This past Monday evening, December 16, the Wisconsin Conference invited constituents to a special Zoom meeting, regarding a question of Sabbath at Summer Camp. Here are some bullet points, for those who missed the meeting.
Since the Summer of 2023, Sabbath has been a day off for all staff during kids’ camps (Cub, Tween, and Teen Camp), which means kids are attending camp from Sunday morning until Friday afternoon, as opposed to a full Sunday to Sunday, as had been previously done. Family Camp has remained a full seven day camp, where the staff take either the morning or afternoon off, but there is no full day off that week. There were some who had some questions about this at Camp Meeting 2024, and so it was decided there would be a special meeting where more dialogue and feedback could take place about the issue.
Pastor Zack Payne, Conference Youth Director, hosted the meeting on Zoom, and it was attended by sixteen people—including former staff, parents of campers, parents of former staff, current staff, and former campers. He explained that the reasons for this change were several.
Finances
Having everyone take one day off, and not having campers there for the day, means not having to hire extra staff for each department as “substitutes” for staff taking various, staggered days off during the week. Payne estimates that this alone saves $35,000 to $40,000 per summer (due to having to hire about 15 less staff, feed them one less day, and feed campers one less day). In a time where our conference is trying to become more financially solvent (especially with rising costs of insurance, healthcare, and Conference employee salary), finances are a significant reason to consider doing something different.
Mental Health
Since COVID, there has been a skyrocketing percentage of mental health struggles in teens and young adults (the age group that works as Summer Camp staff). Taking God’s Sabbath off every week gives the opportunity to rest, and fight burnout. It also gives Pastor Zack and the leadership team the ability to minister to any mental, emotional, or spiritual issues that might be going on with the staff. With camp running seven days per week, it makes it more challenging (from a director's perspective) to find the appropriate time to pull someone who is struggling out of their department, out of their role in the play, out of their cabin, etc., in order to have a needed conversation or to counsel and pray together. Having a shared day off with no kids at the camp allows for more time to address these issues and really find more meaningful rest.
Schedule and Rhythm
Sabbath is the one day every week that the campers are not able to do the activities they signed up for at Summer Camp. This means that, at the end of the week, when they are the most tired and they also are feeling the most restless. The staff, at the same time, are the most tired at the end of the week and have to work extra hard to make sure the campers are entertained. This tends to leave the final day of each week (if it's Sabbath) on a tired and low note, which made the Sabbath at camp seem like more of a burden than a pleasure for both camper and staff. The new atmosphere and schedule (with camp ending on Friday) has let kids return home before they have a chance to get tired or homesick. The week ends on a high note: the final play, the final talk from that week's pastor, baptisms, swimming in the lake, and then the kids get picked up. Instead of fielding calls home on Sabbath from kids who want to go home, kids are more often satisfied with their week when parents pick them up. Not to mention, many kids and parents have voiced support for a shorter week where kids are not away from home quite as long.
Discipling Young Leaders
Teens and young adults are in the phase of life when they are getting jobs and starting careers. They are faced with decisions such as whether or not they will be faithful Seventh-day Adventists, or whether they will work on Sabbath. Building them up, training them how to take time off on God’s day of rest: it only re-enforces their resolve to do the same in future jobs. One email from a meeting attendee summed it up well. "On one hand...camp staff ARE hired to minister to the campers. But on the other hand, youth that choose to work at summer camps are some of the highest potential church leaders we have, and we NEED to be building them up. I fear that working at camp and getting overwhelmed has burned out many potential leaders in the church before they even get started, so I 100% support finding ways to ease their load." Summer Camp keeps young leaders in the church and prepares them for a lifetime of ministry, whether full-time professional, or volunteer lay ministry. Not squeezing everything we can get out of them, and rather treating them like real people, is a good start in discipling them as the people who will be running our churches and ministries someday.
Connecting the Local Church
Jacob Sorensen, in his book entitled Sacred Playgrounds says that Summer Camp ministry is never stronger than when it partners with local congregations. We have a system set up for that, better than any denomination. But we don’t take advantage of that. Most churches don’t know what is going on with summer camps all summer. The Summer Camp is currently operating is that campers are sent home on Friday with a mission: Go back to your churches and tell them about the things you learned, the friends you met, the fears you faced, and the decisions you made for Jesus. So Sabbath has become a special time for kids to be able to go back home, to be involved in their local church, and to give a report about their experience at Summer Camp. Even, many times, it’s been an opportunity for newly baptized campers to be voted into membership. This also sends the message that Summer Camp is a support ministry that works with local church life, and not a wholly separate ministry from local churches (which is often the view). Nurses and pastors who help with Summer Camp have also expressed that they have enjoyed being able to be back in their local churches on Sabbath, after a week away at camp.
Dialogue
After giving the above context, Pastor Zack opened up the time for response, discussion, and feedback. There were a few attendees who were very much in favor of going back to the way things have been in the past: namely that kids camp would be seven days long and that Sabbath would be a part of Summer camp for the kids campers. The same individuals expressed disappointment over the lack of a Sabbath at camp for the campers, due to not being able to teach the special-ness and significance of Sabbath to non-Adventists, or those in the church who didn’t “get” Sabbath yet. Some expressed the sentiment that our young people (specifically the staff) need to toughen up and learn to work hard, despite adversity and burnout. Another point that was made was that there are other ministries, like working at an Adventist academy, where ministry cannot stop on Sabbath, and staff should learn that ministry work is tough and 24/7. These are all valid points and come from personal experiences where they personally, or someone in their family (like a child or grandchild), greatly enjoyed the Sabbath experience at Summer Camp in the past. They also come from a place that says, "I did it, so staff today should do it." This is a fair way to feel, in any realm of employment.
Others spoke in favor of the current system. One healthcare professional stated that she saw, over the decades, as young people came home from a summer working at Summer Camp, that they were completely burned out and drained. A Sabbath break, in her view, was a positive thing and good for both physical and mental health. Another spoke up in favor of the shorter week, noting that their child was hesitant to go away from home for a whole week, but the shorter experience was favorable and convinced them. That young camper was later baptized at Summer Camp and has loved to attend camp ever since.
The discussion, though there were opposing viewpoints expressed, was collegial and stayed positive. The tone was very much that, despite our differing opinions, we are all on the same team and all have the same goal: helping our programs to be effective for bringing our young people closer to Jesus.
Focus on Wisconsin
One of the mottos of our conference right now is: “a radical focus on Wisconsin.” In 2021, when Payne began to direct Summer Camp programs, Seventh-day Adventists from Wisconsin (meaning, those who pay tithe and help make Summer Camp possible) were not high in attendance. The ratio of Adventists to non-Adventists was 20%-80%. Adventists were discouraged and felt like Summer Camp wasn’t for them anymore. Many spoke as if they never wanted to come back, or send their kids, again.
The Conference had to make a tough decision, and ultimately the decision was made to re-focus our Summer Camp program on our local tithe-payers. Now, while the program is a little smaller, attendance is growing steadily every summer and it is full of our Wisconsin Adventists again.
One of the concerns expressed by attendees of this Zoom meeting was that by having kids campers go home on Friday, and giving the staff a day off on Sabbath: we’re missing an opportunity to teach kids about Sabbath. Given the context of the season we are in, the goal is reaching kids who are likely already Adventist, attending Adventist church, and aware of God's Sabbath. It is a good possibility that some day our focus will change, but for now: we are less concerned about teaching the Sabbath to individuals who are unaware of it, and more concerned with providing a safe, spiritual, Adventist experience where kids can meet Jesus all week long.
Reflections
It was stated in the meeting that plans are already being set for this upcoming summer—meaning that Sabbath will still be the staff day off and kids camps will still be Sunday through Friday, in the 2025 season. However, Pastor Zack and the Conference express openness to constituent feedback and looking into whether there is a better solution for future summers. Some mentioned going back to the way it was. Others expressed satisfaction with the current solutions. Still others looked for possible compromises: starting the camp week on Friday and going through Wednesday, or taking Sunday as a shared day off instead of Sabbath. Much prayer and discussion will go into any future decisions. Ultimately, Summer Camp aims to bring campers and staff closer to their Savior, as well as prepare both groups for a lifetime of walking with Jesus and leading others to Him. Whichever direction is taken, those goals will continue to be the primary focus.