I remember the beautiful wooded hills and the lake that rested in the middle of the camp, where we canoed. I also remember that my camp counselor was a college student named Ernest. We thought that was the funniest thing ever as that wasn’t long after the movie Ernest Goes to Camp had come out. There are a few other things I remember too, but mostly I remember that sung prayer that I’ve passed on to my kids.
I have also had the opportunity a couple of times to work with Mo Ranch Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Hunt, Texas out in the seemingly endless hills of the Texas Hill Country. For two weeks one summer I was a small group leader for their Junior High Jubilee Conference and then just this past summer I was the keynote speaker for one week of Junior High Jubilee. Both times I worked there I served alongside several college students and young adults who told me stories about how they had gone to Mo Ranch for summer camp and conferences since they were young elementary kids. They talked about how they couldn’t imagine summer without Mo Ranch. Many of them even referred to it as a holy place, as I’m sure it is not only for them but for hundreds or thousands of others.
In my three-and-a-half years as Associate Pastor for Youth at First Presbyterian Church in Norman, Oklahoma several of the youth I served spent their summers at Dwight Mission Presbyterian Camp and Retreat in Vian, Oklahoma. Many of them had gone to summer camp there as young elementary kids and went all the way through the
Leaders in Training and Counselors in Training Programs. Now that they are college students they continue to return as counselors, often volunteering when Dwight Mission cannot afford to pay more counselors. I even have one of my youth from Norman, a young woman named Jane Alsup, who is about to graduate high school who is going to work as a kitchen assistant at Dwight Mission just so she can play games with the kids in the evenings. FPC Norman supported Dwight Mission so well that one year our congregation even won an award from Indian Nations Presbytery for sending twenty-one kids to summer camp at Dwight Mission in one summer!
I am not going out on a limb at all to say that many of the young adults I have gotten to know who are most mature in their faith and most attached to the Presbyterian Church (USA) are those who got involved in Presbyterian summer camps and stayed involved through high school. I am absolutely convinced that Presbyterian Church (USA) camps are a big piece of the puzzle in getting young adults and young families involved in Presbyterian Churches again. Many families have quit sending their kids to Presbyterian church camps and instead send their kid to every sport or dance camp imaginable, which I think is a real shame. If we, as a congregation and as families, are serious about raising our children up in the Christian faith in a Presbyterian way then PC(USA) church camps need to be a priority for us once again.
There used to be a PC(USA) camp in Lancaster called Geneva Hills. Some of you may have memories of it. I am not sure if you are aware that the PC(USA) had to sell it because usage of it wasn’t enough anymore to make it financially possible to keep it. It still exists but it is now a non-denominational camp with no Presbyterian affiliation. How sad. Now the closest Presbyterian Church (USA) camp is Kirkmont Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center near Zanesfield, Ohio. It is officially in Miami Presbytery but it is now our Presbyterian Camp too. You have probably noticed the display I put up in our entry way on the Hinde Street side. I really hope that you will consider sending your kids or grandkids to Kirkmont this summer for camp or taking your family out for one of their themed family camping weekends. Kirkmont is just ninety minutes away. In late July my soon to be six year old son Wyatt and I are going together for three days to Kirkmont Kids Kamp, which is a summer camp experience for K-3 kids who aren’t ready to be away from their parents for camp yet. The parent stays there with the kid and the camp is designed for both kid and parent participation. I can’t wait! I keep slipping and telling Wyatt that he’s going to camp with me, then having to correct myself and tell him that I’m going to camp with him. Also, on September 10 I’m going to attend one of their Clergy Renewal days called “Cultivating Resilience in the Ministry.”
I really hope you will prayerfully consider Kirkmont this summer. You would be amazed at the drastic transformation that can take place in a congregation that is involved in camping ministries. As I mentioned above, kids who go to PC(USA) camps
are often more mature in their faith and they tend to love the PC(USA) and seem less likely to bail on our denomination when they go off to college. Plus, they learn tremendous cooperative, leadership, and recreational skills. It doesn’t look bad on a college resume either. Please take a look at this link at the summer camp opportunities for Kindergarteners all the way through Graduating Seniors. The Mission committee has already pledged money for scholarships or “camperships” and if they were to run out of money I am positive that I could talk to a few generous benefactors and help to send any kid who wants to go to Kirkmont. In twenty-five years I want my kids to be teaching their kids the songs and prayers they learned as a camper at Kirkmont.
So check out the summer camp schedule and descriptions of all the offerings at Kirkmont.
