This! At church camp with a friend (a denomination different than my own), it became very clear that unless I was baptized full immersion in the camp pool THAT WEEK, I’d spend eternity in hell.
Being Methodist, I’d never been baptized like that, and I didn’t want to risk it, so I was baptized with my best friend at my side just to be safe.
Beyond just the bad theology and scare tactics, other incidents in my young church camp life became the foundation for my unraveling at age 14, and later for the fiction I would write.
Fortunately, my church camp experiences were not about the retribution nonsense of guilt and shame. Love, affirmation, singing, skits and play set up an evening of joy and wonder at the vespers' message. Thanks, Cara.
Yes! I was hired to be a Youth Director at a UMC and our summer mission trip had been planned before my arrival. The speaker/pastor for the week mocked teen suicide from the speaking platform on the second or third night we were there. We couldn’t leave fast enough. Scare tactics. Dangerous theology. Harm.
Oh wow. Teer, I'm so sorry to hear about that. The harmful theology and scare tactics are just not okay, including of this particular incident. Sheesh.
It was terrible. I spent that evening unteaching what had been taught. The staff were less than receptive to my concerns. In retrospect I am not shocked.
And I imagine that unteaching lasted far longer than a single evening as well. Not unsurprising that the staff weren't concerned, not when it was probably a scare tactic that had worked well in the past.
There’s something to be said for the whiplash effect and “forcing” a conversation, it can be manipulative and downright cheesy, but Jesus rightly calls people to “repent and believe.”
God is good but he is not safe. And the process by which we die to our selves and are born again is not easy.
This is good. I run retreats yearly with a youth ministry I work for and I want it to be a space to unplug from the distractions of the world to spend time with God. We are intentional with crafting daily solitude time for students to meet with God.
I agree with everything said. Do you have any advice with communicating the gospel in a way that doesn’t insinuate shame or the dirtiness that you named?
Interestingly enough, I sent my son to a jazz camp last year, and his instructors taught him how to improve his trombone playing skills, how to solo, and just provided opportunity for thoughtful engagement with the music. I guess the conversion experience is more exciting than teaching our children to be thoughtful and engaged Christians.
THIS!!!! A million times “YES”!!! I’m 64 and still recovering …
I imagine you'll probably find a lot of resonance with the book then. :)
This! At church camp with a friend (a denomination different than my own), it became very clear that unless I was baptized full immersion in the camp pool THAT WEEK, I’d spend eternity in hell.
Being Methodist, I’d never been baptized like that, and I didn’t want to risk it, so I was baptized with my best friend at my side just to be safe.
Beyond just the bad theology and scare tactics, other incidents in my young church camp life became the foundation for my unraveling at age 14, and later for the fiction I would write.
Dawn, what a story! Bad theology and scare tactics aside, I'm so glad it became fodder for the fiction you'd later write!
Fortunately, my church camp experiences were not about the retribution nonsense of guilt and shame. Love, affirmation, singing, skits and play set up an evening of joy and wonder at the vespers' message. Thanks, Cara.
Same!
Yes! I was hired to be a Youth Director at a UMC and our summer mission trip had been planned before my arrival. The speaker/pastor for the week mocked teen suicide from the speaking platform on the second or third night we were there. We couldn’t leave fast enough. Scare tactics. Dangerous theology. Harm.
Oh wow. Teer, I'm so sorry to hear about that. The harmful theology and scare tactics are just not okay, including of this particular incident. Sheesh.
It was terrible. I spent that evening unteaching what had been taught. The staff were less than receptive to my concerns. In retrospect I am not shocked.
And I imagine that unteaching lasted far longer than a single evening as well. Not unsurprising that the staff weren't concerned, not when it was probably a scare tactic that had worked well in the past.
There’s something to be said for the whiplash effect and “forcing” a conversation, it can be manipulative and downright cheesy, but Jesus rightly calls people to “repent and believe.”
God is good but he is not safe. And the process by which we die to our selves and are born again is not easy.
This is good. I run retreats yearly with a youth ministry I work for and I want it to be a space to unplug from the distractions of the world to spend time with God. We are intentional with crafting daily solitude time for students to meet with God.
I agree with everything said. Do you have any advice with communicating the gospel in a way that doesn’t insinuate shame or the dirtiness that you named?
Interestingly enough, I sent my son to a jazz camp last year, and his instructors taught him how to improve his trombone playing skills, how to solo, and just provided opportunity for thoughtful engagement with the music. I guess the conversion experience is more exciting than teaching our children to be thoughtful and engaged Christians.
I had not seen this post but I wrote my own article and review of Cara’s most excellent book a couple of days ago: https://open.substack.com/pub/nadinetempler/p/church-camp-by-cara-meredith?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Shame and fear is not the way God wants us to come to him!
I believe he wants us to come to Him in love and a desire to fellowship with Him.
Manipulation is not a spiritual fruit.
Very nice writeup there David!
Thank you so much for sharing your space with me, David! Appreciate you in a thousand different ways.