5 Words or Less...

Some of the more impactful conversations in my ministry have happened during the in between. In between the breaks of a conference, in between the sessions of a program that I am leading, on a walk with a summer staffer in between the dining hall and their cabin, in between all the moments of doing.

Recently, on a car ride in between North Carolina and Indiana, I came across one of these in between conversations. We were discussing the relationship roles of camp ministry and parish ministry. Trying to get a grasp on how these partner ministries relate and how to get pastors engaged and excited about what our ministry can provide to both the Church at large and to individual church families. 

We came across a familiar lament speaking to how we often feel as if our presence seems to feel threatening to some ministers that we come across.  That is when a prior "in between" conversation was brought to light. Pastor Bill Yonkers who was a speaker at our annual conference posed this question to those sitting around a meal table with him. 

What do you want a pastor to be able to say about the role of camp? 

This got us excited. We started listing the many positive roles that camp plays in the lives of people. A time and a place to "get away," the chance to be influenced by the faith of others, a place where they can begin to put their faith into practice, a chance to see God in his creation, experiential benefits of critical thinking, relationship building, self-knowledge...the list went on and on with a collection of benefits that seemed to be invaluable. How could a pastor not want this for himself and those he served? Why don't all pastors see these benefits already?

Then I remembered something that another speaker at the conference, Rev. Scott Bruzek, said to us. If you can't explain something in 5 words or less then you don't have a good grasp on it. So therein lies our challenge. 

What is the role of camp...in 5 words or less?

Through our conversation in the car it was said that camp returns people stronger and involved. I grasped hold of that one. It was easy for me to remember and to convey. Sure, I can expand on the how of each of those is true but those 5 words got me excited to go share with others just what camp can do in their life. So now it's your turn, go on give it a try. 5 words or less, "The role of camp is..."

Camp Recognized As Key to Emotional Intelligence

Why should kids go to camp? According to a March 15 report entitled Camp's secret weapon: The buzz about emotional intelligence and your child on http://www.stltoday.com/  (the Web site of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch), the friendships, new experiences and character-building activities develop emotional intelligence, a factor that is a more important indicator of adult happiness and success than IQ scores. Camp gives young people the opportunity to learn about themselves, develop confidence, discover strengths and meet challenges in an environment of loving guidance where academics aren’t the focus. Research shows that skills such as listening, cooperation, empathy, sharing and self-control — all emphasized at camp — are key to kids’ school success and healthy relationships, and later, positive contributions to their community and fulfilling careers. Read the full article by clicking here.

Calling Christians at Camp Part 3

From the article "Calling Christians at Camp" in the Lutheran Forum by Chandler R. Carriker

Surrounded by the beauty of the Boundary Waters of Minnesota or the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina, it can be easy to be over- come by the beauty of God’s creation to the point of getting theologically sloppy. Many a devotion in the midst

Outdoor ministry creates a time apart from our hurried lives for Christ to be revealed. It is not for us to make Christ revealed, but to journey with Christ to the place where this can happen more fully. The transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel illustrates how this might work. Christ’s journey up the mountain with the three disciples is another addition to a long list of biblical hiking trips towards full presence of God, from Moses on Mt. Sinai to the nations streaming to “the mountain of the Lord” in Isaiah. Beyond geographical form, though, is the idea of retreat, removal of oneself, temporarily, to be in the presence of God. In the story of the transfiguration, though, it is Christ himself who leads the disciples to the mountain. It is not the faith of the disciples that makes the place holy, but the work of Christ. As Christ’s full glory is revealed on the mountaintop, he is joined by Moses and Elijah. The religious traditions in which the disciples have been raised are not tossed aside because of this glorious appearance of God in human form. Instead, this person Jesus has been, and will continue to be, a part of that same faith tradition. This was the force of the camper’s baptism I described above. The confirmands saw something taking place there at camp that connected directly to the faith life of their home congregations. Far too often camp and church fall victim to the modern plague of compartmentalization, as each seems to exist in a world outside the other. But by practicing the sacraments in the midst of hiking, crafts, and horseback riding, the compartmental walls crumble. The reverse holds true as well: what does it mean when our congregations feel foreign to young people on their return from an intense experience of Christ in another place? Peter’s rejected offer to make three dwellings so that the disciples could remain on the mountaintop with Christ is not unlike David’s offer to build a home for the Lord—he too was struck down, through the prophecy of Nathan. Peter and David shared the same wish dream, that the “mountaintop” could be preserved through their own handiwork. So many young people feel the same way after just a little time at camp. If the community here is so perfect, why should we leave? Why return to the “real world” of brokenness? Just as Christ insists that they must descend, leaders in outdoor ministry must diligently point towards the coming descent. It should not be confused with a pessimistic call to be realistic, lamenting that nothing this good can last and we must return to

the “real world.” The descent, in fact, is a call to ministry in the world. All that we teach in temporary Christian communities such as camps should point towards the church’s call to be the body of Christ to the world and for the sake of the world. The use of this language of “the real world” is not faithful. It should be abandoned. Just as the world revealed by Christ to the disciples on the mountaintop is a glimpse into the kingdom of the Lord—the true “real world”—camping communities formed around the Word, sacraments, and Christian fellowship should be lifted up as a reflection, seen in a mirror darkly, of the “real world” lived through Christ. While the National Study of Youth and Religion (2005) gave us much to celebrate about the spiritual life of our young disciples, there was a disturbing trend noted in how youth (and much of our society) conceives of God. A tentative conclusion drawn by the authors of this study is “that the de facto dominant religion among contemporary U.S. teenagers is what we might well call ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.’” In brief, the creed for this faith is 1) God created the world and exists, 2) God’s desire for humanity is summed up in the Golden Rule, 3) the purpose of life is happiness and self-esteem, 4) God is not particularly involved in our lives, unless we need and ask for help, and 5) the good go to heaven.9 To place this tag solely on the faith of young people would be unfair; it is a reflection of the popular faith passed along to them. Just as Bonhoeffer called on intentional Christian community to

offer an alternative to the community of National Socialism, our intentional Christian community of camps and outdoor ministry might be essential places celebrating the particularity and specificity of the Christian faith. Such communities can learn together how to express that particularity and specificity in a grace-filled fashion in the midst of this increasingly pluralistic world. Learning how to speak the faith may be of greater importance at this time than learning how to be good.

There is a potential dark side even to Christian outdoor ministry. The 2006 documentary Jesus Camp is a startling look at the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, where children as young as six are molded into soldiers in “God’s Army” for the fight to “take back America for Christ.” In the most disturbing images, young people are broken down emotionally, exposed to the horrors and realities of abortion, and immersed in the “culture wars” that dominate the sermons in many pulpits in America. This film should be seen by everyone working in outdoor ministry (or even youth ministry in general) to understand the heights and the depths of power that camping ministry can hold over young disciples. Yet as disturbing as the message of the camp leaders is, two things must be credited to them. First, they take seriously the young people in their congregations. The message passed on, no matter how inappropriate, is not diluted into a pious desire to “protect the innocence” of their young disciples. Second, the role that the young people are called upon to play in “God’s Army” is seen as crucial to the fight to “take back America.” Their discipleship is not put on hold until they are voting members of the congregation. Now imagine replacing this politicized Christianity with the politic of the body of Christ. Instead of training young soldiers primarily to engage the rulings of the Supreme Court, we can see our camps as places where we take the opportunity to reorient their lives around the liturgical rhythms and the language of faith. Young disciples may be given a place to try out these roles of theological leadership. Space is cleared for God to be revealed through the ordinary mask of creation. Young disciples come to explore and celebrate the particularities of the historic Christian faith and the Lutheran theological tradition. The outdoor ministries we are blessed with throughout the Lutheran church play this role and more every summer (and more often than not year-round). These ministries are firmly rooted in the narrative of Scripture and the traditions that precede us in the life of faith. And the blessings don’t remain just at camp: they descend from the mountaintop and spread throughout the world.

of such beauty unintentionally slips into pantheism, confusing the boundary between creator and creation. Luther’s writings on God’s “hiddenness” illuminates the church’s practice of outdoor and camping ministry. Reflecting on Luther’s words, author Belden Lane writes that God uses the ordinariness of nature as a “mask for the holy.” Due to the brokenness of humanity’s relationship with God, these masks provide us with places and spaces to encounter the fullness of God, which naked and unmasked would be beautiful yet too terrible to endure. These encounters with God in nature, writes Lane, “are not sterile occasions for rationally inferring the existence and attributes of God, but vivid, if broken, means by which God as Mother of creation comes to meet us.” Our encounters with the triune God in nature are not merely opportunities for vague general reflections on God’s awesomeness, but reveal to us the specific and particular identity of the triune God that we confess. This “hiddenness” of God in nature guides us into a theology of the cross. As Steven Paulson writes, “God hides in order not to be found where humans want to find God. But God also hides in order to be found where God wills to be found.” Automatically assuming that any trek into creation will bring us into God’s presence implies a kind of presumption, assuming we can discern the workings of God. Still, nature does require a withdrawal from contemporary culture that allows the church better to discern those times and places that serve as guises for the presence of God. The removal of the distractions of modernity at camp or in retreat can bring to the faithful a heightened sense of awareness of the communal relations among the body of Christ. In the midst of nature, the image of Christ crucified awakens us to the fact that neither creation nor redemption is attainable, save through the work of our Lord.

"Calling Christians at Camp" Part 2

From the article "Calling Christians at Camp" in the Lutheran Forum by Chandler R. Carriker

Looking back into the Lutheran tradition, we can learn much from Dietrich Bonhoeffer about importance of intentional Christian community, of which outdoor ministry is one instance. The communal learning at Finkenwalde, and the resulting book Life Together, are the usual touchstones for Bonhoeffer fans when it comes to intentional Christian community. But Bonhoeffer was already experimenting with Christian community long before the illegal seminaries came about. Early in his teaching career, Bonhoeffer was given the reins of a group of fifty confirmands in the town of Wedding. Eberhard, Bethge, Bonhoeffer’s biographer, describes the group as “out of control,” to such an extent that the elderly minister who preceded Bonhoeffer died a few weeks after retiring. The group “quite literally harassed [the elderly pastor] to death,” said Bonhoeffer. But his own method for passing on the faith to these wild young disciples reflects many scenes found in camping ministry. Instead of shouting down the group while they exclaimed, “Bon! Bon! Bon!” at him, he began to speak quietly so that only the boys closest to him could hear what he was saying. Gradually the group quieted down, unsure of what to make of this young new instructor. As soon as he had their attention, he began to share stories of his visit to Harlem. The boys quickly realized he was different from their other teachers. Bonhoeffer held their attention “simply [telling] them stories from the Bible with great  emphasis, particularly the eschatological passages.” The communal aspect of this catechetical experience was stunningly different from typical Protestant education at the time. Bonhoeffer lived in the same community as many of his students and made himself accessible outside of the classroom. He was deliberately a daily presence in the life of his students. The youth could visit Bonhoeffer at home in the evening to play chess or learn English. He took the class on weekend trips to youth hostels so they could experience the Christian community formed by the Holy Spirit, a theme which became prominent in his early writings. For all the popular talk of the church as a community, in the German Lutheran church at the time the truly intentional community remained an abstraction. It was the athletic or Nazi youth clubs that provided tangible examples of community to young people. Through his pastoral work with youth, Bonhoeffer came to recognize this lack in the church and consequently the dangers that loomed in the shadow of a growing

Third Reich. As a theological and practical treatise on Christian community, Life

Together reflects the experiences of Bonhoeffer at his exiled seminary in Finkenwalde. Central to Bonhoeffer’s argument is that a Christian community which attributes its composition and creation to anything other than Christ alone is a false community. “Christianity,” Bonhoeffer simply says, “means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this.” Communities that constitute themselves on anything beyond Christ, Bonhoeffer writes, are based on a “wish dream.” Such a wish dream could be grounded in anything from idealistic visions of the harmony of humanity to the desire for right and proper sacramental practice. No matter what the cause, if a community holds anything save the grace of Christ Jesus as its foundation, it will find itself shipwrecked upon the shores of human sin and brokenness. “He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself,” writes Bonhoeffer, “becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” Bonhoeffer’s idea of a “wish dream” should resonate loudly with many who have worked in camping ministry or youth ministry in general. The natural passions and idealism of young people, which are a  strength and gift for the church, can often lead to high hopes for the communities in which they find acceptance and purpose— only to have their hopes come crashing down around them the moment a friend or leader in the community disappoints them. Young disciples come with strong hypocrisy radars, a curse that sets the bar too high for any community grounded in illegitimate criteria or wish dreams. This is a common phenomenon in most camping ministries, not so much among the campers as the counselors, often college students. Communities are built up over the summer among staff members. The young adults feel free to drop the facades that college life requires of them. But, inevitably, through the brokenness of human relationships this perceived freedom is violated and such openness is proven to be tenuous. “This place isn’t the

Christian community that I thought it was” is a common refrain in the mouths of college-aged disciples. For those who work with the young faithful in such settings, Bonhoeffer’s analysis of the wish dream suggests a response to such disillusionment, directing it towards the foot of the cross rather than—as happens far too often—out the church doors. Alongside Bonhoeffer’s communal and pedagogical insights for camping ministry, Luther’s treatment of God revealed in nature can guide the faithful pursuit of outdoor ministry.

Calling Christians at Camp Part 1

From the article "Calling Christians at Camp" in the Lutheran Forum by Chandler R. Carriker

One summer evening, the entire community of confirmands, counselors, and pastors gathered around a young woman to see the water of baptism poured on her. I stood there and thought to myself: “Lord, I just got into this so I could work at camp. It’s not supposed to be this serious!”

At twenty-one, in my first year as a supervisor at a Lutheran summer camp, I believed I had a handle on most any situation that could arise. Then in the midst of a seemingly typical week of camp, among the college-age counselors, campers, and pastors appeared this young woman who had never been baptized. She was a regular churchgoer at a Lutheran congregation with her friend and had decided to tag along for confirmation camp. As catechetical conversation returned again and again to the sacraments, she

spoke up to the group and her pastor, saying, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Parents were called, the congregation back home gave its support, and I was sent to track down the camp’s baptismal font, still unsure of what we were getting ourselves into.

But on that Thursday evening, and during conversations that followed with my counselors, I realized that we were about something more than, say, athletic or scouting camps. No matter how much we saw our ministry as distanced from the institution of the church (youthfully convinced that we were cooler than that), we were very much wrapped up in the body of Christ.

For many of our Lutheran congregations, experiences at camp are an essential part of the formation of young disciples. In a study of American Protestant teens, 41% of all ELCA youth said that they had attended a summer camp run by a religious organization. The number goes up to 48% for Missouri Synod youth. Perhaps even more telling, among those aged thirteen to seventeen who regularly attend religious services in the ELCA, the percentage that has attended a religious camp rises dramatically to 58%. These numbers are on par with evangelical Protestant denominations, such as Southern Baptist youth attending at a 48% rate and United Methodist youth at a 53% rate.¹

Beyond numbers, many congregations are absolutely devoted to their local outdoor ministry sites. In my own congregation on the coast of North Carolina, the devotion to a large Lutheran camp in the western part of the state was so strong that I didn’t even realize until I got to college that there was another Lutheran camp with a beachfront site only a few miles from my own home! The same kind of loyalty to particular camps reigns as well in Pennsylvania, where I live and work now.

Alongside the usual weeks in the summer, weekend retreats at camps, such as Teens Encounter Christ and Chrysalis, function as a direct extension of many congregations’ youth and educational ministry. Youth leaders and pastors regularly proclaim camp as the very antidote for a teen’s lackluster faith. This is perhaps a bit overstated; camping ministry is not a perfect fit for every youth and should not be seen as quick fix for deeper needs. But it certainly can play a central role in sowing the seeds of faith planted by the Spirit that may often be buried deep during teenage years of transition.

The question should be, then, not whether such temporary communities are important and faithful, but why they exert such an influence on so many of us. Are they, like much youth ministry in the past few decades, mere repetitions of the wider culture’s efforts to lure young people, winning the loyalty of youth with the tactics of commercial culture? Or is there some deeper connection to the faith in places of intentional but temporary Christian community and God’s good creation in nature? Are we about camping because it works for scouts or organized sports, or is there more to it than that? (to be continued...)

Free newsletter provides teen trend tips

Get in the know about what’s happening with today’s young people with the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding’s (CPYU) free newsletter. Simply Youth Culture—published by CPYU, simply youth ministry, and Group Publishing—features youth culture tidbits that can help you more effectively relate and minister to teens at your camp. To download the January/February 2011 issue of the PDF newsletter, go to the CPYU Resource Center.

Signe White
Executive Director
Camp Perkins

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