisconsin: Moon Beach, Daycholah Center, and Cedar Valley.
Wisconsin’s church camping history extends back more than 120 years. UCCI has enjoyed a long and fruitful ministerial partnership with the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ (WCUCC) since 1957. In 1967, the Conference founded UCCI to manage the property, other assets, and camping programs on behalf of the member churches of the WCUCC.

UCCI Daycholah Center website.