It is always a joy to spend time at Lutherlyn, and it is a particular joy to spend quality time with our Confirmation students there. This is especially true after missing out on in-person class time over the past year and a half. Thank you for your prayers and financial contributions that made this time at camp possible!
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| Confirmation students at Camp Lutherlyn |
Our week was shared with students from eight other congregations in our synod and four other pastors. During our class times, we learned about the early Church, reading stories from the book of Acts. Each day we focused on a different aspect of their life together - baptism and welcome, worship, Communion and other shared meals, and acts of service. As the Holy Spirit moved within and among the early Christians, they experienced the ways that God was welcoming more and more people to be part of that community - regardless of religion, nationality, wealth, status, or gender.
As we learned about these hallmarks of the early Church, we also experienced them together throughout the week. Lutherlyn counselors and staff members welcomed us by helping us know what to expect, and we spent time on Sunday evening learning names and getting to know one another. We worshiped together each evening in various worship spaces around camp, singing, praying, and listening to God's word. We shared meals around picnic tables, nourished by good food and good conversation. We served one another by sharing chores and offering encouragement, and served the wider community by stuffing backpacks with school supplies, which will be distributed at food pantries across southwest PA.
Baptism and welcome, worship, Communion and meals together, and acts of service are still hallmarks of who we are as the Church, the gathered people of God. Being a Christian is necessarily a communal venture - we need each other, and are strengthened and blessed by one another's presence. Most of this has been really challenging over the past year and a half. It took creativity and effort to figure out how to be the gathered people of God when we couldn't gather in person. And yet, we still worshiped together, engaged in service, and ate together in new and different ways. Now, as we're able to gather in person again, we can begin to rediscover the joys and challenges of being community up close.
We were created for life together, and the gift of intentional Christian community is precious. No community is perfect, of course, but our Lutheran camps strive to offer at least a glimpse of what the kingdom of God is like - an experience filled with love and encouragement and joy. At camp we sang, laughed, and played together (I'm mostly recovered from my slightly-too-zealous participation in a large group frisbee game!), and were reminded of God's love for us and for all people. I hope you, too, have moments of joy and connection and belonging this summer, whether out in God's beautiful creation or elsewhere.
Bonus resources:
- There are still a few opportunities left for kids to be at Lutherlyn this summer - check availability here.
- From The Bible Project, a video overview of the first half of the book of Acts.
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