Camp builds better people.

It is not about the games or the novel activities. It is not about the campfires, s’mores, or silly songs. It is not even really about the new friends or laughing together until your sides hurt. These are the accoutrements, the methods, and the apparatus. It is not that they are unimportant. They are simply not the main point. There is something much more serious and intentional happening at camp. Camp builds better people. We do this in order to build better communities, stronger families, and a better world.

I was at the American Camp Association (ACA) conference last month, and I had the privilege of speaking with author and public speaker Michael Brandwein. There are few who get camp as well as he does. I first heard Michael speak when I was a summer staff member more than 25 years ago. I learn something new from him every time. This time, he was speaking about the very nature of camp. There was a lot of talk about character at the conference this year and what its place was among camp goals and programs. Michael was emphatic.

“Character is not the frosting,” he said. “Character is the cake.”

A Glimpse of the Kingdom

Camp is a glimpse of life as it should be. It is not a place of imagination, as some suppose and others critique it to be. It is a place of concrete reality with raw emotions and immersive experiences. In this liminal space of camp, this intentional Christian community, this sacred playground, we get a multi-sensory experience of what Jesus proclaimed: “The Kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15). 

Participants are not only invited into this reality; they are challenged to live it out. It is because of this that camp builds better people. They do not learn about love and patience. They treat one another and are themselves treated with love and patience. They do not simply talk about kindness and generosity as abstract concepts. They are kind and generous to one another at camp – outrageously so, even. It is the sort of kindness and generosity that might get you ridiculed or taken advantage of in other spaces. At camp, it is our way of being.

As campers have told me again and again, “It’s like a whole different world.”

Yes, that’s exactly what it’s like. It is like a different world – a heavenly one – settled itself right here within our own. Participants experience an alternative way of being, one that they are encouraged to carry with them and live out in other spaces. We see this in our research results that demonstrate campers going home more joyful, kinder, more interested in their faith, more self-confident, more sure of their identity, and more aware of their God-given gifts to positively influence the world around them.

Yes, camp is FUN!

The funny thing is, when we ask people to describe camp, the most common word they use is fun. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. After all, camp is designed to be fun! But as Michael might say, it is the frosting. Too many people mistake it for the cake itself, as if it were equivalent to a trip to an amusement park.

We want participants to have fun at camp. It is a pedagogical tool that helps campers associate positive memories and ways of being with acts of love, kindness, and faithfulness. This not only makes the memories and the learning associated with them easier to recall, it also induces participants to repeat these behaviors in other spaces. At camp, they learn such outrageous things as worship is meaningful, not boring, and they can do hard things, even finding enjoyment through overcoming fears and challenges.

Fun may be the most common individual word, but it is far outnumbered by all the other words participants use to elaborate on camp. They use words like friendship, engaging, safe, adventurous, spiritual, inclusive, meaningful, inspiring, empowering, transformative, and life-changing. Is camp fun? Of course, it is. And it is so much more than fun and games.

I recall one more thing that I jotted down when hearing from Michael this year: “Fun is what it feels like as we accomplish our mission.”

Serious Fun

Indeed, there is serious business in the fun of camp (kudos to my friends at the Serious Fun network for their amazing work and reminder). There is Kingdom work happening. We all pray the words, “Thy Kingdom come.” We read the proclamation of Jesus that the Kingdom is even now breaking into the world. Camp is one of the few places where we live it out and experience, at least for a short time, life as it should be. Our calling in this world is to make it so. Let’s not be surprised that living into the Kingdom of God is fun.

Character is definitely the cake, and it’s not just any character that we are after. We want specific Christ-centric character grounded in our faith. What does it look like? There are so many similar lists, but let’s go with the camp song: “The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!” (Galatians 5:22). I trust that more than half of you sang that one. Once again, the fun, interactive space of camp taught you something lasting.

Camp builds better people. Let’s send our kids to camp. Let’s welcome them home with open arms and join them in building the Kingdom in our communities, schools, and churches.