Going Home

The naturalist John Muir, who was raised as a Scottish Presbyterian, spoke of going to the woods as "going home." Most who have visited, worked, played, and lived at Bethelwoods would surely agree with that sentiment. Ideally, a home is a place where you are welcomed and affirmed, where you can rest, play, and learn in a community that acknowledges you as a unique child of God. Bethelwoods has served as a home for several generations in that way and its valued ministry continues on today as well.
I grew up attending summer camp there in the 1980's and then returned to work as a counselor for four summers in the early 1990's. In those experiences, I crossed paths with those who I'd never see again but who left a positive impact on me that I still carry now. I also made friendships with others that have lasted throughout the years and that continue to shape and mold my direction in life. In our current age with the ephemeral nature of virtual meetings, text messages whizzing around, and social media feed updates, it's the tangible memories of gathering with others in a place so real and set apart like Bethelwoods that speak to me the most.
Sit back for a minute and try to imagine those memories in your mind's eye because I am certain that you too share many of them in your own way:

• Gathering around a meal that your group had prepared over a campfire
• Comically coordinating with the other person sharing your canoe on how to move the boat forward
• Divvying up the post-dinner chores in the lodge and figuring out which were the easiest to do
• Sleeping outside and realizing how impossibly loud the Cicadas could chirp
• Camp crafts that inevitably included a day of friendship bracelet making
• Working together with the others in your group to lead that day's camp worship and wondering why Jesus' words seemed to resonate more in the outdoor setting, looking over the lake

There's many more camp tales that I'm sure that we could swap and it's an encouragement to me that campers, staff, and visitors to Bethelwoods continue to generate these personal stories as they gather today. In this last pandemic year we've been urged to socially distance, but as we move past COVID and look to reconnect with each other, camp will be more important than ever. It gives us a special venue to be called together, to seek one another out again and to create communities of faith.
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Croskeys Royall

Director of Children's Ministry, EPC Columbia SC