Last summer at Lutheridge, the Lutheridge staff had a goal – to get campers involved in more leadership responsibilities during their time at camp. One idea that emerged from the summer staff was to give campers an opportunity to plan and lead worship. “To create that opportunity, we made some changes to the way we do evening vespers,” says Pastor Drew Yoos, one of the Lutheridge program directors. “We decided to make Thursday, the last night of camp, a night when campers would lead vespers for themselves. That took a little extra work from our staff, but the impact was incredible.”
To help prepare for vespers, counselors encouraged campers to incorporate activities and conversations that were meaningful to them into their plans. As a result, Thursday vespers often included a variety of experiences such as campers reading scripture, leading music on guitars and ukuleles, praying for cabinmates by name, and creating unique activities that proclaimed God’s love. One high school cabin decided to focus their vespers on “building each other up,” so they used natural materials to build a house together. One group of Outdoor Adventure Program campers each picked a different fruit of the spirit and talked about where it showed up in their lives.
Pastor Drew recalls that one week during the summer, an area director was a little alarmed to see a group of campers running down a hill beside the Lutheridge lake. “As the area director was trying to figure out what was going on, the campers rushed up to share the joy they were having in their evening vespers, which included running on the hill, skipping rocks on the lake, and coloring with chalk. They shared how cool it was that they got to choose the activities and talk about God at the same time. At the end of the week, it was their “God moment” from their time at camp.”
Hunter, a long-time high school camper, reflected on leading worship at camp saying, “A favorite memory of mine from this summer is when I was invited to play a song as part of camper-led vespers. Standing up in front of my peers and helping to lead worship showed me that there’s a place for me in the church and that youth add value to the church even if some people think we’re too young or don’t know what we’re doing!”
“All summer we heard great stories of campers excitedly planning and leading vespers,” shares Pastor Drew. “A lot of counselors said that some of their most meaningful worship experiences of the summer were camper-led. I’m excited to continue camper-led vespers this coming summer so that other campers can discover new gifts and experience God in even more ways.”
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