HIGHLAND LAKE, NY — Magnetic. Masterful. Merry. Motivated. Modest. Magnanimous. Mellow.

These are just some of the words that capture the spirit of Dr. Kathleen Ruen, executive director of Koinonia Lutheran Camp in Highland Lake. 

But there’s another description that rises quickly to the surface—“maker of miracles.”

When Ruen stepped into leadership in 2020, Koinonia had been closed for two years due to environmental setbacks, and was down to just $62 in the bank. With a newly reconstituted board of directors, a determined staff and an incredible corps of volunteers, Ruen set out to resurrect the beloved camp. What has emerged under her direction is nothing short of a revitalized, vibrant cornerstone of both the Lutheran and local communities.

Koinonia was founded in 1963 as a center for youth ministry, and Ruen’s connection to the camp runs deep. She first arrived as a young camper, returned as a counselor, and from those early summers formed friendships that have lasted a lifetime. Those memories, and the community that shaped them, became the driving force behind her commitment to preserve, protect and ultimately restore Koinonia.

Reopening the camp required not just strategy, but faith. Ruen recalls a board member urging the team to “look to the light ahead and move toward it—until the next light is revealed.” Step by step, that philosophy guided the camp’s renewal.

Under Ruen’s leadership, a robust capital campaign breathed new life into the facilities, allowing Koinonia to return to its mission of youth outreach. A centerpiece of that revitalization is the thriving summer nature camp, an affordable day program serving more than 150 children each year with outdoor learning, exploration and free nutritious meals. Partnerships with the Town of Highland, the Sullivan County Youth Bureau, the Child Care Council and other organizations help ensure that children can attend regardless of financial circumstances. Local staff are hired each summer, and relationships with youth-focused programs, such as Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers and the Bluepoint Preschool, continue to strengthen the camp’s role in the region.

In 2024, Koinonia was honored with the River Reporter’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Summer Camp, a testament to the remarkable transformation unfolding on its 1,200 acres.

Ruen is quick to credit the dedicated team around her—six staff members, an engaged board of directors, generous donors and countless volunteers. Their collective effort often leads to discoveries that reshape the camp’s future. She shared one such example:

For decades, a key road between two central areas of the property had deteriorated so severely that it was nearly unusable—deeply rutted, flanked by falling trees, and perpetually washed out. Rebuilding seemed inevitable. But then one staff member, using modern mapping tools, uncovered a long-hidden homestead road that offered a better, safer route. In a single weekend, volunteers arrived with their equipment, and together they carved out a new path—stronger, more beautiful and better than the original.

This is Koinonia in action.

The name itself means “community” in Greek, and the camp embraces that meaning wholeheartedly. As its mission states, Koinonia is a place where God transforms and prepares people—through nature, fellowship and service—to love and support one another. Today, the expansive campus welcomes local groups for retreats, meetings, camping, renewal and refreshment.

What has happened at Koinonia since those early days of shutdown buildings and a $62 bank balance truly borders on miraculous. And at the heart of that miracle stands Dr. Kathleen Ruen—a leader whose vision, perseverance and faith continue to light the path forward.

Ruen now divides her time between Highland and Manhattan. She previously served as a professor in the Education Department at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville.