Curious Parents Camp Resources

Camp

SPIRITUALITY COMES TO CAMP
Faith-Based Camps Shed a Different Light
By Teresa Nicodemus

For some camps, the natural world, spirituality, and a caring camp staff offer a solace that emanates beyond a camp’s boundaries to inspire campers and staff to change lives, offer community service, and improve environmental awareness. These aren’t your usual run of the mill camps you may think of—they’re faith-based camps.

Take Camp Woodbrooke, for example, in the lush woods of Richland Center, Wisc., where the program is based on Quaker values and the Quaker belief in the Light of the Spirit present in every individual.

It’s a residential, coed camp for 7 to 12 year olds “who learn, play, work, and worship together, deepening their connections with each other, the spirit within, and the natural world,” says Sheila Voss, assistant director of Camp Woodbrooke. “About fifty percent of the campers and staff come from a Quaker background. Beyond this, we actively seek cultural, racial, religious, and economic diversity, feeling that many children grow up getting few opportunities to know children from different lifestyles and backgrounds. Each of us has gifts to share.”

Dealing with Pop Culture

Faith-based camps face a unique challenge as they encounter trends in popular culture that are counter productive to the values they try to convey to campers. Christian music is offered in a fun and upbeat way according to Kim Brosnan, director of CYO Day Camps in Parma, Ohio.

“We foster healthy opportunities for campers to experience music and competition,” Brosnan said. “Our camp holds an American Idol contest where the young people perform camp songs or Christian-based music. We ‘camp up’ the Survivor TV show and make it our own. Everybody wins as campers get points for getting caught doing good things.”

Staff as Role Models

While camps of all denominations weave faith lessons into their camp programming, the counselors are recognized as powerful role models for campers. Rick Cornfield, executive director of Victory Ministries of Alaska camp nestled in 500 acres of pristine Alaskan woodlands, relies heavily on the faith and perseverance of staffing and a solid volunteer base, which averages 70 volunteers daily.

“I think much of our faith is role modeled in our counselors, who all have a strong Christian background,” Cornfield said. “If there is anything they do best, it is to love their campers. I’ve seen many a camper ask counselors if they could be their parents.”

Stephanie Levin, director of Camp Kochav Jewish Community Center, explains the powerful connections her campers make to the camp counselors she welcomes to her camp from Israel: “Bringing staff from Israel adds something unique to camp, and as the counselors teach the children about Israel through games and activities, the children begin to realize that being Jewish is a larger culture than just camp. Many camper families have a connection to Israel, and the campers develop special connections to these counselors.”

Returning Home

Reaching out to a church closest to the faith of the camper is an important element of the return home for campers at Cascade Meadows Baptist Camp and Camp Burton in Vashon, Wash.

“We have an invitation night at the campfire where campers are free but not required to make a commitment to their faith,” said Rev. Randolph Farrar, executive director of the camp. “Our commitment then continues as we connect our campers to a church community near their home. For one camper, being part of a gang and brushes with the law were the only family commitments he had. After hearing expressions of faith from the campfire, this young man came forward and said, ‘I’ve been looking for a family.’ We telephoned a church in his neighborhood that had an active youth program. Here the church and camp worked together to help this special camper. He now looks back at camp as a place of peace and good memories.”

Celebrating Diversity

Across the country, faith-based camps welcome campers of all denominations to their camp programs. “We are not evangelizing,” Brosnan says. “We may take a parable out of the New Testament, a character-based theme, or find a story like Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and wrap our programming around that idea. We are concerned with developing a devotion to prayer and character formation.”

Teresa Nicodemus, managing editor of Camping Magazine and assistant editor of CAMP Magazine, serves on the marketing and communications team for the American Camp Association. Reprinted from CAMP Magazine by permission of the American Camp Association®; copyright 2006 American Camping Association, Inc.®