one of the deep memories for me has been summer camp. early on my parents sent me off to skyview over by millersburg. then the camp was owned by former browns footballer vince costello. a few years later my parents sent me to a church camp and literally for the next 30 years i didn’t come home. i moved from camper to counselor to director the last three years i went.
so now that i’m pastor by vocation i’ve had the pleasure helping create the process of getting our kids to camp. given the buys nature and the newness of our outpost we’re starting with building summer camp into the dna of our spiritual process for youth. my hope is that in a few years we can add a teen session to our summer calendar. so yesterday was our first day. the campers arrived at 5:00 got checked in and then dinner. after dinner they spent the evening building community. it was fun to hear the laughter from the field. several moments stood out to me last night. the first was the “lowering of the flag”. it was sort of amazing as thc campers assembled from having played really hard at the foot of the flag pole. by cabin they stood there silent as our amazing program director ben shared the process for the closing each evening. then christiana one of the amazing counselors lowered the flag and helped fold it neatly. here’s some video…
the most important part of camp is the heart of the counselors. all these young guys and gals are amazing. there’s more to think about but i need to head off to join them for breakfast. i’ll leave you from one of the “you repeat back” songs that they were introduced to last night. if you think about it, please share your favorite memory from summer camp.
I was a church summer camper at Angeles Crest Christian Camp (http://www.angelescrest.com) at least once a year from 3rd grade all the way through to my 2nd year of college (when I began going as a counselor). Playing on the ropes course, rock climbing and rappelling, and camp crushes were always very memorable. I also heard many great messages and learned lots of new worship songs every year.
But I honestly think that I have been more moved at camp as a leader than I was as a camper (at least that I can remember). Getting to play a part in the process whereby young people give their lives to Christ, open up about deep hurts in their life, and rally together to support each other as a church family has been a blast. It’s been four years since I’ve gotten to experience such a week. I’m hoping the summer of 2010 will see that experience back in my calendar!