By Christian Harvey

Last week Andrew posted a great reflection on the trouble with short term missions.  This is something with which I have struggled with a lot and would like to come at it from a different angle.

Most youth and young adults head out on short term missions because they want to make a difference, they want to help, they want to battle injustice.  It would most likely be devastating for them to know that their short term endeavors may actually make things worse for the people they are meant to serve!  Read more…

christian For Leaders, Life Issues, Ministry, News, Resources, Social Issues, Stories and Articles, Youth Ministry - Hot Ideas Andrew Stephens-Rennie, Christian Harvey, Faith Formation, Justice, Missions, Youth Ministry

“Hospitality, therefore, means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” – Henri Nouwen

They came wanting to participate. To share their gifts. To contribute to the life of the community.

They came wanting to give what they had. Quite naturally, we turned them away. Read more…

andrew Campus Ministry, Stories and Articles Andrew Stephens-Rennie, Campus Ministry, Hospitality

Our new Youth Initiatives staff person, Andrew Stephens-Rennie will be posting articles and ideas about Campus MInistry in Canada. We are also hoping to develop a contact list for you here, so that when you move away to a new place, you can get connected to your local campus ministry or parish nearby to your new home away from home at college or university.

judy Campus Ministry

Brought to you from the magic of youtube is a bit of the progression of songs from when I started at camp until last summer. This is a place where we can beging to share some of our favourites and perhaps propose new ‘classics’. Enjoy and make sure to post your favourite camp songs, the songs that molded you. Post links or titles in the comments section! Read more…

heather Camp Songs, Ministry Music

Francois, Development Coordinator for the Diocese of Gitega

Most camps work to a certain extent on supporting kids from various organizations to come to camp, and there is an attempt made to be accommodating to many levels of ability and experience. Some camps do a lot of work up front on fundraising for a bursary fund or to help pay for repairs to the camp. Is there a way we can be celebrating this and getting even more involved in this? I wonder; if there was more volunteer work done outside of the camp as ambassadors for camp if that would, in some way, raise the profile. Perhaps having a Relay for Life team comprised of camp staff, hosting a car wash to ‘send a kid to camp’, help to maintain the trails and sites around camp with the local forestry and wildlife organization, running a winter camp at a greatly reduced rate for kids and families to get a preview into what camp is all about, etc. I understand that camps are incredibly strapped for cash and for human resources and have been for years but I also do see some benefit in attempting redefine the expectations of Camp as a ministry. Read more…

heather Camp Marketing, Ministry, Stories and Reflections

Hi! My name is Melissa Green; I am from the small community of Savona near Kamloops, British Columbia. I’m in my second year of my Bachelor of Arts at Thompson Rivers University and am actively involved in the St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Savona. I organize and run both a Junior and Senior Youth Group in the parish, and also sit on a number of committees within the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior. I have recently been accepted onto the PWRDF Youth Council and the BCYAYM Council; I am excited to share in the work of both of these groups along with the other groups I share ministry in! I find working with groups in the Anglican Church exciting and full of learning and sharing.

This past summer I had the privilege of working at Sorrento Centre as one of the Children and Youth Coordinators and Summer Staff Supervisors. With a team of staff we made the Children and Youth Program for ages 0-18, trained and supervised the summer staff, and had a ton of fun. Our summer program was called, “We’re All In this Together” and looked at multiculturalism along with different aspects of Christianity. Read more…

heather Ministry, Spirituality and Worship, Stories and Reflections Stories from Youth

Spring Flowers mark the approach of the Camping Season...

As the crocus’ begin to surface through the snow and the sun is up a little later each evening thoughts begin to sway towards those happier days of summer… cue Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and begin montage of all your perfect summer memories… mid song you realize there is another reason your mind has drifted to summer. This ‘march break’ or ‘spring break’ is a week long sample of what the whole summer is going to be like and… you haven’t found a summer camp for the kids yet! Though a conversation about summer camps can feel somewhat reminiscent of Manhattan mom’s comparing preschools I will attempt below to break down some of the determinants of summer camp that will hopefully simplify the process… Read more…

heather Find Your Camp, Ministry

Though my skills at writing in verse are impeccable I have decided to have the onlylink to Chaucer within this be the name of the camp I work at. Sorry if there were any old english enthusiasts drawn to this story. Here is the story of my introduction to camping in general, and camping as a ministry.

Canterbury Hills Camp in the fall

basketball… I joined lots of clubs and subsequently dropped them about one or two seasons afterwards when we moved, I lost interest, or something seemed much more interesting. The one thing I stuck with from the time I was a very little girl until I was entering high school was The Girl Guides of Canada. I started out as a Brownie and worked my way up to Pathfinders, then became a Jr. Leader. I loved it. It was an opportunity for me, as a girl, to feel confident in various areas, especially camping. Read more…

heather Ministry, Stories and Reflections

"The Blob" at Camp Artaban gets taken for a test run.

Growing up in the UK, we didn’t have a summer camp tradition. The Soul Survivor movement was in full swing; which meant a week or two each summer travelling to a site with thousands of others for a week of camping, worship and music but Soul Survivor grew from the model of a British music festival, rather than the North American summer camp. There were too many people, and too much time spent in the company of the same group you arrived with, to really call it a new community. Which is maybe why the summer camp (which we got introduced to mostly through American TV and movies) seemed like such an intriguing idea; here were places were folks went, often individually, to connect with a group of strangers and to sometimes act very differently from how they were in the ‘real’ world. Read more…

heather Ministry, Stories and Reflections

“Help!  I have to plan worship for (youth camp/conference/event) and I don’t know how to do that!”

Have no fear, a resource is here!  This was written especially for youth and young adults who are responsible for planning and leading worship.  It’s not quite a ‘step by step guide’ but almost.

Whether this is the first youth service you are planning or the 20th, this resource will hopefully give you some new ideas and guidance in the process.

Read more…

judy Liturgy and Worship, Ministry, Resources, Spirituality and Worship Prayer, Youth Ministry 'How To'