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For decades, camps have been a context
for faith formation. One of the greatest
challenges of religious camps is helping
local congregations understand the importance
of the camp setting for shaping the faith
of children, youth, and adults. One of
the definitive ways in which this significance
can be communicated is through the telling
of personal stories.
In this issue of the
newsletter, we want to share the stories
of the role camp has played in the lives
of several religious leaders. These stories
are just a sample of the many accounts
that circulate within the tradition of
your camp and other faith-based camps.
We hope that they will inspire you to remember
the importance of what you do. We hope
you will invite your board members, former
camps, religious leaders, and campers to
share their stories in written form and
then to circulate these stories among the
congregations of your faith family as a
reminder of the unique contribution camps
make to formation of faith and the development
of religious leadership.
We are grateful
to those who agreed to share their stories
with RAC members.
Camps and My Faith — Bruce
Harvey
Being a Christian educator for twenty-nine
years, I can still point back to the great
influence my church camp experience had
on my faith development. Looking back it
is amazing I ever went to camp a second
year. I was the homesick kid the first
year, making my friends and sister miserable
as well. After my sixth grade year, I went
to Camp Hat Creek for the first time. My
mom prepared envelopes for me to write
home each day and promised to write me
every day. I had such a good experience
in the outdoors cooking our meals, going
on hikes, swimming, and much more, I never
even thought about writing. I was hooked
on camp.
I continued to go to camp each
summer for a week through the rest of middle
school and high school. The Senior High
work camps were especially significant
as we prepared the camp for the rest of
the summer camp season: lashing tables
and benches, painting buildings, pulling
cattails, and repositioning the swimming
dock. At night we had studies and discussions
on prayer, ethics, and other subjects.
It helped answer some of my questions and
to develop others that assisted in my faith
development. I loved the atmosphere of
camp so much that I even volunteered one
week to wash dishes for the camp so I could
just be there.
When I graduated from high
school, I was hired as a camp counselor.
Although I made some mistakes that first
year, I was given a second chance. I continued
to work as counselor through my college
years, and I was the co-program director
the summer I graduated from college. I
met my future wife there, and we were married
in the outdoor chapel.
I believe the small
group camp model in which a hogan of boys
and a hogan of girls lived together in
the woods for a week was the key to the
camp experience for me. It was an opportunity
to share Bible stories and themes and allowed
campers to put themes into practice as
they prepared and ate meals together, did
projects, went on hikes in the woods and
in the river, and closed the day with vespers.
Sharing the opportunity to work as a counselor
with a partner to plan a week of activities
for and with children provided a very practical
side to my faith. Camp was my connection
to the church during my college years and
is the main reason I felt called to go
to the Presbyterian School of Christian
Education and to learn under the tutelage
of Glenn Bannerman.
During my years as
a Christian educator, I have continued
to be involved with camps, serving on presbytery
camp committees/boards and leading retreats
and conferences in the four presbyteries
in which I served churches. Montreat Conference
Center has become the place in my adult
life that Camp Hat Creek was for me in
my teenage and college years. I like working
in the church but getting away in the outdoors
to spend time with God, family, and friends
is still a necessity for my continued faith
development.
Bruce Harvey, Jr., is the
coordinator of Christian education at The
Presbyterian Church in Fredericksburg,
Virginia. He is a graduate of the Presbyterian
School of Christian Education in Richmond,
Virginia.
Where Jewish Leaders
Are Bred — Jerry
Silverman
Summer camp is a largely untapped
resource for building religious identity
and community. Much has been said about
the American Jewish continuity crisis — so
much that one might think that decline
is inevitable and that there are no bright
lights on the horizon that could reverse
current trends. These people seem not to
be aware of what is going on in one of
the most promising sources of Jewish rejuvenation
and renaissance — Jewish overnight
camping.
There is no shortage of evidence
as to the power of the Jewish camp experience.
More than 65 percent of Jewish leaders
attended a nonprofit Jewish sleep-away
camp and continue to support the Jewish
ideals that camp represents. In almost
every community, former Jewish campers
are the rabbis and cantors, federation
executives and JCC leaders, day school
principals and Hillel directors, carrying
the torch to new generations of Jews.
Jewish
camps not only provide all the unmatched
and formative experiences associated with
camp, but they also offer campers, counselors,
and their parents positive frameworks within
which Judaism is celebrated and compelling
communities are built. Jewish camps also
provide leadership training in the role modeling
of Jewish values for more than 10,000 college
students annually.
Jewish camps build Jewish
identity through a wide range of experiences,
including informal opportunities to “live
Jewishly.” By their very nature,
Jewish camps integrate fun and challenges
with serious Jewish learning. They also
provide lifelong social and professional
networks and opportunities to practice
tikkun olam — making the world a
better place — and invest time in
causes that are important to the campers
and counselors.
Today, Jewish nonprofit,
sleep-away camps offer a wide range of
options and facilities. The Foundation
for Jewish Camping provides expertise for
120 such camps across the U.S. Specialty
camps are Wintering up with programs that
integrate both a Jewish and an Israeli
theme, while focusing on the performing
arts, sports, and other topics of interest
to young Jews.
Nothing exemplifies the
integration of the Israel experience into
camp more than the shlichim, the 2,000
Israeli counselors who come to the United
States annually to work in these camps,
inspiring campers and providing a lasting
connection to Israel.
Jewish camps are
in their ascendancy as philanthropic organizations
and individuals in North America have begun
to realize the critical importance of Jewish
camping.
Jerry Silverman is the executive
director of the Foundation for Jewish Camping.
Visit the Web site at www.jewishcamp.org.
Divine Intersections — Rev.
Karen Yee
Only the gospel of Luke tells a story
about an intersection (Luke 7:11-17) between
Jesus and the funeral procession for a
widow’s only son. Picture these two
very different processions approaching
the gate. The first procession is filled
with sadness, despair, helplessness, mourning,
loss, and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness
as they follow a lifeless body. The other
procession is filled with laughter, excitement,
expectations, and a renewed sense of hope
and life. This second procession is following
Jesus and reminds us that who we follow
makes all the difference. The widow had
lost everything. She like some of us found
herself at the end of the line with no
other option in sight – until her
life intersected with the unexpected presence
and compassion of Jesus, the Lord of life
and the source of hope.
Life and death
intersected at the gate and resurrection
happened. When God intersects with our
lives there is transformation. Death no longer
has power. There is nothing on earth that
Christ’s power cannot overcome. Jesus
is greater than the power of death and
the power of hopelessness. What is amazing
about this event is that the widow never
asked for a miracle. She never expected
the miracle. Unlike others before her,
she did not beg Jesus to give her back
her son. There was no intercession by others,
no demonstration of faith. The widow didn’t
come to see Jesus. In fact, we don’t
even know if she knew who he was! However,
because of Christ’s compassion, grace,
and power, when her life intersected with
Jesus — everything changed.
Christian
camps are holy places, places where divine
intersections occur all the time. Those
who attend camps go for many different
reasons. Some are looking for fun and relaxation;
some go because they want to meet new friends,
to get away from home, work, or their stressful
routine. There are probably some who are
there because they have to be, because
someone made them go. Like the widow, they
weren’t looking for anything special,
but when their lives intersect with Jesus,
transformation happens. God is waiting
to meet us all at the gate — to give
us all a hope and a future. God has the
power and authority to make all things
new — from death to resurrection.
Redwood Glen Baptist Camp is a place where
God has intersected in my life. I have
been coming to Redwood Glen since 1976.
I remember standing on the deck outside
Smith Hall, looking out at the cross; stars
filled the night sky. I don’t remember
exactly what the program had been about
that day, but in the stillness of the night,
I knew without a doubt that Jesus was real,
his love was awesome, and I just couldn’t
get enough of him. A divine intersection
occurred, and my life would never be the
same again.
Over the years, Redwood Glen
was the place where I could test out and
discover the gifts and talents God has
given me to serve others. It was out in
the Chapel in the Woods where God once
again surprised me and placed a call in
my life to give up teaching and go into
full-time ministry. And it was here around
the campfire circle, that I knew that God
had called me to leave my home church to
go and serve at the First Baptist Church
in Alameda. Without a doubt, God has used
Redwood Glen to touch my life and so many
other lives as well. Like so many other
Christian camps, one can sense that it
is holy ground. It is a place that has
been sanctified to fulfill the glory of
God. Even now, whenever I come, even if
it’s just for a Board meeting, I
get a feeling of peace — knowing
that in this special place, I have and
will encounter Jesus—and when we
do, we can’t help but be transformed.
Everything changed when the two processions
met at the gate. “Fear seized all
of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A
great prophet has risen among us!” and “God
has looked favorably on his people!” This
word about him spread throughout Judea
and all the surrounding country.” (Luke
7:16-17) The son was given life, the widow’s
hope was restored, and the two crowds became
one. Tears turned to laughter, lament into
shouts of praise, mourning into dancing,
and all of them were filled with fear and
awe at the glory of God. “God has
looked favorably on his people” — a
divine intersection occurred and it is
occurring now — each time a person
takes the time to visit a place like Redwood
Glen.
Rev. Karen Yee is the associate pastor
at the First Baptist Church of Alameda,
California.
Camp and My Spiritual
Formation — David
Boyle
When I think of how my spiritual
growth relates to camp, I remember two
experiences. First, from the age of nine,
I attended a camp in the Georgia Mountains.
Bible study and worship to promote commitment
in Jesus Christ were the main reasons for
this conference camp. The natural world
was a setting for this continuation of
Sunday School. Camps were a week long,
regardless of camper age. However, the
sponsoring conference was small enough
that the same campers returned year after
year so that there was an opportunity to
establish relationships and to see people
grow. I grew up feeling like a part of
an extended community. This camp experience
strengthened my personal faith and promoted
a sense of communal identity. It also deeply
reinforced the worldview of white folks
in small town Georgia.
My second camp experience
involved five summers as a counselor at
Camp Hanover where the small group camp
model was practiced with enthusiasm. The
world had changed and attending a church
college during the Vietnam War years had
already expanded my world view. At Camp
Hanover, camp was considered a high calling.
Counselors were required to spend ten days
of training before they saw the first camper.
Safety training was rigorous and respect
for people and their diversity was emphasized.
There were African-American counselors and
counselors from Europe and Asia. The natural
world was not context but text. Worship and
Bible study were integrated into group process
by involving campers in the development of
campfire and vespers worship times. Campers
and counselors lived in coed “family” groups,
passed most of the day outside, and slept
in hogans or long houses open to the natural
world. Lessons from nature and from the process
of planning together often led to a thoughtful
consideration of scriptures on resolving
conflict, forgiveness, and acceptance of
others.
This second camp experience involved
the whole self: vigorous physical exertion,
hiking, canoeing, swimming, and group processes
as campers planned cookouts and canoe trips.
Using camp equipment led to discussions
of stewardship; learning to canoe on wild
rivers while leaving little human imprint
led to conversations about partnership
with the Creator as opposed to using/abusing
the natural world. Sometimes things went
wrong: it stormed during a canoe trip,
the food pack fell overboard, a canoe was
destroyed in white water, someone got separated
from the group and conditions were uncomfortable,
campers irritable, bodies tired, stomachs
hungry. However, this adversity gave openings
for counselors and mature campers to model
patience, mercy, and forgiveness. And things
invariably got better. Everyone learned
that we cannot only survive hardships but
triumph and grow through them.
The small
group experience has continued to affect
my life. I still go back to camp for refresher
experiences more than thirty-five years
later. I am a more tolerant, loving, and
sensitive person. My spirituality includes
desire for justice for all people and a
deep appreciation and care for the natural
world. Community for me now means concern for people and for
the environment that nurtures us. I am a
very different person due to my small group
camp experiences from what I would have been
if I had only known the first camp of my
childhood.
Dr. David Pat Boyle is professor
of social work and dean of the School of
Social Work at Dalton (GA) State College.
Dr. Boyle is a graduate of Eckerd College,
Indiana University, and the University
of Georgia. In addition to his teaching,
he is active in community ministries, especially
with the frail elderly. |
