From the Vicar: Life at Camp

From the Vicar: Life at Camp

From the Vicar: Life at Camp

# News

From the Vicar: Life at Camp

Dear Ones of St. Columba,

This morning before doing anything else, I sat down and wrote emails to the five children and youth who are currently at Discovery Camp, a week of Episcopal Church Camp up in Gold Bar, WA at our Diocesan campground, Camp Huston. It was so fun, to write to each of them by name, to let them know we are thinking about them, loving them, and praying for them this week. I told each child that my hope for them is that they grow closer to God, and make new friends, and come home with new energy for faith and life and love. 

Did you go to camp as a child or youth? I remember going to Jr. High Camp as a pre-teen and how important and formational those times of worship and friend-making and just being away from everything (even parents!) was for me. There is a special quality to camp - the knowledge that this experience is, every time, unique and special to this time, this place, and these people. Our kids may go to camp again, and have another unique experience of community, faith, and fun, but it won't be quite like this one. 

I feel like I just got back from camp. I spent the last week directing The College for Congregational Development in the Diocese of Rochester, NY. Directing CCD is nothing new for me - I do it here in our diocese as part of my work as Canon for Congregational Development. But in Rochester I got to be completely out of my usual work context. It was like camp for church geeks - and at the end of the week I felt all those end-of-camp feelings of sadness to leave, wonder at the unique beloved experiences I had shared with my training staff and participants, and of course the ever present longing to be home. On our final night together (known at The College as "special dinner night") Bishop Singh addressed us all and said "This beloved community is coming to an end. There will not be another one like it. But let us take what we have learned to create more beloved communities as we go out and go home."

This is a true thing about camp- true for me at my grown-up church geek camp, and I hope also true for our kids who are at camp this week, and those (including mine!) who are heading there next week: we learn how to be beloved community, in community. And the reason we do this? So that we can take those skills home with us into our families, our workplaces, our cities, and our day to day lives.

Maybe you see where I am going with this, because I also believe this is what church is for. Church is a place where we come once a week and experience in each other, and in the mystery of God's presence among us a glimpse of God's beloved community. We come to get filled up, equipped, and inspired so that we can take that vision and implement it in the other parts of our lives, in the world that God calls us to love and serve. 

So, I hope you get to go to camp, someway or somehow, this summer. If not, I hope you find a little of that hope, magic, learning, and loving here at St. C's, where the good news is that while our community does change as time passes, every time you come to worship, to learn, or serve, you're not getting away from it all - you're coming home. 

with care and gratitude,

Alissa

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