Back From Camp...

LAst week was our annual week at camp.

The UCCan churches in this area rent a camp for a week each summer and offer a program. In part it was started expressly to offer a different brand of theology in church camping than was currently being offered by other groups renting the same spot. And so it was a blessing to realize that this year when a guest speaker talked about many paths to one GOd/Creator/Source (I wasn't in the room so I am not postive what terminology was used) that we were the camp where such a statement was safe. It was also a blessing to hear one of the leaders, a young man who has worked at a variety of camps, say that one of the reasons he wanted to come back to us (besides the paycheque) was because we were different -- we were more open to questions and difference than others.

THis year was a good one overall. THe weather was, well let's just say there could be better weather for a week at camp (and worse too--it didn't rain every day!). The theme sessions in the morning seemed to go well. THe craft project was a hit from everything I could see. ANd no one got really hurt or really sick and everyone appeared to be having fun for the most part.

I love church camping. I have been doing it since 1989. THere is something special about a week at camp. AS a leader it isn't restful, not by a long shot. But it is rejuvenating even as it is exhausting.

This is the first year that the girls really seemed to be a part of the whole thing. And they had a ball. THey canoed (both in the lodge and in the lake), they swam, they crafted, they sang. ANd they slept! Oh how nicely they slept at night. ANd other than some moments of being overtired or impatient for what was happening next, they had a ball making new friends and playing with the others.

And now it is over for another year. Ah well, there's always next year!