Camp & Church

I have a secret desire and frustration in my heart. As a Christian camp lover and worker I have a great appreciation for the amazing influence camp activities have on individuals and groups of people. Because of my work in this environment, please understand that it is also a bias of mine.

I have seen more honest confession, dedicated commitment, purposeful work, united prayer, changed hearts, intimate relationships, love in action, connection between young and old, benefit to the whole person at Christian camps in one summer than I have EVER seen or experienced or heard about (in Northa America at least) at a Christian Church.

Please understand, I'm not saying these things either to degrade or slander the Church, that is, God's body of people here on earth. I LOVE the church and eagerly desire for us to become mature and complete, not lacking in any good thing from Jesus. And I'm also not on a camp kick as though this might be the only example of a positive environment through which to grow and know Christ. There are many other examples as well.

And yet my question remains. With the emphasis in our evangelical church in North America to attend a church building on a Sunday morning (do or be considered at risk of leaving the fold), I find it rather peculiar that I discover everything I hear from the pulpit acted upon with far more vigour and effort and effectiveness at camp. Why is it I have been scolded for not attending a church in one week and yet fail to produce any 'fruit' of worth in my life and when I live and work and breath camp for 4 months I am changed yet again by the Spirit of God and that relationship only becomes more unfathomable and significant.

"I have the conviction that a few weeks in a well-organized summer camp may be of more value educationally than a whole year of formal school work."
Charles Eliot, former president of Harvard University, in his 1922 treatise on education