I’ve been visiting Camp Cross for over 10 years. We attended a Labor Day Family Camp with our St. James’ (Pullman, WA) parishioners and I enjoyed the glorious natural beauty, but also the fellowship among the participants. Christian community in a non-parish setting is one feature of Camp Cross that has me reminding others to “keep comin’ back! “

While wading at Crescent Beach, my wife Alison relayed her metaphor for her relationship to God.  In the cool water, she floats effortlessly.  As she returns to the rocky shore, her body becomes heavy as she leaves the (holy) water and works to carry herself. It’s harder and harder to gain ones footing.  Yet, a loving arm reaches out to help her gain stability. This arm is God’s love in the form of your loving friend. Together, you can walk the journey on hot, dry land, until you once again return to refreshing water for relief.

Additionally, Camp Cross is a holy place where I have seen miracles happen.  Of course, miracles are in the eyes of the beholder and subject to perspective. This week I have seen the miracle of change. Mid-high campers arrived on Sunday, with anxiety, fears and few friends. In just a few days, I have seen them transformed. They’ve bonded with each other, shared intense experiences, been challenged in their views of faith and even improved their table manners (yes, a great miracle indeed!).  In all seriousness, the joy shared in a small group or gathered around a summer campfire is a holy miracle repeated again and again here.  I’ve noticed another transforming miracle recently.  As I look at this year’s staff members, several have spent many years coming to Camp Cross. They’ve loved being a camper with all the newness that experience brings. Camp Cross can be an intense emotional experience of faith on a young person’s own terms, far from their parish home.  It’s their mountaintop where they gain spiritual insight. Some grow into being a counselor, learning leadership skills shepherding a small group.  This is a critical stage in the faith formation of young people. Of that group, some continue serving as permanent staff members, gaining more leadership skills at the next level, long after coming to Camp Cross for the first time.  This chain of transformative experiences shapes the lifelong faith of many.

Wednesday night, we used a meditation from Taize to focus in the darkness of the cool evening, sitting on a floating dock.  Many relaxed on their backs, pondering the universe, gazing up into the vast expanse of stars. Some reported seeing up to five shooting stars and several orbiting satellites were visible.  Amid the cool breeze, surrounded by both intimate friends and endless cosmos, God is good; Very good; Always.

From the incredible turn out for Labor of Love in May, Camp Cross has been blessed this season with hundreds of people of all ages volunteering their time to make Camp happen.  In May and June, folks braved the flooded parking lots and beaches to do more work than we had done at the end of staff training in 2007. On top of that, a couple of weeks later folks even came out to clean up our beach after the flood waters receded. This meant our staff had more time to train and prepare the innovative and creative programs for the summer once they got here.

The amount of time given to Camp Cross this summer goes far beyond just the folks who came up and labored with us. We had volunteers in the kitchen week after week pumping out meal after meal for our ravenous campers, parents and clergy spending hours on the road making sure our campers got to Camp, and counselors that took on new challenges both in leading the campers and taking care of big projects around the property.

The Camp Cross community has also truly stepped up to the plate in their financial support. Churches from around the Diocese raised over $11,000 in scholarship funds for campers from their own congregations and others. Holy Trinity, Wallace, wasn’t discouraged by the lack of camper-aged children in their congregation; they raised scholarship money so the impact of their congregation’s unique youth ministry could be spread across the Diocese.

Our community also jumped in to help Camp in its time of need, whether it was replacing broken speakers or the thousands of dollars given by parents and friends during our closing lunches; people went out of their way to support Camp as a transformative force in our lives.

The Camp Cross community has done something incredible in transforming their individual talents into actions truly contributing to the over-all transformative power of Camp. I saw it in St. Paul’s, Kennewick, which sent 13 kids to one session, in the individuals whose warm personal invitations to their friends and family filled our camps, and in the line dancing classes at Labor Day Family Camp. I saw it in everything from the creative and engaging formation and worship by our Camp leaders and clergy to the chainsaw lessons that helped us clear trails all across our 107 acres. And I saw it in our 42 counselors, who not only used their talents to lead and nurture our youth, but also showed their leadership by doing everything from dishes to digging gutters for run-off.

Now, when I walk around, I don’t feel alone at Camp. In every trail, dish, and building I can feel the efforts and passion from the thousands around our Diocese and beyond who have supported this place in an incredible array of ways in 2008. We could not have been the welcoming, transformative force in so many hundreds of people’s lives this summer without your support. Thank you – and come join us at Camp next year!