I've been receiving an e-newsletter lately from Youth Ministry Today which comes from The Center for Youth Ministry Training where Mark DeVries is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. I've spent a chunk of time with Mark at the Princeton Forums and he is a terrific guy.
A headline in the most recent e-newsletter reads,"tobyMac meets Christ at Camp. Why camp is the best place for students to meet Jesus."
I want to articulate some of my thinking about students and ministry by writing a series of posts that reflect on youth ministry and use this article as a springboard. My intent is to critique the assumptions and theology that underlie the article.
Christian Camping
The Christian Camp and Conference Association reported in 2006 that they represented roughly 1000 camps and that 7.5 million children, youth, and adults participate annually. These camps do not represent the kind of places we saw on the movie Jesus Camp, according to this press release.
So, "Christian Camping" is a significant piece of the American landscape. We have students in our area who have been significantly impacted by their experiences at Christian Camps; places like Young Life properties, Deer Run and Brookwoods (New Hampshire), Dudley (New York), and others.
There is solid theology and developmental psychology behind Christian Camping that goes much farther back than our 20th century American version. There are also some opportunities to rethink/reimagine the way we engage in camping with students that can improve the value of a camping experience. In my next post, I will look desired outcomes of a camping experience.
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