What is Camp?

Just got off the phone with a family asking, “What is camp?” How would you answer their question? #summercamp #camp #kidmin

— Sandy Kathleen (@sandykathleen) March 25, 2013

My office phone rang. I was almost taken back by the noise. I rarely get calls to my office phone, besides a few evangelical youth ministry organizations hoping to 'bring Jesus to my ministry' and a few pushy fundraising organizations that have to listen to my lie that 'we don't do fundraising.'

This time, the call was a little different. A woman had landed on the Facebook page of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. She was not new to the neighborhood, and she had two grandson's who were elementary age. She was to be their primary caregiver for the summer and was looking to find something to keep them busy. She noted that she was drawn into pictures on our Facebook page of kids at camp. But then came a question I was not prepared for. She asked in her soft voice, "What is camp?"

I can only imagine I echoed one of my professors who responseds to all questions by saying, "Yay, that's a qreat question." I was trying to buy some time. I should know this. I spent four summers working at two unique camping ministries, I have sent kids to camp for many years and by golly gee, I have two degrees in children, youth and family ministry.

It seemed like minutes passed by before I began to put together an answer, even though the clock on my phone proved me wrong. I began to share what happens at camp, from camps to songs to field-trips. This compassionate grandmother stopped me in my explanation. She asked again, but in a different way, 'What is so special about camp? Why should I bring my grandchildren to camp?'

I understood. And I tried again. She seemed to be content with my answer as I explained that camp is a place that young people can play, where they can find safety, and they are allowed to take risks. Camp gives us a place to share the Biblical narrative in a unique way. It establishes and fosters community between peers and other adults. It is a place that many find difficult to have the right words to explain to articulate, because it is often a place that we do not experience in our everyday lives, even though we should.

She then shared more about her life, and she looked forward to talking more as summer got closer.

I've been compelled by this conversation. I was grateful for her question, the why? that I challenge to ask of others, but has me step back when asked of myself.

I also wanted to know how others would answer. Here are some of my favorite Twitter responses to this question:

RT @sandykathleen: “What is camp?” My answer: time to disconnect, reconnect, find safety, take risks, and sing awesome songs #camp #kidmin
— Dawn Trautman (@UrbanNomadUSA) March 26, 2013

@sandykathleen the single most amazing thing and invaluable experience in all the world and it is not to be missed. How's that?
— Laura Twedell (@LauraAnne0912) March 25, 2013

@sandykathleen Great question! We are BIG camp fans around here =) It's all about experiencing awe.
— Vibrant Faith Min. (@vibrantfaith) March 25, 2013

Learn more about the experience of awe: Theology of Awe.

@sandykathleen A place to learn and grow in faith while being in community with others; a place to experince new things.
— Victoria (@vlhoppes) March 25, 2013

What would you add to the conversation?

You Have Prepared A Cross For Your Savior

O my people, O my church,
what more could I have done for you? Answer me.

I came to you in the least of your brothers and sisters
a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me,

but I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirty and you give me no drink
sick in prison and you did not visit me.

and you have prepared a cross for your Savior. 

We Call This Friday Good

We are here. We have arrived to the day we call Good Friday. Yet, what is Good Friday:

Palm Sunday and Maudy Thursday

Where are we on our Holy Week journey? This video from SparkHouse's curricula Holy Moly does a great job sharing: 

As a ridiculous sensory adult, these videos are just one of the ways I am looking to experience Holy Week with newness this year. 

We Rode On An Airplane

On Sunday, I listened to stories of elementary age student's recent travels. Some students have just returned from family vacation, while others are still waiting in anticipation of what spring break, that still seems like an infinity away, will be like.

Two siblings joined us in our haphazard circle. The older shared they went to Washington D.C. this past week. The younger of the two, exclaimed with sheer joy, 'We rode on an airplane.' Her arms shot out during her exclamation to make the wings of the plane. And off they went, complementing each other's stories of the trip, mostly surrounding the snacks their dad packed, Twizzler's to keep their ears from popping while landing, and how the houses looked like 'average-sized legos' from the sky. Others chimed in saying things like, 'I've been on an airplane before' or 'I ride them all the time.' After listening to more of this sibling pair's story, it became apparent this had been their first time on a plane, and maybe even the highlight of their trip to D.C.

I use to have that same excitement every time I rode an airplane. As soon as I was situated in my seat, I would make a mental list of every time I had taken a plane, including my first time, a family trip during Spring Break to Disneyland when I was in the first grade. Now, riding an airplane is no big deal. It serves as my main mode of transportation to see family, and most often the only way to partake in celebrations with friends from high school and college. I take airplanes to conferences and to explore new places. I take airplanes a lot.

I'm not sure the exact moment that airplanes became routine for me. That excitement I once had was gone. That mystery of whether my stomach would flip when we landed, now seems silly. I am even so use to airplanes that I have the ability to fall asleep before take off and not wake-up until I am tapped by the person next to me saying that we have landed.

So many places in my life, which I expect for many of you, have lost their mystery or have become too routine. One of those places for me is Holy Week. I know the moment that the altar will be stripped, and I know what to expect in the sanctuary when I enter Easter morning. I know the words, I know the stories, and I know what happens next. This year, I do not want Holy Week to be routine. I do not want to know what comes next. I want to be present in the experience. I want to reclaim the mystery.

I began the journey through Holy Week with the people of Calvary Lutheran in South Minneapolis this past Sunday. As we paraded through the neighborhood singing and waving our palm branches, I wondered what Jesus' processional experience was like. I was in that moment, not thinking of what comes next. And as we left the sanctuary, I did so knowing something else is to come, but I did not need to know what. I was content knowing that this was just the beginning of a week that has transformed us.

This Holy Week, I am removing all which I have previously placed as a norm for these days. I am removing the routine. I am removing the knowing. As the journey continues, I want to be present in the emotions, the stories, and the mystery. Maybe, I will again be filled with my memories surrounding this week, but maybe, just maybe, I will leave Easter Vigil with the same excitement to share the story as those two young children did to share their first ride on an airplane.

The Camp Counselor vs The Intern

The Camp Counselor vs The Intern by Dan Fleshler 

My last summer on staff at camp in Key West 

"What I do there matters," she insisted. In several conversations, she told us about helping a camper cope with her mother's debilitating depression and comforting others whose parents were fighting or separating, about aiding 11 - and 12 -year-olds who were coming to terms with their sexuality, battling anorexia, confronting body fear. She talked about the many hours devoted to water-skiing lessons, about instilling the confidence needed by awkward, gawky, painfully self conscious 8- and 9-year-olds to stay prone in the water, hold on to the rope, then rise up and stay on their feet as the boat pulled away. "What's more important than that?" she asked."

 This article has been taking another round through social media. And it seems to be shared this time to more or less validate the decisions of my friends and their parents to spend another summer at camp. 

Following college graduation, I spent one last summer working at camp. I had been convinced by one of my best friends, and I knew that this would be the last time for an experience like this. I did learn a lot that summed. I continued to foster great friendships and started some new ones. I got one last summer before entering the real world. And at that time, I was still looking for validation of my call to youth and family ministry. 

Yet, I wonder, can camp be a place that also teaches young people the skills that we believe are traditionally learned through an internship. And can both serve as places for self-growth, networking and relationship building, and conversations surrounding vocation?

I see some of this already happening. And I hope to continue to be part of those conversations, because whether camp, internship or a summer working retail, we want these experiences to be experiences of growth, challenge and exploration. 

What If the Kids Don't Want Our Church?

What If the Kids Don't Want Our Church? by Derek Penwell

"But what happens when a generation comes along that doesn't care about the game you've spent so much time buying equipment for, has little invested in the durable nature of the stuff you value? What happens when your kids say, "Don't give me all that stuff. I'll just have a yard sale, and call Goodwill to haul away what's left over"?"

How would you answer the question that is asked in the title of this article? I almost want to scream, 'good.' Maybe this generation that is concerned with adventure and experience is ready to challenge the church to be less concerned with buildings, infrastructures and all that other stuff that has locked us into meetings instead of being the church in the world.