Citing increasing regulatory requirements and a decline in financial support, officials of Marietta Baptist Camp and Conference Center have voted to sell the 56-year-old facility.

The camp is jointly owned by Greenville and Three Rivers Baptist associations and is overseen by a board of trustees made up of representatives from both associations.

Officials hope the camp will continue to operate as a Christian ministry, said Katrina Campbell, trustee chairwoman for Camp Marietta and a member of His Vineyard church in Greer.

Campbell said the camp has welcomed more than 10,000 campers over five decades and has seen “countless numbers of people come to know Christ and surrender to ministry callings.”

[See photos and videos from Camp Marietta.]

“This has not been an easy decision,” she said. “It is one that I know I am personally held accountable to God for making, and I feel that He has guided me in leading this trustee board.

“I feel we are following God’s will and are being the best stewards of the camp we were entrusted with. The trustees have bathed this in prayer, and we are praying that God will send the right new owners for this camp.”

Campbell said Camp Marietta “thrived” and reached peak usage in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, the camp began to see a decline in support and participation from the ownership churches. Camp operations experienced a “financial crisis point,” followed by a cycle of peaks and crises that have continued to the present, she said.

The most recent setback occurred in the spring of 2013, when contaminated water infiltrated the camp’s well. Three attempts to drill a new well failed. Today, the camp continues to operate under the guidance of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

In October 2015, trustees offered a motion to suspend operations at Marietta and to look for a new owner, preferably one that would place a priority on “maintaining the camp as a Christian ministry.” The motion was endorsed by the executive committees of both associations.

“The decision to cease operations was not a knee-jerk reaction,” said Campbell, “but a decision that was based upon years of a slow and gradual decline of support.”

Campbell noted that the regulatory requirements for operating a camp today are of a “different magnitude” than those in place in 1959 when Camp Marietta was founded. “With our organizational structure, it is extremely hard to meet the guidelines and regulations that are required,” she said. Campbell added that trustees believe Camp Marietta is still a “viable ministry.”

Proposals from parties interested in purchasing the camp and surrounding acreage are being received through Jan. 13. All proposals should be mailed or hand-delivered in a sealed envelope to the offices of Greenville Baptist Association (220 Howe St. #A, Greenville, S.C., 29601; 864-242-4330) or Three Rivers Baptist Association (4305 Locust Hill Road, Taylors, S.C., 29687; 864-834-9635) by noon on Jan. 13. Campbell said proposals must include a business and financial plan, which will be submitted to DHEC for approval.

Questions about the proposal process should be directed to Katrina Campbell at katrc41@bellsouth.net, or to the Greenville or Three Rivers association offices.