Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center is a place where young and adults, alike, can go to be themselves and have fun in God’s creation. The camp experience is meant to strengthen the faith of all campers and send them back to their communities to do God’s work.
This summer our theme was Living in God's Time, inspired by Ecclesiastes 3:8: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." We explored the seasons of the church year with our campers using each day of the week to explore a different time of Jesus’ life. Monday was Advent, Tuesday was Christmas, Wednesday was Lent, Thursday was Easter and Friday was Pentecost.
Our summer begins with an intensive and fun staff training that teaches what it means to be young adult leaders in a Christian community. It includes useful life training in things like age group characteristics, learning styles, Safeguarding God’s Children, CPR/ First Aid training and dealing with normal things like homesickness and conflict management. There is also a Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogue in which staff are able to discuss and ask questions about both denominations and faith in general, in order to further explore what Christianity means to them.
Campers are given a balanced experience that engages them mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Campers have the opportunity to have Discovery Time, in which they read a Bible passage relating to the days’ theme and participate in games, crafts, and activities that help to make sure that everyone remembers the important messages in a fun way that sticks. They enjoy great, healthy meals! They also participate in camp activities like the high and low ropes course, pool, canoeing, and arts and crafts – all part of the things that make camp fun.
Campers playing circle games. PHOTO COURTESY CROSS ROADS CAMP & RETREAT CENTER
Every cabin gets to plan evening worship. They meet with the Chaplain of the week and talk more about the day’s theme, then pick songs and create a skit that helps to relay it. This part of our day is so important because the campers love worship and the songs that are sung. They love the music so much that most campers sing camp songs all the way home on Saturday morning! These parts of our daily schedule help campers and staff alike to grow as people, as Christians and as stewards of God’s creation.
Cross Roads also brought camp to churches. Our day camp program has grown so much this summer that we had two different day camps a week at churches around New Jersey. Every week a group of our staff took the same Discovery Times, activities and camp attitudes and brought them to church. Many campers were able to be positively affected by this experience. Some of them even signed up for sleep-away camp later in the summer.
Another important part of camp is our Leaders-in-Training (LIT) program for high school students starting at age 16. Our LITs come to camp for 5 weeks, have an abbreviated staff training and practice the skills that they’ve learned in the camp community.
Camp is about relationships and the positive impact they have on campers’ lives. The summer staff are able to connect to campers in a way that allows them to look to staff as role models and to take in what they say with a keener ear because everyone is encouraged to be their true authentic selves. It’s amazing to really see how a week (or a few) at camp can change a person’s life and help to set a fire in our campers’ souls so that when they go back to their church communities, they feel ready to serve. Seeing God’s work done in camp and watching campers work together and love one another is an experience that feeds one’s faith all by itself.
One of our campers this summer said she learned more at camp than she did in a year of church because she was surrounded by people in her age group and her experience was interactive. She also said she enjoyed worship and the songs because the elements were explained to her, making it easier to follow.
Cross Roads’ Summer Programming is for people of all ages. Between Youth Camps and Family Week/Weekend, everyone is able to have a chance to experience camp in an age-appropriate way.
At the same time youth camp is in session, the facilities on camp are used by many other groups. Cross Roads is in partnership with Eden Autism Services, a school based in Princeton for young people with autism. Every summer Eden uses Cross Roads as a summer camp for their students. Retreat groups, volunteer groups and even quilters come up to camp to stay for a while and take part in all that is happening.
Outdoor ministries is an integral part of faith formation for not only young people, but Christians of all ages. Experiencing God’s love in this community while in a beautiful setting like Cross Roads is an experience like no other.
