Chase Shields
Formation | Youth
“You’re coming too!” Campers and volunteers of all ages experience the sacraments at Camp Cross
After stomping twice, over 200 leaders from around the Diocese chanted together, “I’m going to Camp Cross, and you’re coming too!” The next day, clergy and lay people from Grangeville to Oroville, from the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to the Episcopal Churches of the Resurrection, wore badges to the closing Eucharist of Diocesan [...]
Formation | Youth
Transforming the silence at Camp Cross
A few feet of snow, a chilling breeze, absolute silence . . . . Hiking into Camp Cross last February to shovel snow off the pontoon boat, Camp’s beauty seemed isolated, singular, and alone. Months later, walking through a camp settling into the quiet of fall, I cannot help but feel behind it the vibrancy [...]
Formation | Youth
Camp launched into summer with labors of love
Summer is underway and Camp is in full swing! Thanks to the passion and commitment of so many in May and June, we are set to have an amazing season. With so many individuals from around the Diocese inviting others to join them, we had a record breaking 49 people – ages 2 and up [...]
Formation | Youth
Staff cheers campers along their epic race
I’m not sure anyone saw the guy who won Spokane’s Bloomsday race quite as many times as I did. Standing on the corner of Broadway and Oak, cheering at the top of my lungs, I could see that tall Kenyan in the eyes of every boy and girl who looked up at me, heard my [...]
Formation | Youth
Passion + presence = communication
For our youth, the remoteness of Camp Cross is one of its greatest features. It is a place away. Likewise, our youth events held in and with congregations from around the Diocese are times away; times to rediscover a bit of themselves. These away times are important aspects of formation but, as has been continually [...]
Formation | Youth
Invite and include: this camp is your Camp
Barak Obama, whatever your opinion of the candidate, has run a very unusual campaign. Like Howard Dean in 2004, he has built an incredible network of internet based support. Unlike Howard Dean, his campaign hasn’t fizzled out because of an inability to mobilize on the ground. Instead, his deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, explains, “(the) [...]
Formation | Youth
Building our spiritual home and living in the external world
Our greatest service to young people is to teach them to be “good architects of their internal homes,” emphasized Mark Andrus, Bishop of California, at the recent Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers’ annual conference. In the spirit of Lenten reflection, therefore, let’s look at how Camp Cross helps youth develop internal homes to help them [...]
Youth
Nurturing our children’s inborn spirituality
“All children people are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up,” said Sir Ken Robinson, a creativity expert, quoting Picasso in a recent lecture. In his funny, yet disturbing, lecture, Sir Ken emphasized how we have “educated people out of their creative capacities.” While his finger was pointing at [...]
Youth
Minister with youth, not to them
With no regret I can say that not every congregation in the Diocese can have a large youth group. Now that the air is cleared and the truth is out there, a more important question remains: what can every congregation, in particular small congregations, do to have a vibrant youth ministry?
As Jason Beschiniski, Diocesan Youth [...]
Youth
Minister with youth, not to them
With no regret I can say that not every congregation in the Diocese can have a large youth group. Now that the air is cleared and the truth is out there, a more important question remains: what can every congregation, in particular small congregations, do to have a vibrant youth ministry?
As Jason Beschiniski, Diocesan Youth [...]
