Outdoor Ministries: Present Challenges and Future Outlook

Christian camps across the country are facing tremendous challenges. I continue talking with camps that face serious financial problems, have cut back staff to save money, and are even selling property or considering closing altogether. For the majority of camps that I talk with (most of them Lutheran), summer camper numbers have been in steady decline for the past 5-10 years. While some challenges are uniquely Lutheran, the general decline in summer camp attendance among Christian camps seems to be ubiquitous. The traditional ways of dealing with a decline in numbers are no longer functioning because of tremendous cultural shifts that are changing the role of outdoor ministries in the Church. Consequently, an innovative new program is not enough to curb the decline. Sending the director out to preach at all the area churches is not going to “fix” the problem. These and other strategies may help to slow the decline, but now is the time for a radical reimagining rather than traditional strategies. Here’s why:

Financial Collapse:

The financial collapse of 2008-2009 came at an incredibly inopportune time. Through the ’90s and early ‘00s, camps were steadily increasing in camper numbers and capacity. Full-time executive directors began hiring full-time program directors, and camps recognized the importance of offering year-round ministries. Many mainline camps saw their summer camp numbers peak somewhere around 2000-2002. Building projects, land acquisitions, and staffing expansions during those boom years resulted in debt loads that became unsustainable through an economic collapse. While camps across the country saw dramatic decline in numbers during the economic downturn, most saw a rebound in 2010-2011. Many mainline camps have not seen the same rebound.

Religious Decline:

Mainline Protestant denominations have been in steady decline for the last two decades. My own denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) exhibited a slow decline through the ‘90s and then the loss increased through the ‘00s, culminating in a mass-exodus in 2009-2010, following a change in church policy. The ELCA has lost more than 20% of its baptized membership in the past 10 years. Other denominations are suffering similar declines. The Pew Research General Social Surveys marked a milestone in 2012 as those classified as “Protestant” in the USA fell below 50% for the first time in history. Unfortunately, dramatic declines in mainline denominations have hampered the camper number recovery seen in non-Christian camps around the country during the economic recovery. Evangelical Protestants, who have long derided the mainline’s decline as divine judgment, are now also declining steadily. Their conservative stances may have helped them pick up some disaffected mainliners and slowed the inevitable, but their numbers are now shrinking rapidly. Rather than switching denominations, many people (predominantly younger people) are leaving the church altogether. The so-called “nones” (those professing no religious affiliation) now represent 1 in 5 Americans.

From Congregational Outpost to Hub of Evangelism

With less Christians in the churches, camps that are so dependent on congregational ministry will decline along with their denominations. For years, mainline camps have been “support sites”  or “outposts” for congregations. In fact, this is how many of them were founded, and they continue to operate with “member” congregations and expectations that the camp is there to support the ministry of specific churches. Putting camp announcements in church bulletins and singing camp songs at Sunday school worked great when there were people in the pews. As Outdoor Ministry has evolved, camps have expanded their ministries and now face critical decisions of whether to remain primarily “outposts” for declining congregations (which can only lead to financial ruin) or re-envision their role in the Church, which has the potential to alienate some of their strongest congregational supporters (leading to financial ruin). Evangelical camps that are not as dependent on congregations will fare much better and are in a position to serve as hubs of evangelism (especially to the “nones”), leading young people and adults from camp into lives of discipleship that include participation in worship communities. Tragically, the close ties of mainline camps to their denominations, which for so many years have been mutually beneficial, may lead to the closure of some of the most exemplary outdoor ministry sites in the country.

Changing Demographics:

While camps are providing more and more programming for adults and families, the primary constituency is still children. According to US census data, the child population grew 3% from 2000-2010. Initially, this sounds encouraging. However, this growth is down from 13% in the ‘90s, and growth in child population is exclusively in minority populations. In fact, the number of non-Hispanic white children decreased 10% in 2000-2010. This is where camp needs to face up to a difficult and tragic reality: camp is largely a middle class, white phenomenon. Data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (1) reveal that white children are almost twice as likely to attend a religious camp than non-white children. Middle class kids are 1.7 times more likely to attend than low income kids and 1.2 times more likely than higher income kids. After the economic collapse, the wealth gap has increased dramatically. With less middle class children and less white children, Christian camping as we know it will continue to decline. As much as camps pride themselves on diversity, we need to do much better!
Crisis of Identity:

With so many changes in the economy, national religious climate, demographics, and parent denominations, many camps are struggling to survive under a model that no longer exists. Amidst all of the changes, there are tremendous opportunities. The number of non-profits has exploded (up 25% from 2001-2011, according to Urban Institute), meaning increased opportunities for partnerships. People give $316 billion to charitable organizations (2% of GDP)! Young people are passionate about service and social justice. The larger society and the Church in particular need camp now more than ever. In an age of faceless encounters, we need places of genuine encounter with the other. In an age of increasing suspicion of institutionalized religion and professional clergy, we need ecumenical enclaves of theological dialogue and play focused on lay ministry. In an age of “nature-deficit disorder,” we need places for people to experience and reflect on the importance of God’s creation. The Church needs camp. The problem is that churches do not necessarily see the need. One of the most interesting things about the so-called “nones” is that only 12% of them are atheists (Pew Research). In fact, 68% say that they believe in God! They simply have no use for organized religion, indicating that congregations and denominations are no longer entry points for people into lives of faith. Outdoor ministry sites may offer an alternative. Interestingly, 58% of "nones" say they feel a deep spiritual connection with nature. Christian Outdoor Ministry sites are fertile fields for faith formation and openness to the Holy Spirit moving in new and unexpected ways. Camps need to get over their crisis of identity and follow the movement of the Spirit to their roles as leaders of a new Christian awakening. This will not look like the old model of doing camp. In fact, I’m not sure what it will look like. That is why following the movement of the Spirit is both exciting and scary.

(1) The National Study of Youth and Religion, www.youthandreligion.org, whose data were used by permission here, was generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., under the direction of Christian Smith and Lisa Pearce. Data were downloaded from the Association of Religion Data Archives, www.TheARDA.com.

Living in God's Time: Advent at Camp

The Lutheran Outdoor Ministries summer camp curriculum for 2014 is titled “Living in God’s Time.” Camps will be guiding the campers and staff through the Bible study by way of the liturgical church calendar, focusing the daily themes on Advent, Christmas/Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. In many ways, camp is the ideal place to reconceptualize liturgical practices because of its role as theological playground. The liturgy is meant to be participatory and experiential, creating space for the movement of the Holy Spirit. It is unfortunate that liturgy has become associated with stale, unemotional, institutionalized religion. As a place of imagining new possibilities, camp provides fertile ground to reconsider the richness of liturgical practices. Faith formation at camp includes smells, sounds, experiences, and ritualistic practices. Focusing the Bible study on the liturgical church calendar connects these formative experiences of camp explicitly with the historical practices of Christianity and has the potential to infuse new meaning into these practices for young people who may view church as dull and devoid of meaning.

Advent is probably the most misunderstood season of the church year. Most often, people use Advent as preparation for Christmas, and this has the effect of subsuming the significance of the season into the joy of Christmas. I think this view of Advent is unhelpful. Focusing on Advent allows us to regain Christian hope. Through hope, we recognize that the world is not yet what it was created to be, and we long for the wrong to be made right. The season of Advent is about recognizing the injustice and imperfection of this world and living in hope of something better.

Oftentimes, when Christians talk about hoping for something better, they are referring to heaven. Advent is not about heaven. Advent is about the coming of God into the world. Jesus’ opening proclamation in the gospel of Mark is that “the Kingdom of God has come near” (1:15). In Matthew, this is also the opening message of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2). It is not that we are looking forward to some future appearance of the Kingdom of God or glorification in heaven. The Kingdom of God is breaking into the present world. As disciples of Christ, we are called to participate in this inbreaking, to be workers for the Kingdom. Camp is an ideal time and place to participate in “Kingdom living.”

Advent is about expectant (that is, active) waiting. The Kingdom of God coming near means that we live in a time of “already, but not yet.” The time is at hand and is even now breaking into the present, but it is not yet complete. “Living in God’s Time” is about Advent living. Prepare the way of the Lord. As disciples of Christ, make the Kingdom a reality here on earth. This is not our work alone but rather Christ’s work through us, Christ’s body.

A classic Advent text begins, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 64:1). The prophecy proclaimed by Elijah and the rest of the prophets, including John the Baptist, is that God will intervene amidst the injustice of the world. The vision is one of peace and justice coming here on earth. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame will “leap like a deer!” (Isaiah 35:5-6). Swords and spears will be beaten into plows and pruning hooks, and people will “study war no more” (Isaiah 2:4). Then will be the time of Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14). Advent is the expectant hope that God does not sit exalted in some heaven lightyears away but is even now intervening in this imperfect world.

Imagine beginning your summer camp week with this theme and then participating in “Kingdom living” throughout the week. Imagine gathering with campers around a rotting stump with a green branch growing from the roots and proclaiming the hope of new life or reading the Advent text, “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). Imagine sitting with the campers on a dark night and lighting a single candle as you say, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!” (John 1:5). Our role as camp ministers is the role of John the Baptist: to proclaim in the wilderness the coming of God in the world and to “testify to the light” (John 1:8). As we light their candles at camp, we prepare them for lives of discipleship when they go home, as they bring the light of Christ to a world in darkness.

For more on the opening theme of the curriculum, check out my presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCv_6e0PBj8.

A Different Type of Camp

This past week, I took part in a different type of camp, one that played an even greater role in my childhood than Christian summer camp. I am referring to deer hunting camp. Each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the gun deer hunting season opens in Wisconsin, and I have been participating in deer camp since 1992. Though one hunting buddy is fond of saying, “What happens at deer camp stays at deer camp,” I will take the risk of sharing a few reflections.

People are sometimes taken aback when they discover that I am a hunter. When I explore their discomfort, I usually find that they have a negative idea of what a hunter is and does. Maybe they see hunting in terms of killing and violence to creation. Whatever their specific concerns, these somehow conflict with their impressions of me. When I think of hunting, I think of camp.

Grown men, many of whom are seldom in church, gather at the deer camp. We drink and joke around a great deal, and an outsider might overlook the depth of compassion each has for the others. Through the years, we have helped each other through the hunt: finding deer, cleaning deer, dragging deer, butchering deer. We have also been with each other through very difficult times: heart attacks, injuries, and the loss of loved ones. We share concerns and burdens with one another. We also talk about family and faith. These days, there are very few deer in our section of northern Wisconsin. Each of us has other places we can hunt, but we always come back. Among seven guys this season, we did not get a single deer up north, and we hardly saw any. The truth is that we did not really come up to shoot a deer. We came for deer camp.

Hunting is a primordial skill that has allowed humans to survive and thrive for millennia. For me, deer camp is about family, friends, and the passing on of knowledge from generation to generation. My father is passing this knowledge to me, and I have already begun passing it on to my children. One of the best things about hunting season for me is spending lots of quality time with my dad. I cherish this time. I also cherish the time spent with our hunting friends. This year, I hunted with four different generations! There are few places in our society where knowledge is passed on in this way and the generations mix so intentionally. As we remembered those who have gone before us, we also talked excitedly about the next generation (including my two boys!) that is just now coming of age and will soon join us in the sacred place of deer camp.

At deer camp, we enjoy the wonders of God’s creation together and alone. This year, I saw every sunrise and sunset for seven consecutive days from a secluded spot as the forest came alive around me. I saw deer, turkeys, squirrels, birds, and possums. Through those hours in the tree stands, I prayed for loved ones, remembered times gone by, looked ahead to the future, and enjoyed the present of God’s beautiful creation. It is truly a spiritual time for me, and each year I come back refreshed.

Hunting has given me incredible knowledge and experience about my place in creation. As a whole, our society is too disconnected from our food. Meat comes from a grocery store, and it is difficult to make the connection that I have participated in the killing of an animal when I eat a chicken nugget. Life necessarily includes death. Plants and animals die in order to sustain my life, and one day I will die so that my remains may support new life. Perhaps paradoxically, taking the life of an animal with my own hand has given me a tremendous appreciation for life. I am no longer several stages removed from the animal that travels from farmer to butcher to processor to grocer to me. I can no longer ignore my part in the cycle of life because I am the one who pulled the trigger or released the arrow, and I can never take it back. I witnessed in awe the beauty of the creature that died so that I might live. It is far from barbaric. It is honest. It is life.

This hunting season, it was cold. I spent hours in the woods cold to the bone. My toes and fingers went numb. In the end, I did not shoot a deer. After all, getting a deer is not the real purpose of deer camp. Some people ask me why I would sit for hours in the freezing woods not seeing anything when I could just go buy some meat in the grocery store. I hope this post gives some indication. Happy hunting!

Articulating our Theology of Outdoor Ministries

I spent the past week at an outdoor ministry conference in Lake Tahoe with a group of Presbyterian (PCCCA) and Lutheran (LOM) camp people from across the USA and Canada. Together, we talked about the changing world of outdoor ministries and ways to collaborate in the future. We worshiped together, attended workshops, and listened to some challenging words from keynoter Kelly Fryer. More than any of these formal interactions, we talked and enjoyed wonderful Christian fellowship. We talked about our ministries around the dinner table, in some hot springs, and late at night over several rounds of drinks. Camp professionals are gracious, accommodating, and collaborative people. It was a great joy to share in community and bear one another’s burdens.

What strikes me about the role of outdoor ministry professionals is how much they are forced into the minutia of their work. The reality is that many outdoor ministry sites across the country are struggling for their very survival. There was much talk (including in Fryer’s keynote) about being entrepreneurial and how camps can think outside the box in order to provide funding for their ministries. Executive directors have boards to manage, budgets to meet, and many of them are struggling to hold onto their own jobs amidst crisis. The operative word is survival.

Meanwhile, the impact of outdoor ministries is losing recognition outside the camp circles. At an outdoor ministry conference, we all agree that camp is amazing, faith-forming ministry. From the outside, however, many people question the efficacy and importance of outdoor ministry. Support is dwindling as church membership declines and cooperative organizations like denominations are forced to make difficult budgetary decisions. My own denominational body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has cut the vast majority of its support to the 132 Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOM) sites. Perhaps more troubling, the National Council of Churches recently voted to stop funding their Committee on Outdoor Ministries. Congregational youth ministries continue to have national cooperation, deep theological articulation, and tremendous support, but so little of this is focused on promoting outdoor ministries.

In response, some camps are seeking to broaden their reach with token programs for which they are largely unsuited. Since creative programming is helping to slow the decline for some camps, much of what happens at an outdoor ministry conference is intentional sharing of innovative ideas that are succeeding in bringing people to camp. Again, the focus is on survival and “filling the bunks.” Of course, this is overly simplistic. Camping ministers do what they do because they believe in the power of the ministry and have witnessed that life-changing power at work in people’s lives. The problem I see is that they are forced to focus so much on survival that an overarching philosophy of camping gets pushed into the background. The result is that those not familiar with the power of camp do not hear camp philosophy and theology clearly articulated, so they are left to draw their own conclusions. The conclusion I often hear is that camp is theologically shallow or even dangerous, so camp is at best a fun experience for the church kids and at worst detrimental to their faith formation. With no books or scholarly articles on the topic and very few outdoor ministry education programs, it is no surprise that church professionals turn to the ministries that are getting some buzz, such as short-term mission trips.

My belief is that something deeply theological is happening at camp, and we need to tell that story. We need to articulate a theological framework for outdoor ministries that will help our camps refocus on the camping ministry model that is so effective for faith formation. Our theological priorities matter because they shape who we are and to whom we are oriented moving forward.

Each year, LOM has a Leadership Training Event (LTE), and one of the center pieces of the education is to have each participant develop a “philosophy of outdoor ministries” focused on articulating the philosophy and theology behind the programming. Many of LOM’s current program and executive staff members went through the LTE. When I asked individuals at the conference about their philosophy papers from the LTE, people did not remember what they wrote. Workshops at the conference were almost exclusively practical, with almost nothing focused on articulating the theology and philosophy behind outdoor ministries. Theological priorities may be operative at our camps, but they are not always articulated.

It is time to dust off those philosophy papers and get some theological and scholarly attention on the vital ministry of camp. If you have not written one, sit down and put into words the theological priorities inherent in your outdoor ministry philosophy. We know that something deeply theological is happening at camp, but outsiders do not know that. To them, it’s all just fun and games. There is a lot at stake here, much more than just the survival of our individual camps. The theological priorities of outdoor ministries have the potential to shape the theology and ministry of Christ’s church. The “fun and games” of camp turn out to be generative theological praxes that take seriously the activity of Christ in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. As practical theologians continue to make the case that religious practice is not mere application but rather the very foundation of theological understanding, they would do well to recognize Christian camping ministry as a place where the activity of practical theology is already underway. Church professionals, too, have much to learn from the theological priorities of outdoor ministry. I have articulated some of these priorities in previous blog posts and in academic circles, and I will continue to do so. I invite you to join me.

Theology of the Cross and Camp: What a Mess!

Let’s get something straight: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” is not in the Bible. (All the camp directors give a collective sigh of relief.) We Christians love building nice-looking church buildings “for the glory of God.” We hang beautiful artwork, the communion wear is spotless, and the stainless steel (or crystal) baptismal bowl is filled with fresh, potable water. The churches that really have their program in order boast worship bands that practice hours in advance of the service time so that the music throughout the service will be seamless and beautiful. Worship services are scripted to the point of perfection, and everyone has their part to play. Individually, these things are not necessarily bad, and most of them are done for very sensible reasons. My fear is that a focus on tidiness and cleanliness tends to gloss over the messiness of life and ministry to the point that they are unrecognizable as the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Life is far from neat and tidy. Life is a mess. If the primary place for encountering God is sterilized, what does that say about the relevance of the gospel in daily life? A cursory look at the gospels reveals that Jesus’ ministry was messy. He hung out with the outcasts of society and walked the dusty wilderness roads. The gospels come alive with the smell of the manger, the dirty feet of the disciples, the rot of leprosy, the bloody discharge of the hemorrhaging woman, and the stench of Lazarus’ tomb, yet the institutional church trades the muddy banks of the Jordan for the polished baptismal bowl.

The cross looks all neat and tidy when we place it shining on the altar or discuss theories of the atonement, but there is no tidying up the cross of the crucified God. The cross reveals that God is found in the messy, Godforsaken, suffering world. The tidy God can be controlled, polished, and presented to the masses, but the God of the cross breaks into the world in unexpected ways that cannot be neatly packaged or easily accounted for. Daring to create space for the messy human encounters where Christ might just show up is risky because it can shake the tower of theological academia and challenge denominational institutions. The truth is that much of the great theological work of the 21st century is being done in the dirty, imperfect world of messy relationships where the incarnate Christ is breaking in with news that the Kingdom of God has come near. The church needs places where people can connect as children of God amidst the grittiness of life, acknowledging one another in brokenness, and open to the diversity of ways in which God is working in people’s lives. It is difficult to find a place where this happens more concretely than at the Christian summer camp.

At camp, living in the Spirit becomes a way of life, not a sermon point. In intentional Christian community and through active engagement with the word of God and the practices of faith, campers are awakened to the possibility, or even the probability, that they will see God in some unique, unexpected way. At camp, young people become the recipients and the providers of pastoral care, with more direct attention to the reality of their suffering than most (if not all) other communities to which they belong. God shows up outside the pristine walls of the sanctuary in a grove of trees, an outdoor amphitheater, a campfire ring, or a lakefront. If they associate the church as place of worship with “the house of God,” they are able to reevaluate their notions of where God’s presence is found.

Even the camps that practice these virtues are far from idyllic worlds. Camps are risky places, full of tetanus, giardia, high-risk adventure activities, theological catastrophes, hormonal adolescents, and atrocious B.O. The reality is that relationships, experimentation, and openness to questioning make for a very messy environment not unlike the places Christ selected for his ministry. College-age summer staff that have very little theological training are wrestling with big faith questions alongside children and adolescents in their care. The explanations they try out in camp’s theological playground may or may not be theologically sound, but their wonderings are encouraged and theological thinking is affirmed in a manner that has life-long and even cross-generational implications. This theological playground is full of mistakes and failed experiments. It is messy. But the mess is where Christ shows up. Perhaps the most important thing that camp can teach the larger church is to be more comfortable with the mess.

Encountering the Other: Vocational Discernment at Camp

Like the adults who teach them, few young people live with a conviction that God is calling them. They live compartmentalized lives in which religious activities are separated from other commitments. Even if they consider themselves Christian, they are unlikely to bring theological reflection to bear on life circumstances, and they are even less likely to participate in daily faith practices. At camp, participants experience the rhythm of daily Christian living, where days are structured with devotions, Bible study, prayer, and worship. Participants live in a sort of “hyperawareness” for the inbreaking of God at any moment, which facilitates the “teachable moment.” This atmosphere is in sharp contrast to the majority of American homes. Integration of religious activities with daily living facilitates an awareness of God’s work in all aspects of life, and it encourages reflection on God’s activity in the world. It may be clear to a young person that God is present in a church building on Sunday morning, and so it makes sense that a pastor, priest, or deacon has a divine calling. At camp, the same young person may worship God at an outdoor chapel, around a campfire ring, or in a swimming pool and thus gain a broader understanding of where God is present and active. God is not located in a specific place or confined to a specific time of the week. God is at work in all realms of creation, and the divine calling can happen anywhere.

The turn toward the other is the beginning of vocation. The other is ever before us, in all his strangeness and alterity. The other calls to us, silently and aloud, with her own particular needs that may be complimentary to or in conflict with our own. A simple acknowledgement is not enough, and a cursory study will not suffice. An encounter with the other requires on-the-ground, face-to-face, heart-to-heart interaction that popular culture seldom facilitates or even allows. There are few places where social and cultural barriers that impede direct encounter with the other are effectively broken down, but camp seeks to demolish them. Camp is a place where adults play silly games and handshakes turn into hugs. At camp, intimacy is the default. Masks are removed to reveal the Face in all its particularity. Over the course of their days together, campers see one another in a variety of emotional and physical states. It does not matter if a camper is dirty and smelly because everyone is dirty and smelly. Campers have the opportunity to see the other away from the baggage of cultural and social stereotypes in a safe, loving environment and also to allow themselves to be seen. Instead of texting their friends about the lame experience they are having, the campers are forced to make sense of the person who is right in front of them. The other is not a screen name or an avatar; he is living and human.

The breaking down of barriers facilitates an intentional recognition of the other as integral to the created order, as special and beloved in God’s sight. For campers used to being put down and marginalized, the camp experience can be radically empowering.  Camp provides the space for differences and celebrates uniqueness. This focus on the other empowers individuals within the community and actually subverts societal forces that marginalize individuals and divide groups. “The other” matters because God is at work in this good creation, and God is speaking through the other, in spite of the brokenness and lack of faith. Vocationally speaking, this means that God is calling to me through the other and that the other is being called, a recognition that honors the other as a unique creation of God. Focusing on the origin of the vocational call reorients a person to “the other” and shifts the initial response from “I have a calling” to “Someone is calling.”

The Camp Guy Amidst the Academy

This past weekend, I attended my very first academic conference. I was nervous not only because I did not quite know what to expect from a group of "academics" but also because I was scheduled to present a paper. Since the main goal of pursuing my PhD is bringing more scholarly and intentional theological attention to outdoor ministries, I felt like there was a lot riding on my presentation. I tried to remain confident about my project and my abilities as a presenter, but doubts kept encroaching as the conference drew nearer. What if all the respectable academics thought my ideas were ridiculous? What if they did not accept me as a peer and colleague? What if nobody showed up to my presentation? What if I got to the middle of the presentation and really had to pee?
My experience at the Association of Youth Ministry Educators (AYME) conference in Chicago was tremendously positive. In retrospect, I am not sure why I expected anything different. Maybe I was hung up on the stereotypes of academics as stuffy, anti-social people with chips on their shoulders always ready to rip apart someone else's argument. In contrast to this, what I actually encountered were people. Real people. Many are published, and some are highly respected for their academic work, but they are people. More than anything, what I experienced at the AYME conference was Christian community. We were gathered in an atmosphere of building up the Body of Christ rather than tearing each other apart. This was in spite of a diversity of denominational affiliations and theological priorities. So I found myself hearing personal family struggles, having a drink, and watching a zombie movie with "respectable academics," who turned out to be genuine human beings.
The presentation itself went well. My colleagues showed a true interest in the research I uncovered about outdoor ministries and the connections I made in the paper with faith formation in emerging adults (see the previous two posts for some highlights). They asked great questions, and we had a respectful conversation.
One of my preconceived notions was that academics would view camp as theologically shallow and unworthy of serious consideration. I think in this case I was mixed in with the right crowd. As I got to know more and more of the 100+ youth ministry professors and other educators at the conference, I heard more and more stories about camp. Most of them had camp experiences in their past, and many shared stories of profound faith-forming experiences at camp. In many ways, this group of academics was prepared to hear that camp is a theologically rich environment. The conference was a very affirming experience for me. These colleagues truly let me know that I have broad support and caring accompaniment for my academic journey. They want me to succeed. They want me to succeed not only because they care about my project on outdoor ministries but also because they took time to learn about me, and they actually care about me as a brother in Christ.
As I continue to consider the incredibly affirming environment of Christian camp communities, it strikes me that this group of academics really gets it. In the context of caring Christian community, camp participants are nurtured in their vocational discernment, comforted through suffering, and accompanied through times of doubt. I never thought I would find a "camp like" environment at an academic conference. In conversation with colleagues, I heard deep hurt and suffering, and I felt like I was in a holy place as I bore witness to their stories, even as they bore witness to mine. The experience surprised me, but it was a refreshing surprise to find authentic Christian community in an unexpected place. I do not expect to have the same experience at all the academic conferences I attend, but at least now I know that I have true community support for the journey ahead.

Emerging Adult Faith Formation and the Camp Experience

In diverse studies on emerging adult religiosity, three essential factors consistently rise to the top as important for lasting faith formation: relationships, internalization of faith, and incorporation of faith into daily living. These factors align remarkably with the “essential trinity” of camping: community living, away from home, and in an outdoor, recreational environment. This alignment demonstrates why Christian summer camps are vibrant expressions of the church and tremendous laboratories for emerging adult faith formation.

Community Living: The Power of Relationships 

Given that Christianity is necessarily a communal religion, it is no surprise that the most consistent finding among the diverse studies on emerging adult religiosity is that relationships matter. As the notion of “individual spirituality” becomes increasingly popular among young people, they are encouraged to find their own spiritual path. Camp provides a radical alternative. Community living is the first and most important of camping’s “essential trinity.” Relationships form around daily practices of prayer, worship, and scripture reading to create intentional Christian communities. Over the course of the summer, emerging adult staff members support one another through physical and emotional exhaustion, personal crises, and a variety of new experiences. They share moments of intense joy and deep sorrow. As the community encounters conflict, they forgive and work through their differences rather than turning their backs on each other or “unfriending” someone. They bond in such an intimate way that at the beginning of each camp session during the summer, young campers are welcomed as honored guests into an already thriving Christian community. With the overall picture of emerging adults characterized by disengagement from religious communities, summer camp communities serve as bastions of hope and possibilities for the church of the 21st century.

Away from Home: A Chance to Own the Faith

The second essential aspect of emerging adult faith formation that researchers consistently identify is internalization of faith. Young people need to “own” their faith. Upon entering emerging adulthood, those who have not thought critically about their faith and identity are suddenly open to new possibilities and allowed to “be themselves” for what they perceive as the first time. Without the benefit of a supportive community as they are facing these difficult transitions, it is no wonder that so many emerging adults stray from the faith of their childhood.

The second of the “essential trinity” of camping is away from home. As set-apart communities of faith, Christian camps are ideal incubators of vocational identity. Away from the expectations and fixed judgments of school peers and family members, camp participants are able to deeply explore their identities in a safe, caring environment. They are given space for the essential task of differentiation, and they are encouraged to take risks. As the staff members explore and even experiment with new theological ideas and consider their vocational calling, new summer campers arrive each session with their own doubts and, perhaps for the first time in their lives, are able to express them openly without fear of judgment as a loving community proclaims the nature of their true identity through words and deeds: “You are a beloved child of God.”

An Outdoor, Recreational Environment: Living and Breathing the Faith

Finally, the emerging adult studies identify incorporation of faith into daily living as essential for faith formation. An intense focus on “right belief” is ripping the church apart and contributing to the estrangement of the majority of emerging adults, for whom Christianity has become defined by hypocrisy and rejection of others with different beliefs. Camps are effective places of emerging adult faith formation, in part, because they are focused on Christian action. Camp is experiential, as the third of the “essential trinity” of camping indicates: camp takes place in an outdoor, recreational setting. Didactic sermons are replaced by a theological playground in which young people are actively participating in faith practices, reflecting theologically on everyday occurrences, and holding one another in a community of love. For young people accustomed to compartmentalizing their experience of God at church as separate from their everyday lives, the camp experience offers a radical recentering of their lives as caught up in and dependent upon the activity of Christ. Camp participants are open to the possibility, or even probability, that God will show up in some unique, unexpected way.

As vibrant, faith-formative expressions of the church, Christian camps deserve a fresh look by scholars and church leaders as we seek to minister with emerging adults in the church of the 21st century.

Christian Camping in Light of Emerging Adult Research

Christian outdoor ministry is an incredibly understudied field. As scholarly attention increases in the fields of youth ministry and emerging adult ministry, camp is conspicuously absent from nearly every study. Evidence for camp’s effectiveness is left largely to anecdotal accounts that seem convincing to those of us who have had wonderful camp experiences but leave others in doubt. Camp is often viewed as mere fun and games, an experience that at best is theologically shallow and at worst detrimental to young people’s conceptions of God and themselves. As one colleague put it, “Camp is a mile wide and an inch deep.”

Increased scholarship on the new life stage of “emerging adulthood,” combined with growing recognition of the tremendous changes taking place in Christianity, signal that the time is ripe for a fresh scholarly look at the camp experience. Whether there is a “great emergence”(1) or some new great awakening,(2) the tremendous cultural changes of the past century have coincided with the advent of the life stages of adolescence and emerging adulthood. Christian camps have emerged amidst these changes, in many ways responding to them, and they offer a fascinating intersection of the adolescent world, emerging adult world, and innovative ideas in Christianity that make them theological laboratories for the church of the 21st century.

While scholars are sounding alarm bells because of the rise of the “nones,” a growing demographic claiming no religious affiliation, thriving Christian communities of emerging adults are springing up every summer at camps across the country. A close analysis of the priorities of the camp experience alongside the factors that influence faith formation in emerging adults demonstrates why camp staff communities are such vibrant expressions of the church and offers valuable insights into ministry with youth and emerging adults.

As emerging adults get more and more scholarly attention, each study confirms that they are the least religious segment of society, which is one of the reasons that the Christian summer staff community is so unique. While many studies seem content to use words such as “lost” to describe the emerging adult demographic,(3) a new Canadian study prefers a more graphic characterization of their faith as “hemorrhaging.”(4) The wonderful thing about having so much attention on the attrition of emerging adult religiosity is that there are loads of data indicating how to engage them in faith practices. Moving from one graphic metaphor to another, researchers are identifying how to move from hemorrhaging faith to “sticky faith.”(5)

Of the many factors important for forming and sustaining faith in the emerging adult years, three rise to the top in every major study. First and foremost is the importance of relationships in forming and sustaining faith. The research shows that faith simply does not exist without community support, no matter how much toner is burned over the concepts of “individual spirituality” and “spiritual but not religious.” Second is a genuine internalization of the faith, which includes identity formation and differentiation. Third is an incorporation of faith practices into everyday life.

For those of us with experiences in Christian camping, these three essential aspects sound remarkably similar to the Christian camp experience. For those who are less familiar with camp and may think that “camp theology” is an oxymoron, consider these three aspects of emerging adult religiosity alongside what some call “the essential trinity of camping”: 

1) community living (think intentional Christian relationships)

2) away from home (think opportunities for internalization of faith)

3) in an outdoor recreational environment (think incorporation of faith practices into everyday life)

With the incorporation of daily faith practices and intentional Christian reflection, the Christian camp experience becomes an ideal laboratory for emerging adult faith formation. For scholars and church leaders, it is time to take a closer look at the role of Christian outdoor ministries in faith formation.

1. Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008).

2. Diana Butler-Bass, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (New York: Harper Collins, 2012).

3. David Kinnaman, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2011). Christian Smith, Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood (Oxford, 2011).

4. James Penner, Rachael Harder, Erika Anderson, Bruno Desorcy, and Rick Hiemstra, Hemorrhaging Faith: Why and When Canadian Young Adults are Leaving, Staying and Returning to Church (EFC Youth and Young Adult Ministry Roundtable, 2013).

5. Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark, Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in your Kids (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

The Awkward Place of Camp at the NYWC

I had the opportunity to attend Youth Specialties' National Youth Worker's Convention (NYWC) this past weekend in San Diego. Besides enjoying the beautiful weather of San Diego with my wife and some great colleagues, I heard some excellent presenters, worshiped with a couple thousand youth workers, and had some great discussions about youth ministry. As a camp guy, I was hyperaware of any reference to the camp experience, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that camp was everywhere at the NYWC. In the exhibitor's hall, there were many camps represented. While I was excited to see them there, I was disappointed that they were California camps promoting their specific camps rather than organizations promoting Christian camping in general. In the "big room," where there were six large-group high energy gatherings with spectacular light shows and big name Christian bands with body-vibrating bass lines, several of the speakers talked about their camp experiences, at least in passing. From one perspective, it looked like camp was everywhere. Clearly, the keynote speakers and seminar leaders recognized camp as a common experience of the youth workers present.
But there was a troubling pattern that has become all-too familiar to me: camp experiences were used simply as anecdotes. At one of the seminars I attended, the presenter told a camp story to break the ice before getting into his presentation. Mark Yaconelli, in his keynote address, talked about camp as an exhausting experience for youth workers in order to illustrate that we have a difficult job. As a way of connecting with the experience of the youth workers present, the lead singer of Urban Rescue proclaimed that the band plays at a lot of camps and truly respects what the youth workers do. A lot of people were referring to camp, but nobody was really talking about it, analyzing it, or discussing its merits and drawbacks. The NYWC provides meaningful discussion and training on a myriad of topics related to youth ministry, and many of the presenters have brought deeper theological discussion to youth ministry and respect to youth ministry as a calling. Sadly, camp is not getting the respect and theological discussion that it deserves.
By way of illustration, we can look at the attention devoted to short-term "mission" trips. Of the 73 very diverse seminars offered at the NYWC, not a single one was devoted to camp, while 2 were devoted specifically to short-term mission trips. Nearly every major study of youth and religion includes an analysis of mission trips and their effect on faith formation, but camp variables are absent, even though more teenagers have attended a Christian camp than have gone on mission trips (1). Though youth mission trips get a great deal of attention in books and journals, a consistent theme among many of the studies is that these trips are not very effective tools for faith formation. In a long list of important factors for lasting faith formation, Christian Smith, citing data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, pointedly lists mission trips at the very bottom under the category "not independently important" (2). Similarly, the Sticky Faith study raises many cautions about putting too much stock in the annual youth mission trip (3). While plenty of data are available to intelligently discuss the merits of youth mission trips, considerable digging is required in order to find data on the impact of the Christian summer camp experience on faith formation. Maybe this is why camp is ignored as a "topic" at the NYWC. There are no books, articles, or reliable studies, so there is nobody to talk about the merits of camp. Everyone seems to recognize it as important, so they mention it anecdotally in front of 2,000 youth workers, but they are not quite ready to discuss it or study it. It is time for a deep examination of the Christian camp experience that can bring scholarly, theological discussion to bear on this important ministry.

(1) Christian Smith, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford: University Press, 2005).

(2) Christian Smith, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults (New York: Oxford, 2009), 218.

(3) Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark, Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in your Kids (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 129-131.

The Crucible of Camp

One of the most powerful aspects of the Christian camp experience is that young people are uprooted from their normal routines and then re-rooted in intentional Christian communities where they are challenged and allowed to ask critical questions about their normal routines. F. LeRon Shultz and Steven Sandage formulate a model that they refer to as “the cycle of spiritual dwelling.” While this cycle is associated with “comfort and safety,” it often leads “to boredom and disappointment as spiritual practices and experiences become too predictable or lacking in the vitality necessary for certain developmental challenges.”(1) Intense experiences away from home such as the camp experience can serve as what they call a “crucible,” leading to an awakening that facilitates spiritual growth. It is telling that they use terms such as “anxiety” and “challenge” when speaking about the crucible of spiritual growth, as these are concepts that are embraced in the camp environment through adventure-based learning, wilderness immersion, and challenge course activities. Studies confirm what camp experts believe about the effectiveness of challenge activities on spiritual growth. One study of 114 campers found that “Christian spiritual beliefs could be strengthened through a combination of explicit spiritual teaching and the ‘real world’ settings of group and personal challenges in the out-of-doors,” specifically highlighting challenge course activities and backpacking trips.(2)

Kenda Dean describes camp as a “liminal” place that “reminds young people that they are momentarily ‘suspended’ between daily life and eternal promises.”(3) Elsewhere, Dean likens camp to a language immersion experience. Campers may have received some level of instruction in their home congregations, and some may even be well-versed in theological language, but the immersion experience of camp offers “concentrated practice in the words and deeds that testimony involves.” Campers experience the daily life of faith and become “more secure in their faith identities, and therefore more confident and explicit in telling the God-story of their tradition.”(4) In the nurturing environment of Christian community, campers are empowered to ask difficult questions about their faith and life experiences. This allows for differentiation from home communities and theological traditions. While some congregations and families get nervous about this process, the model Shultz and Sandage offer demonstrates that it is necessary for theological development. Campers have an opportunity to step away from their faith traditions and find their own theological voices. Through the immersion experience of camp, young people are sent out to bring their new understandings to their home communities, which they now see in a new light as a result of their immersion in the place of camp.

Karen-Marie Yust notes that a common critique of the camp experience is that it creates a “mountaintop experience” that leaves the participants on a “spiritual high” that is not sustainable away from the community.(5)  Certainly, the camp experience does not stand on its own and must rely on home communities to offer continued care and support to the camp participants. One of the great tragedies of the Christian camp experience is when an empowered young person returns to a home community hoping to have a voice and is instead stifled. Oftentimes, the young person is forced back into a cycle of spiritual dwelling that is no longer comfortable. Instead of acknowledging spiritual growth in the young person and their own potential for transformation in an encounter with that young person, adult leaders demand that the young person reintegrate. These adults, who may be church leaders, are operating under a theological anthropology that is constant and unchanging, which does not take into account an expectation for spiritual transformation and denies the research and theology that reveal human beings as always becoming. These families and faith communities are missing tremendous opportunities for spiritual growth, and they are inauthenticating genuine spiritual transformation in favor of the rigidity of the status quo.

(1) F. LeRon Shultz and Steven J. Sandage, Transforming Spirituality: Integrating Theology and Psychology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 32-33.

(2) Jimmy Griffin, “The Effects of an Adventure Based Program with an Explicit Spiritual Component on the Spiritual Growth of Adolescents,” The Journal of Experiential Education 25 (2003), 351.

(3) Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean, The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 170.

(4) Kenda Creasy Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford: University Press, 2010), 154-155.

(5) Karen-Marie Yust, “Creating an Idyllic World for Children’s Spiritual Formation,” International Journal of Children’s Spirituality 11 (2006), 177-188.

Do we need camp?

As with their congregational counterparts, Christian camps differ widely in their ministry practices, theological priorities, and effectiveness. Through their many differences, Christian camps are united in their incorporation of the biblical witness and Christian faith practices into the camping experience (community living, away from home, and in an outdoor recreational setting), which provides fertile ground for Christian identity formation, spiritual transformation, and human flourishing. Anecdotal evidence for camp’s effectiveness is unreliable because it is easy to find someone who had an amazing, life affirming, faith forming experience at camp, and it is also easy to find someone else who had a horrendous time at camp. The question is not whether or not camp is effective in faith formation because it is both, depending on the camp and the individual experience. The questions to be asked are theological questions: 1) How is camp an expression of faithful living in light of the biblical witness to God’s activity in the world? and 2) What does camp offer to the life and ministry of Christ’s church?

The first question finds a robust response throughout the biblical witness. Community living, the first of the “essential trinity” of Christian camping, is the most emphasized and powerful aspect of the camping experience. The biblical mandate for human community flows from God’s declaration that it is not good for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) to the great multitude from every nation praising God in the heavenly vision of Revelation. At the heart of the gospel message is Jesus’ most basic command to his followers: to love one another as he has loved us (John 13:34). In an increasingly individualistic society that emphasizes personal gain and personal spirituality, camp models community fellowship and the ministry of hospitality. Camp also attends to the experience of God in the wonders of creation, from which young people are increasingly estranged. Throughout scriptures, there are stories of encounters with God in the wilderness. God shows up in a burning bush on a hillside (Exodus 3:2), a still small voice outside a cave (1 Kings 19:11-13), a whirlwind (Job 38:1), a descending dove at the Jordan River (Mark 1:10-11), a voice from a cloud on the mountain of transfiguration (Mark 9:7), and a blinding flash of light on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). Besides offering extended opportunities for young people to enjoy and care for God’s beautiful creation, camp takes seriously the inbreaking of God, the possibility that God might show up at any moment.

The second theological question is, what does the Christian summer camp experience offer to the life and ministry of Christ’s church? The answer to this question is not as straightforward as the first. Certainly, there is strong biblical and theological support for the ministry of summer camp. However, people can envision other forms of ministry that incorporate the biblical mandates to care for the earth, love the neighbor, live in community, remain open to the inbreaking of God, and all of the other things that camp allegedly does so well. In fact, the church got along quite well without camp for 18 centuries. So the question is, what are the unique gifts and experiences that camping ministry has to offer the church of the 21st century?

The Christian church is going through a time of radical change, realignment, and transformation. Whether it is a “great emergence,” a new, improved spiritual awakening or something that researchers have not quite identified, it is clear that secularism is on the rise, long-established religious institutions are floundering, and new faith expressions are rising and falling almost as fast as the myriad books rushing to characterize the new movements. In the midst of the change, teenagers and emerging adults are largely unaware that anything is amiss. At camp, the worlds of children, teenagers, and emerging adults mix as nowhere else in society. With the incorporation of the word of God and practices of faith, the faith communities at camp become unique expressions of Christ’s church that are theological laboratories for the church of the 21st century. Christian camps are unique places for envisioning and modeling forms of faithful ministry that have the power to shape not only the lives of individual Christians, but also the church as it navigates changing times.

Christian Identity at Camp

If psychoanalysts, neuroscientists, and theologians are correct that identity is contingent on relationship to the other, there is much work to be done in a society that links identity to individual achievement. Several major studies confirm that camps have tremendous potential for identity development. Most notable is ACA’s 2005 Directions study of more than 3,000 campers at 80 camps. The study measured the “positive identity” constructs of “self-esteem” and “independence” and found significant gains from pre-camp to post-camp surveys, and the gains were maintained in a six-month follow-up survey and confirmed by parents. (1) However, a distortion comes when camps emphasize achievement, a distortion not limited to sports camps and secular camps. Christian camps that emphasize personal salvation through actions and decisions also distort identity formation by making it contingent on the individual rather than the other. In the intentional community of camp that is so radically focused on recognizing the needs of the other over one’s own, a programmatic emphasis on individual achievement confuses the participants, who are forced to choose between their own success (which may mean manipulating the community for personal gain) and success of the other. Camps must work to avoid this confusion by focusing programmatically on cooperative games, servant leadership, and Christ’s command to love one another (John 13:34).

Through a Christological lens, Christians declare that identity comes ultimately not from the other who is our neighbor but the Other who is God at work in the neighbor. God’s very identity as Trinity is defined as a relationship in the mutual indwelling (perichoresis) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and human identity is defined in relation to God and in relation to one another. In the daily rhythm of the Christian camp experience, participants are reminded of their identity in Christ throughout the day. The teenager who has been told repeatedly from uncaring peers at school that she is ugly and fat hears the words at camp from trusted friends, “You are God’s beautiful creation,” and their caring actions throughout the session confirm their words. The one labeled “delinquent” who has been told by school officials that he is “a bad seed” hears the promise “You are forgiven,” as a trusted adult traces the sign of the cross on his forehead. The foster child who has bounced from school to school and home to home hears the words, “You are a beloved child of God.” The child who is labeled “disabled” mentally or physically becomes the hands and feet of Christ reaching out in love to an unsuspecting other. Identity is grounded in relationship to the God who is in relationship, and the Christian camp community provides space, both physical and psychosocial space, for participants to experience daily living as part of the family of God.

Practical theologian James Loder sheds light on the essential identity found in relationship to God. Borrowing from Kierkegaard, he speaks of an “indwelling” of God’s Spirit in humanity that mimics the perichoretic relationship of the Trinity. In the Spirit of the transcendent creator God come near to be in relationship with humanity, the individual finds what Loder calls “intimacy in the context of ultimacy,” which has power to negate the drives of the ego so that the person can live in response as “I - not I - but Christ” serving the other.

 Loder says, “Given clarity about the object of faith, Jesus Christ, and the transformational work of his spirit, the struggle to work out who one is only in relation to why one exists at all forges an identity of theological proportions.” (2) As participants at camp (or Christians in other circumstances) come to understand their identity as child of God, their focus turns away from the self to the “why” of their existence, which is found in the “someone” of their calling, the God at work in creation and through the other. Picking up on Loder’s argument, Kenda Dean addresses the implications of this identity as “counter to the expectations of society, and therefore it actually impedes our ability to succeed by the standards of contemporary culture.” (3) This is why the studies of the “Positive Youth Development” movement only take our analysis so far. Their focus is on what makes youth successful and productive members of society. While there is some overlap, a theological anthropology necessarily chafes against an individualistic society of achievement as it calls for radical love of the other.

1) American Camp Association, “Directions: Youth Development Outcomes of the Camp Experience,” (Martinville, IN: Author, 2005).

2) James E. Loder, The Logic of the Spirit: Human Development in Theological Perspective (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998), 248.

3) Kenda Creasy Dean, Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), 34.

The Importance of God's Creation in Faith Formation at Camp

The theological anthropology modeled in the Christian camp environment demands that humans take seriously their part in creation. From its very beginnings, the Christian camping movement has recognized the power of the natural world to facilitate faith formation when combined with theological reflection.(1) Numerous studies connect spiritual or faith growth to outdoor recreation experiences,(2) and there is evidence that participants view religious outdoor recreational experiences as “significant life experiences” decades later.(3) The unique environment of community living and outdoor recreation have great potential to facilitate spiritual development.(4) Transcending the studies demonstrating camp’s effectiveness is the Christian proclamation that God took on flesh (John 1:14), the very carbon-based matter of the created world that comes from the ground and returns to the ground (Genesis 3:19). The union of the human and the divine in Jesus Christ proclaims simultaneously God’s immanence and transcendence. God is here immanently with humanity in the midst of human relationships and yet this God remains holy, transcendent, and Other. Experiences in God’s creation can help recover a sense of awe and majesty in the presence of God. With the writer of Psalm 8, the young person is invited to consider the works of God’s fingers in the wonder of the starry night sky, the rugged mountains, or the powerful stream and realize in the depth of her being that the God who created all of that cares for her and crowns her “with glory and honor.” Recognizing one’s situatedness within creation moves the camp participant away from individualism and toward recognition of the other, to the “someone” who is calling through the neighbor and creation itself, as the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1).

1) Abigail A. Van Slyck, A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890-1960 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006), 52-57.

2) Paul Heintzman surveys and incorporates a variety of these studies. Paul Heintzman, “Nature-Based Recreation and Spirituality: A Complex Relationship,” Leisure Sciences 32 (2010), 72-89.

3) Brad Daniel, “The Life Significance of a Spiritually Oriented, Outward Bound-Type Wilderness Expedition,” Journal of Experiential Education 29 (2007): 286-389.

4) Two of the researchers from ACA’s 2005 “Directions” study make this connection explicitly with data from the study. Karla A. Henderson and M. Deborah Bialeschki, “Spiritual Development and Camp Experiences.” New Directions for Youth Development 118 (Summer 2008): 107-110.

The Gospel without Gunpowder

Last week, I had the privilege of traveling to Tokyo, Japan with my wife. Besides celebrating our 10th anniversary, the occasion for our trip was my college roommate’s marriage to a wonderful Japanese girl. My roommate traveled to Japan in 2005 with the Young Adults in Global Mission program of the ELCA. I expected him to return to the good old USA in a year or two, but he decided to stay in Tokyo to teach English. After a while, I figured it had to be about a girl, so I was not surprised when the wedding announcement came.

Neither my wife nor I had been to Japan before. Because of our gracious hosts, we enjoyed a great tour of the area and some amazing food, including raw fish, sake, and some excellent noodles. The cleanliness of Tokyo (there was no garbage anywhere!) puts our American cities to shame, and we noticed bicycles everywhere, most of them unlocked. I discovered that robbery is about 200 times more likely per capita in the United States than in Japan (that’s 20,000%). Honor and respect are important themes in Japanese culture. There were also green spaces everywhere in Tokyo with beautiful streams and tall trees. These green spaces were almost always surrounding a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine. Somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of the population practices one of these religions.

Christianity, it turns out, is less common. About one percent of the population (around 1.5 million people) is Christian, and between 20 and 30 thousand are Lutheran. Christianity has a complicated history in Japan that includes 200 years of heavy persecution and some notorious cases of mass crucifixion in the 17th century. In Japan, Christianity is inextricably linked to Western influence. Being Christian is, in many ways, counter-cultural. We can preach counter-cultural Christianity in an American culture of waste, crime, and general suspicion of the other. In Japan, however, being counter-cultural kind of loses its luster. I like a culture that has deep respect for family, has a strong connection to nature in the midst of the largest city on earth, takes pride in keeping things looking nice, and welcomes the stranger in open hospitality. Christianity in this culture should look beautiful. But what about Western Christianity? When the Jesuits came in the 16th century, they brought Christianity and gunpowder. Historically, it is difficult to separate Christian mission from Western imperialism and colonialism.

We joined the 50 or so regular worshippers at my friend’s Lutheran congregation on Sunday morning. Worship reminded me of services at my childhood church in the 1980’s. The only difference was that everything was in Japanese. Otherwise, I knew when we were on the Kyrie, prayer of the day, creed, and everything else. The hymns were all European-style, complete with organ. They even had coffee time after the service! I was hoping for more of a cultural experience in worship, and I found myself wondering if the Western bias could be separated from Christianity in Japan. Christianity seems to thrive in the U.S., with a murder rate 8 times that of Japan. Can our missionaries leave the gunpowder behind?

What does mission look like in Japan, which is the world’s 3rd largest economy? They do not need our hunger meal packages or our health kits. Maybe our Japanese brothers and sisters can help us. Maybe a culture that overflows with respect and cooperation can bring us a Christianity without gunpowder.

As I marveled at the European style service in Japanese and wondered if Christianity could ever be separated from Western influence, I looked up as the pastor raised a cup and spoke. I heard neither Japanese nor English but rather the words of Christ. I gathered with my brothers and sisters at the rail, and despite language and cultural differences, we shared in Christ’s body and blood. Mission is about accompaniment and mutual sharing. American Christians have a lot to learn from the people of Japan. As we build relationships and share in fellowship, Christ is present.

No More Hurting People

I watched in horror with the rest of the country. The Boston Marathon bombing touched me as an American, a runner, a father, and a man of faith. I wore one of my race shirts on Tuesday in support of the runners. That was the day that Martin's picture was released all over the news media. Martin Richards is the 8 year-old boy who was killed in the bombing. The picture I saw shows him holding a sign that reads, "No more hurting people." As a father of an 8 year-old boy, the image hit me emotionally and viscerally. The plea written in his own hand a few months before his brutal killing seems simple. It is so obvious to an 8 year-old what the solution is to violence: stop hurting people! I contemplated his words as I sought to sort out my feelings. Part of me wanted swift vengeance. I knew that American law enforcement would find the culprit and bring him to justice. Another part of me demanded that I look at young Martin's sign: no more hurting people.

Like so many others, I followed the police chase in real-time as the FBI identified the bombing suspects, confronted them in a shootout late Thursday evening, closed down the city of Boston on Friday, and finally confronted the surviving suspect on Friday evening. As the flashing lights covered my TV screen and the scattered reports of a boat, blood, and shots fired coalesced into a narrative, I was sure that they had killed him. I remember being grateful. The ordeal was over. People did not have to fear these terrorists anymore. They were dead. Then came the news conference, and I discovered that one of the bombers was still alive. The media showed his picture. They showed some of his family and friends.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is his name. He grew up in America, graduated from high school, and was attending college. He is 19 years old. In my years at camp, I have worked with a lot of 19 year-olds. Somehow, when I saw his face and heard his name, little Martin's sign came back into my mind: "No more hurting people." I can no longer think of him as "the suspect" or "the bomber." His name is Dzhokhar, and he is a young man with friends and family who love him and are trying to make sense of his senseless act of violence. Nothing can justify his act of terror or bring back little Martin and the others he killed. Is it wrong of me to humanize a terrorist like Dzhokhar, who by all accounts should be labeled a monster? I wonder what Jesus would ask of me. I think of Dzhokhar and cannot help seeing a human being, a flawed and broken human being lost in the wilderness. He deserves to die, and Martin deserved to live. It seems so simple. But it's not. It's complicated. As I try to sort out my feelings, my rage at the bombings cannot get past Martin's sign: no more hurting people.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:16-17

The Seed

My children will know where their food comes from. The convenience of a grocery store allows our society to get practically any type of food any time of year. If my children want an apple in January or pumpkin pie in May, I can find some at the grocery store. The convenience of the grocery store allows us to get pre-packaged frozen meals that can be heated in seconds and eaten in minutes. We can ignore the people who labored for low wages, the methods that damaged ecosystems, and the miles the food was transported because it looks so pretty on the shelf. But my children will know that their food does not come from a grocery store. At a restaurant, we can get food cooked to order. We do not sow nor reap nor cook nor clean. We just say what we want, and it comes. If it does not come fast enough, we complain and maybe even get a discount because of poor service. My children will know that their food does not come from a restaurant.

Today, we planted some seeds. Outside, it is cold for the middle of March (25 degrees) and the ground is covered in snow, so we planted the tiny broccoli seeds inside in small pots. My children are only 8 and 5, but they have done this before so they know what will happen. Some of the seeds will sprout in a week or so. Some will not. We will keep them watered and make sure they have plenty of light once they sprout. As they grow, we will transfer some of them to larger pots as we wait for the snow to melt and the ground to warm. Together, we will work the thawed ground and add some compost from last year's table scraps and lawn debris. By the beginning of May, we will transplant the broccoli plants into our well-prepared garden. We will work in the garden nearly every day: weeding, watering, protecting plants from late-season freezes. Some of the plants may be munched by animals or stunted in their growth, but careful attention will allow most of them to mature. On a warm June evening, I will ask one of my children to cut some fresh broccoli from the garden, and we will steam it for dinner.

Why do we go through this tedious process when we could simply buy the broccoli at the grocery store or order it from a restaurant? It may be true that fresh vegetables are extremely healthy and that gardening saves a little money, but my wife and I think there is more at stake. We want our children to know where their food comes from. We want them to ponder the mystery of the seed. Though small, it has the potential to grow into great plants that provide food, shade, and oxygen to breathe (Mark 4:30-32). Faith as small as the tiniest seed has great power (Luke 17:6). Even though we labor to create a hospitable environment for the seed to grow, it is ultimately out of our control, growing as we sleep or wake, wait patiently or fret (Mark 4:26-29). The seed reminds us that the first task of the human was "to till the garden and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). We can learn great lessons from the seed.

In a place where we can choose any food we want at any time of the year, the seed reminds us that resources are limited. In a place where we are taught to demand quick satisfaction and tardiness is punished, the seed teaches us to be patient. In a place where getting food is as easy as ordering from the menu or grabbing a can from the shelf, the seed cries out that cultivating food requires hard work. In a place where we are encouraged to elude time and cheat death, the seed demonstrates that all must return to the ground. In a place where the earth is exploited, the seed insists that we are part of creation. Plant a seed. Plant a whole bunch of seeds. It may be that some shrivel up or get choked by weeds, but others will bear fruit in abundance.