Who We Are
Let us tell you about Odosagih Bible Conference. We are a non-denominational ministry located on the southwest shore of beautiful Lime Lake in Machias, New York. We are 45 miles from Buffalo, 45 miles from Bradford, PA, 60 miles from Jamestown, NY and 80 miles from Rochester, NY. The 66-acre camp property is nestled among trees and the grounds are dotted with cottages, campsites, a motel, guesthouse, dining hall, activity center, and recreational areas. The property also includes the Director’s residence, a residence for the Maintenance Director and one (Bethany) for the Facilities Manager.
Our motel sits high above the lake with a fantastic view. Visible from this point are the paddleboats, rowboats, canoes, and kayaks available to rent and docks you can rent to keep your own boat while you’re here. The old-fashioned Tabernacle, with its raised side panels, sits by the entrance of the grounds where God’s praises can be heard on a summer night’s breeze. Our air-conditioned Dining Hall can accommodate 144 guests. Home cooked meals are served daily, with self-serve continental breakfast and cafeteria-style lunch and supper. From there, one can enjoy a meal and see the lake and folks enjoying the pool, playground, and miniature golf.
Shuffleboard, volleyball, basketball, gaga ball, mini golf, and fishing can also be enjoyed. You can spend the day, stay a few nights, or for a week. No need to be a camper to enjoy Odosagih’s grounds or programs.
The RV and camping areas bustle from mid-May through mid-October with families enjoying together all that Odosagih has to offer. Great Bible teaching and music are offered daily in the Tabernacle. Surely Odosagih is a special place!
Our programming includes a weekend-long conference each Memorial Day weekend. A Men’s Retreat is held in April each year and Ladies’ Retreats are held in the Spring and Fall. Christmas and Valentine’s Brunches are highlights of the year. July through Labor Day weekend is our summer conference season. Each Saturday a delicious meal is served at 4:45 PM followed by a special concert at 6:30 PM. Sunday morning service begins at 10:30 AM. Sunday – Friday evening services are at 6:30 PM. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning services and Tuesday & Thursday Prayer Meetings are at 9:30 AM. Speakers and musicians will share the Gospel in word and music all week. There is great singing and fellowship for all gathered. We also offer a nursery program & a program for grades K-6 during most services. A program for teens is offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during evening services and teens join the adults for morning services.
Our Fall Festival event is held on Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The fall colors around the property are breathtaking!
Retreats are scheduled by various groups on the conference property throughout the year.
We are excited that our new Whitney Activity Center is now open. This multi-functional building includes the Snack Shop and a fellowship area, a small stage area, several meeting rooms, a Nursery, and multi-use gymnasium available for sports, special programs, and events. This building has already begun to enhance the conference ministry all year ‘round.
Our History
In the Spring of 1922, four men, Rev. John Whitney, Rev. Laurence Cornwall, Rev. John Williams, and Dr. M.T. Shelford asked God for the land on which Odosagih Bible Conference now stands. The four men knelt by a tree stump and claimed the promise of Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Today a plaque stands marking the spot where the men humbled themselves and prayed.
They asked the Lord to establish a Bible Conference, a meeting place that would accommodate spiritual gatherings and the preaching of the Word of God. In 1926 an offer to purchase the property from the Webster Ice Company was refused. But the Lord heard their prayers and in 1927 the land was able to be purchased for $12,000 from Webster Ice. A year later they bought the old dance hall for $950, which they had been leasingto use as a tabernacle. God blessed them and answered their prayers as attendance at the meetings increased.
The Seneca Indians called Lime Lake, “Odosagih”, which means “fresh, pure, living waters”. As Lime Lake is a spring-fed lake, it was the perfect name for the new Bible Conference which had grown from a former dance hall to a Tabernacle on picturesque Lime Lake in Machias, NY.
January 19, 1928, marked the first payment of $4000 for what was becoming a real conference grounds. During the summer of 1937, the last obligation against the property was discharged. In 1949, the Ladies’ Boosters organization was formed. Its fourfold purpose is prayer, promotion, participation, and provision. Through spring and fall retreats, summer luncheons and meetings this group maintains a strong support interest in OBC. Their ministry to women through VIRGINIA’S TREASURES GIFT SHOP & BOOKSTORE, music and speakers provide invaluable support.
During the next decades buildings, such as Beth Haven, were bought from the county and placed on the property. A trailer camp park was laid out and constructed providing spaces for RV’s and campers to locate on the grounds. Over the years Odosagih has seen countless renovations, enlargements, additions and updates. Adjacent properties on both sides of Hazelmere Avenue have been purchased for housing for staff members.
The ministry of Odosagih Bible Conference continues today as a testament to the faithfulness of God through the decades. A place where God is honored, and His Word is shared through preaching and the ministry of music.
Doctrinal Statement
I. We believe that the Bible (66 books, Genesis – Revelation) is the Word of God to man, written by men divinely and plenarily inspired, and that it is the supreme, infallible authority in all matters.
II. We believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
III. We believe in the pre-existence and deity of Jesus Christ. We also believe that the Son, Jesus Christ (Messiah), was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and sinless in His life. He is atonement for the sin of men by His substitutionary death. He was buried, arose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven, and is presently at the right hand of the Father interceding for believers.
IV. We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and regenerates, indwells, seals, teaches, and fills all those who receive Christ.
V. We believe that the Second Coming of Christ for His ransomed church is imminent, the next great event; that at Christ’s revelation to the world after the great tribulation, He shall set up His literal, worldwide Kingdom and reign over the world for at least a thousand years.
VI. We believe that all men by nature and by choice are sinners, but that those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are freed from the penalty and power of sin, rejoicing forever in God’s presence. Those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are forever separated from God.
VII. We believe that Spirit-directed witness is a personal responsibility of individual Christians in the salvation of others. Part of this witness is separation unto God, from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy.
VIII. We believe that a person must admit he is a sinner, repent of his sins and receive Jesus Christ into his life personally as Lord and Savior to have the “new birth” relationship and become a child of God.
IX. We believe in the Church, a living, spiritual bond, of which Christ is the Head and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that a visible church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, buried with Him in baptism and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that to these visible churches were committed for observance “till He comes”, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of persuading a lost world to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and to enthrone Him as Lord and Master (Rom. 12:4,5; Eph. 5:23; 4:11-13; I Cor. 12; Matt. 10:15-18; Acts 2:41; I Cor. 11:23-26). As an extension of the church, it is the purpose of Odosagih Bible Conference to enable the church to fulfill this task.
X. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids an attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Gen. 2:24, Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1, 6-9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 1:4)
XI. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
Become a Volunteer
If you would like to volunteer your time to Odosagih, whether it is in assisting with building projects, working in the kitchen, or in some other activity, we welcome your help. Use the volunteer form below to share your interest and your passion for our ministry.
The ministry of Odosagih would not be possible without all of the countless hours put in by volunteers.
If you have volunteered at Odosagih, whether it was yesterday or anytime in the past, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support.
Off season we would welcome individuals, or a group ie: family, Sunday school class, etc. to volunteer their time on a day or overnight project. Contact Ron Uhlman or Josh Burch through the office here to arrange a time or project. Overnight accommodations can be provided for those who are on the grounds for more than one day.
