I’ve got a confession to make: I don’t like church camps.
There are all sorts of reasons. By the time I was of age to attend church camp, my hearing was bad enough that chaotic teenage communication stressed my abilities. I didn’t care for large groups. As well, I tired of my peers filling the platform on Sunday evening back at the home church and tearfully recounting commitments that would never last. On top of all that, my first camp experience required us to occupy stuffy rooms and engage in complex Bible studies lasting 3-4 hours at a time; meanwhile, other church groups ran by the window launching water balloons.
So, no…I’m not a camp guy.
Camps are at the top of my Never Projects list, things that I’ve always resisted and have never really considered pursuing. Never Projects are things that others might do (camps, Super Bowl parties, Fall Festivals) with great success, yet have never really attracted me.
These days I’m looking for new ways to reach out to people. I do home visits. We have socials at our house. I’m always ready to paint a room or fix a pipe. I’ll give my testimony at the drop of hat. I keep a laundry list of Bible stories fresh in my mind, prepared to point out what His word has to say on a variety of subjects. I’ll teach anyone at any time anything I can from the Bible.
But it’s not enough.
I’ve come to realize that it’s time to look into methods I’ve never wanted to do. Evangelism, after all, is reaching out to people where they are with things that touch them. The fact that camp is not my thing is of no importance. What matters is whether or not camp is their thing.
Maybe I’ll have to do a camp next year (gag!). Maybe not. At the very least, the size and urgency of my tasks requires me to look beyond what makes me comfortable. If camps will reach our people, then a camp guy I will be. If basket-weaving touches their hearts, then I’ll sign up for a course here to figure it out. Whatever it is I need to do, that’s what I should be doing regardless of my own personal experiences.
What are your Never Projects?
(And yes, I’m looking to steal ideas from people and totally claim all credit. )
Why not look at what it is about camp you didn’t like, eliminate that, and then look at what you DO like about camp and build on that? Also, as an adult, camp is very different than as a kid. I expect youthful enthusiasm to carry away the young. Part of the learning experience is discovering that spiritual peaks have to face a daily grind. It’s a spiritual cycle that even Jesus went through. If Elijah can go from calling fire from heaven to sitting under the juniper tree, why would we fault our kids for the same?
And that’s why some are called to be pastors instead of camp counselors.
Full disclosure: My profile pic was taken at Bible camp almost 10 years ago.
Your profile pic is from a long-ago camp? Wow, (insert snarky comment here), right?
I have no issue with those who love camps. I just can’t wrap my brain around them. Even so, if they have a chance of being effective, I’ll need to set aside my biases.
Interesting post, Jeremy. I’m with Rick that you might want to give that camp thing a try again. I had some wonderful experiences in our first term of service in Argentina with church-wide camps for a week in the mountains. It was a wonderful time to get to know the members in a different setting than the typical Sunday service gathering. We had lots of fun playing all kinds of games, sharing meal times together, and some morning devotional times and evening Bible studies. Family ties were pretty strong in Argentina as they seem to be in Ecuador as well, so I think an activity that involves extended families is a good ministry approach.
I have sworn off wild game dinners as a means of evangelism. As a pastor who likes to hunt and fish, I’m a perfect fit, or so they say. I have spoke at three of these in the past. They all seemed so bait and switch to me. Promise hunters a chance to win prizes if they will listen to the gospel??? I can’t do it.
I don’t do church camp either for the same reasons you mentioned.
What is the limit on sacred cows? I just shot two.
I have no problem with camp rightly done (and that means including those lengthy Bible studies – with a good dose of free time mixed in). But I’m with you about Super Bowl parties (if for no other reason than they are illegal, though that’s not the only reason) and a certain reluctance to do fall festivals. Any bait-and-switch evangelism tactics just strike me as a bad idea. Having preached 2 Cor 4:1-6 last night, Paul’s words are close at hand: put aside disgraceful, underhanded tactics; give the open declarations of the truth. Let the gospel be the gospel, not a fall festival with the gospel tacked on at the end.
I was under the impression they were only illegal if you were doing it as a fundraiser. Is there more to it? If I could get out of doing super bowl parties I really would. We end up spending more time switching to another channel because of the commercial than we do anything else. Unfortunately trying to get rid of that would be a disaster since they did it long before I ever came, and have no intention of letting me ditch it. I find to make the best of the situation though, and us the constant channel switching to create teachable moments.
Turns out you are right: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3256621 I guess the last I heard was the ruling prior to this one.
I know it remains the case that movies cannot be shown without a license, even if shown for free. We’ve just recently purchased a CVLI license (a lot cheaper than we expected) to be able to host the occasional movie night at church so we’ve done a bit of research on the subject.
My never project is…drum roll please (and shout out to The Afters)…never going back to “okay”.
Church camps in my experience either fail to use the time well or overschedule it and pressurize the “campers”. Also in my experience–especially in the 70s–it was basically a relaxed day leading into a required-attendance revival meeting for the evening session usually led by a regionally respected evangelist (though not usually a nationally respected one…one can imagine it had to do with the required honorarium??) It isn’t surprising that you can get some short-term results out of high-pressure tactics in my humble opinion.
That said: I pretty much usually enjoyed camp. Which is good, because due to my parents’ service in Indonesia, I got to experience 3x to 4x as many of them per year as previously during the years we were state-side. Let me offer this rather pointed thought: three weeks of various camps (including a repeat at one of them) plus two weeks at either Glorieta or Ridgecrest can make for a VERY short summer. One of those years was the only year I wasn’t ready for school to start when fall rolled around.
None of these thoughts has anything, specifically, to do with Jeremy’s blog. But I thought I’d just like the stream of consciousness “go there” anyway.
My overall point was not necessarily camps; that was just the thought that got me rolling.
What Never Projects do we all have, for whatever reason, that perhaps we need to revisit? What things do other people do that you’ve always ignored? Could you, like Rick says, identify what bothers you about those events and then fix it?
For the hunter who commented, what could you fix about the hunting bait-and-switch thing in order to make that kind of outreach more palatable?
I don’t see why we can’t just be honest and up front about the whole thing – that it’s an evangelistic effort. I go to fund raisers all the time for charitable organizations and there’s no secret that the whole point of the meeting is not to hear the special speaker or watch the movie or eat a nice meal. It is to raise money for the cause. We go there knowing that from the beginning. So why not have the wild game banquet and state up front that its primary purpose is evangelism rather than the fun, food, and fellowship.
Are we afraid that the honesty and candor will drive them away? If that’s the case, why do we think we can honestly and candidly confront them about their sins? Are we afraid they might not come if they know we’re going to include a high-pressure evangelistic appeal? If so, then why invite them?
I think a wild game dinner can be done as a church fellowship or even among like minded churches for unity and Bible study. Just don’t offer prizes to lost souls to listen.
Rick, we are not a charity seeking support. They do it because they have no other form of income. We don’t have to make the gospel attractive or appealing, it already is. We are never told to draw a crowd. Offering a four wheeler is not “compelling them to come.” It’s bribery and I am not interested.
I think you misinterpreted what my intention was and for that I apologize that I wasn’t clear in getting my ideas across clearly.
I was stating that charity dinners are up front and open about why they are being held. There is no “gotcha” involved with it. Attendees know exactly why they are going and what they can expect.
I was suggesting that, as you pointed out, since the gospel is so attractive that we need the same level of candor, honesty, and openness when we host events. It should be clear up front that our purpose for holding the meeting is evangelism and to exalt the name of Jesus Christ. We can even state that there will be a call to commitment involved or a challenge offered. I see nothing wrong with blatant honesty. Attendees might find it refreshingly different.
Rick I agree. If the gospel was the main event and we got to talk about hunting on the side, it could be ok.
Jeremy,
Good post. What I took away is that it isn’t about church camp, banquets, worship styles, etc – it is about what is “their thing.” It isn’t about me and my preferences (not talking about Biblical principles, but preferences) it is about effectively reaching the lost with the Gospel.
Steve in Montana
I don’t know about never projects, but I can tell you that attending lock-ins was what told me it was time to find a pastorate and get out of youth work!
I agree with the need to be up front and to avoid the bait-and-switch tactic. The gospel is indeed attractive to those who listen. I think where we run into trouble is when we try to bring people to a gospel presentation. Announce a gospel-sharing event and manywill stay away. Heck, some of our members won’t even show up without a promise entertainment.
I was trying to investigate what sort of events some of us have sworn off that perhaps warrant a re-examination. I have never heard of the hunting thing, but that’s not something Ican pursue where I am.