Experiences at Rock Point Summer Camp, Kids4Peace Camp and Camp Agapé were a joy
by the Right Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
Mountain Echo, September 2009

Summer just wouldn’t be summer for me without summer camp. Summer camps have been part of my life in one way or another just about every year since I was eight years old. This summer was no exception. Indeed, it was a summer of abundance!

First off, there was our diocesan summer camp at Rock Point. Under the excellent leadership of Jenny Ogelby and Katie Coombs, plus a terrific group of counselors, we welcomed an enthusiastic assortment of children, youth and adults to the Rock Point Summer Camp for another season of faith, fun and friendship. It is my great joy and privilege to visit each camp session at least once and celebrate the Eucharist, share a meal, and join in part of the planned program for that day. Regrettably, I missed two sessions this summer because I was at General Convention, but thanks to technology I was able to stay in touch through the Rock Point Summer Camp blog (http://rpsc.wordpress.com).

I rejoice that we are able to offer this experience of Christian community to children, youth and adults from our congregations, as well as to others who have come to know, love and value the Rock Point Summer Camp program. Several of our clergy and many lay leaders volunteer their time to work side by side with the paid staff to provide a lively, fun and Christ-centered experience for all who attend, and I hope you join me in saying thank you to them. It is so very important to me that we continue this ministry, and I welcome your support through financial contributions as well as by encouraging children and young people to attend.

My second camp experience this summer was Kids4Peace, an interfaith cross-cultural education program for peace that brings together 24 Muslim, Jewish and Christian children, ages 10-12, from families living in Israel, Palestine and Vermont. Kids4Peace Vermont is part of the larger Kids4Peace USA and Kids4-Peace Jerusalem programs that seek “to establish personal contacts and environments that form bonds of respect among young people and other members of their Abrahamic communities. Kids4Peace values each tradition’s faith practices and is nondenominational, non-political, and non-partisan. Kids4Peace believes in the importance of peace through understanding, trust, respect, listening, learning, and friendship in a world torn by religious and cultural differences” (from the Web site: www.kids4peacevermont.org).

This year was the second Kids4Peace Vermont camp, sponsored by the Diocese of Vermont, Ohavi Zedek Synagogue and the Islamic Society of Vermont, as well as many generous individuals, congregations and organizations. The adult sponsors and counselors from Vermont and Jerusalem did an outstanding job of helping create a safe and hospitable environment for the challenging work of building relationships and helping the campers (and adults) learn about one another’s faith traditions.

I was able to spend parts of several days with Kids4Peace this summer, but the highlight for me was the presentation of the Abrahamic Tent, during which something from the tradition of each of the Abrahamic faiths is acted out by mixed groups of campers from each of the three traditions. Not only were these sketches poignant and clever, they were also informative and fun to watch. Parents, friends and supporters from Vermont were treated that evening to a rare glimpse of cross-cultural, cross-religious friendship, education and cooperation. What a blessing indeed!

I want to say a special word of thanks to Rock Point School, the Bishop Booth Conference Center, the Rock Point Summer Camp staff and the Diocesan office team for all their support and cooperation when the camp venue needed to move to Rock Point. We hope to welcome Kids4-Peace back to Rock Point in the future.

My third summer camp experience this summer was limited to the one day I was able to spend at Camp Agapé, a Christian camping program for children who have a parent in prison or under the supervision of the Vermont correctional system. “The guiding principle of Camp Agapé is to offer the children agapé, a Greek word which means the kind of love God has for us—freely given, generous, unconditional, no-strings-attached love.” (Please visit the Camp Agapé Web site for more information: http://campagapevermont.org.)

Many in our diocese support the ministry of Camp Agapé, along with many other individuals and churches. This is the third year of Camp Agapé–Vermont (several other dioceses also sponsor similar camps), but it was the first year that I was able to spend time with the campers. And what a fun day it was! I spent the day fishing. Or, perhaps more accurately described, I spent most of the day putting worms on fishing hooks, untangling fishing lines, teaching campers how to cast, helping take the occasional “caught” fish off a hook and returning it to the pond, and trying to make sure that no one “hooked” another camper. It was a blast—absolutely one of the best days of my summer!
Along the way, there was plenty of opportunity to talk with the campers and to help them experience something of God’s unconditional love for them. The staff members who work as part of Camp Agapé are phenomenal! Their love for the campers and their tireless devotion and seemingly limitless energy provide a true experience of agapé. I can’t wait to go back!

Jesus taught us to welcome the children into our midst and even suggested that they might have much to teach us about the nature of God’s love and the way in which we are invited to receive it into our lives. I find these summer camp days and experiences with children, young people, and the adults who make it all possible among the most honest, satisfying, joyful and fulfilling days of my ministry. It is especially wonderful when I encounter one of these “campers” somewhere else along the way in my ministry. Most often it is they who recognize and remember me, and those are among the most cherished and grace-filled moments of my life.

Faithfully,
+Thomas

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