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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
"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…
“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.
Liturgy and Worship, Ministry, Resources, Spirituality and Worship
I wonder if we reflect the image of God like this?
The waters of our lives show that image not quite as sharply, slightly rippled, but in the depth, the stillness and peace one can see reflected the image of creation, and the Creator. There are most certainly some slightly slimy things under the surface, but that doesn’t limit my capacity to reflect well, if I’m still enough, and I take the time to look.
Sue - Ontario
“Your whole life should be an act of worship for your Father. His holy presence calls us into this lifestyle of worship.”
Photo by Adam
at
Camp Medley, New Brunswick
So who mends creation?
The One who created it?
Or those who find themselves transformed by it?
In truth, there is a co-operation, God with human, within creation. No human can produce a life-giving process which mends creation; we must simply stop harming that which gives us life! God alone brings growth, healing and wholeness. As Walter Farquharson wrote many years ago:
”God who gives to life its goodness …
Give us now creative spirits,
Minds responsive to your mind” (Common Praise 428)
“Mending Creation” was the sub-theme for Environment Justice Camp hosted by the Diocese of British Columbia May 13th to the 19th. Here are come comments by participants – young and older – about this transformative learning experience:
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