Couple dreams big to create Catholic camp for the archdiocese

Wooded areas and open spaces, rolling hills, hiking trails, a lake, beautiful views – and, most of all, quiet.

Those were some of the things Dan and Terri Leuck envisioned as a big dream began to take shape in their minds several years ago.

That dream – building a Catholic camp for the Archdiocese of Omaha – is set to become reality beginning this summer when Holy Family Ranch breaks ground near Scribner.

“This will be a Catholic camp for youth and families built on relationship, beauty and faith … providing a place for people to encounter Jesus,” Terri Leuck said. It will be available for numerous Catholic ministries, parishes and organizations in the archdiocese to hold a variety of faith-building events.

The Leucks, members of St. Peter Parish in Omaha, have long been concerned about the numbers of Catholics, especially young people, who have fallen away from the Church.

But having volunteered with a Catholic summer camp for boys, Camp Virtus et Veritas (Latin for ‘virtue and truth’), they’ve also seen firsthand the power of such events in helping participants, including their own sons, get in touch with their faith, encounter Jesus and return home on fire for the Lord.

The summer camp, now in its 10th year, has been held at a camp near McCool Junction in the Diocese of Lincoln.

“I was just drawn to what was going on there,” Dan Leuck said, “and I’d be wondering, ‘Why are we renting a camp in a different diocese two hours from Omaha? Why don’t we have something in our own diocese centered around our faith for our youth and our families?’”

THE SEARCH BEGINS

In 2022, with the help of friend and Omaha attorney Alex Engelkamp, they formed a 501(c)(3) organization with a seven-member board of directors and Engelkamp as executive director and board chairman to spearhead the project. A business plan was developed, and they began searching for a parcel of land, eventually locating a suitable 150-acre site.

Finding a scenic, quiet location conducive to contemplation, away from highways and rail lines, feedlots or confinements, high voltage power lines, nearby neighbors and the Elkhorn River (because of airboat traffic), was a key goal. The selected site meets those criteria, Dan Leuck said.

Terri and Dan Leuck, left, and Alex Engelkamp, discuss the layout for Holy Family Ranch, planned for construction beginning this summer near Scribner. MIKE MAY

“To be more open to how God wants to communicate to you, you need the quiet – the quietness in your heart, mind and environment,” Terri Leuck said.

“All of your senses are heightened as you’re immersed in the natural beauty God created for us. This beauty naturally lifts our hearts and minds to Him.”

To finance the $900,000 land purchase, the group has launched its “Path to 150,” a campaign seeking sponsorships for each acre at a cost of $6,000 each. The group already has 42 sponsors, Dan Leuck said, including Archbishop George J. Lucas, who gave his blessing for the project and became the first person to sponsor an acre.

In a letter to the Leucks, the archbishop wrote: “Your vision for the Holy Family Ranch is in harmony with the pastoral vision of the Archdiocese of Omaha. The activities and programs that you envision for the ranch promise to support the evangelization efforts of our parishes, as well as the encouragement for priestly and religious vocations among young people that are essential to Catholic life in our archdiocese and beyond.”

FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES

One young person excited about the camp experience becoming available closer to home is Jack Dickinson, 16, an 11th-grade homeschooled student and member of St. Peter Parish in Omaha.

Having attended Camp Virtus et Veritas as an eighth-grader and as a camp counselor the past two summers, he said his camp experiences have been formative for his faith life.

“It’s exactly what I needed,” Dickinson said. “Not only hearing the priests and adult volunteers sharing their stories and their vocations but also being surrounded by the great high school guys,” who served as counselors. “They were great mentors.

“One of the most prominent messages was friendship with God – pointing out that He is always there and reaching out to us, and all we have to do is let Him into our lives,” he said.

Dickinson said he also enjoyed experiencing God in nature during the camps.

Like many campers, he said the experience opened his eyes to the possibility of a priestly vocation. “If it were the case that God is calling me, I’m very open to answering that call,” he said.

A ‘CONVERSION FACTORY’

“I love what camps can do when paired with a strong Catholic environment,” said Engelkamp, a member of St. Philip Neri/Blessed Sacrament Parish in Omaha.

“They can be a conversion factory where people go to fall in love with Jesus, and they come back to their communities and light the world on fire in their area … and are changed forever,” he said. “Every vocation story starts with a conversion story.”

The relationships formed help campers build a support system of other young people, so important for keeping the flame of faith alive, Terri Leuck said.

“Peer pressure is real,” she said, “and to be around a bunch of people that they connect with who love Jesus, love the Catholic Church, they see it’s OK, and afterwards they stay in touch.”

A CLEAR NEED

Planning for Holy Family Ranch has been a careful, thorough process, Engelkamp said.

“We’ve talked to over 50 ministries and organizations in the archdiocese, and it was very clear that there is a facilities problem,” he said. “We have all these incredible disciples who want to make a difference but spend so much time trying to figure out where to have their events. Once they find something, it’s either hours away or it’s not a Catholic facility.”

“We want to serve the entire archdiocese and as many groups as we can,” Engelkamp said, by making the camp available for rent for a variety of events, including the Camp Virtus et Veritas summer camps, youth rallies, retreats and other faith formation events, as well as individual family vacations or family reunions.

To develop ideas and plans for the camp, the Leucks visited several religious camps and retreat centers in the United States, including Prairie Star Ranch in Williamsburg, Kansas; Camp Damascus in Centerburg, Ohio; Catholic Familyland in Bloomingdale, Ohio; and Broom Tree Retreat Center near Yankton, South Dakota.

From the ideas they gathered, plans were drawn up for Holy Family Ranch, to include cabins, RV and tent camping sites, dining halls, shower facilities, an activity center, playground area, open-air shelter, chapel, prayer garden, office and more.

The camp will consist of a youth area and a family area, with construction of the family area to begin this summer with a goal of completion by June 2026. The timetable for completion of the youth portion is yet to be determined, but until then, the family area will also be able to host youth events.

The first phase is estimated to cost $25 million and will be supported by a capital campaign, Engelkamp said. Cost estimates are not yet available for the second phase of construction.

SEEKING BROAD SUPPORT

Terri Leuck said the group is planning to give presentations about the project at every parish by June 1, as well as for other Catholic organizations and ministries across the archdiocese, and is hoping to cultivate broad support for the project.

“We want the whole Catholic community to get involved in whatever capacity they can,” she said. “This is not our camp; it’s God’s and it’s for the people of the Archdiocese of Omaha. It’s important that they take ownership of it.”

“We live in a post-Christian world,” she said, “and if you don’t have consistent, engaging events and activities to keep the youth and adults engaged in their faith, it can fall by the wayside. So, we want to provide a place for both youth and family to encounter Jesus in a personal way.”

For more information about Holy Family Ranch, or to donate to the project, people can visit holyfamilyranch.org, or email Engelkamp at aengelkamp@holyfamilyranch.org.

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