Not often do you get a chance to dance around with a roomful of elementary schoolers (at 30 weeks pregnant!) or convert a neighborhood clubhouse into a makeshift art studio, but that’s exactly what happened the first week of July at Incarnation Church’s Creating with Christ: a Bible & Arts Camp for grades k-5.

My earliest memory is of Anglican liturgy. As a five-year-old, I was captivated by the way people closed their eyes with their hands lifted as they prayed “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts,” how they raised their voices in agreement with lectionary readings, how their heads bowed in confession, and how they knelt humbly during the Lord’s Prayer.

Camp Booyah was founded in 2015 as a place for Anglican middle and high school students to come together for worship, community, and mission. Two hundred eighteen campers from 18 churches spent the week making connections with other Anglican youth, going deeper in their faith, contributing to the local community and experiencing new adventures.

The Youth from All Saints’ Church are working hard to earn their way to Camp Booyah, and Anglican Camp of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope. They’ve earned nearly 90% of their camp fees already and with multiple jobs still on the horizon (thanks to generous parishioners who need yard work), they are confident the full amount will be earned by the time they leave for Camp!

This summer, with COVID restrictions lifting, there are so many more opportunities to reach out to the communities with fun, creative, and powerful ministry events.

Launched in 1990, Rock the World’s Josiah Project has inspired more than 80% of its graduates to continue in Christian leadership — for decades.

In February, Tori (my wife)i and I were the self-proclaimed "burrito-bandits", delivering burritos and desserts to students as we race across campus. It's been so fun!

The next few months are when college students begin thinking about summer jobs. Likewise, we are beginning to think about another summer intern cohort at the diocesan level. We have resources available on our website to help you get started, and you can learn more about last summer’s intern cohort here. Lastly, the Great Commission Committee has grant money available to churches for summer intern programs.

[Scripture] teaches us the truth: we want those we disciple to know: God sees. His seeing is essential to his relationship with his creation. In the first few pages of Genesis, God sees the work of his hands—the heavens, the creeping things, the birds of the air, man and woman—and glories in it; he sees Adam and Eve in the shame of their sin and is moved to clothe them; he sees the blood of Abel which cries out to him from the ground and he confronts Cain; he sees the wickedness of Noah’s day and is grieved to destruction. And this is just the very beginning.

“Phoenix was a freshman at a small school in Boston last year. During his freshman year, he dealt with a difficult family situation from afar and he fought through his own personal doubts and darkness. He was lost and looking for truth and in true community.”

As the summer winds down and college students head back to their campuses, many students will be reflecting on their summers and how different they were from what they expected. For many, the primary reason for this was Covid-19. But, for eight of them, the reason will be very different. These were the eight young adults that spent their summer ministering in their congregations as interns. This is a summer they will long remember and may possibly be one that changes the course of their lives.

Ask any clergy person and they will tell you about the people in their lives who believed in them, opened doors for them, and walked alongside of them as they mastered the difficult skills of leadership. Experience really is the best teacher.