Author: Fr Justin

Our chapel stories today focussed on Abraham.

Morning:

Evening:

 

 

Night falls on an amazing day one of camp 2018

And… here’s the bus with all the rest of us on it! Camp has officially begun.

So, for the official “first” story of camp, we begin at the very beginning… with Creation. Apologies in advance for the priest messing up what happened on which day of Creation!

All Saints of North America Orthodox Christian Camp 2018 is underway! Most of the staff and a whole bunch of campers are here already, eagerly awaiting the “any minute now” arrival of the bus with the rest of the campers and staff.

This year’s theme is “It’s Not About Stuff”. Here’s this morning’s story on that theme, which is based on today’s daily Gospel and Epistle readings and is about John the Baptist:

Just a quick note to let everyone know that preparations for this year’s camp are well underway – and going extremely well! Some highlights:

Our camp directors this year will be Graham and Xenia, supported by Biss… and Lysa! Some of you who have been with camp for a while will remember Graham was one of our directors a few years ago – we’re looking forward to having him back with his energy and experience and enthusiasm! And of course Xenia and Biss and Lysa are all well-known to any of you who have been to camp in recent years… We’re really excited about how the camp leadership and organization is shaping up!

Speaking of which, we have a new-to-us, but experienced and well-known-to-some-of-you head cook this year… none other than Fr. Matthew Francis of Holy Apostles Mission in Chilliwack! He was head cook at the OCA’s Alberta camp last year and had lots of fun doing that, so we stole… um, recruited him for our camp this year!

Phil is also back. This year he’ll be leading our Teen Program, which should make that program even more interesting than ever!

And I’ll be back (Fr. Justin) to teach and tell stories.

And there will be lots of other familiar faces… too many to name here. Maybe I’ll write another post soon to highlight more of them.

So, if you haven’t already, sign your children up now (the early bird discount will be ending soon!) – and sign yourself up to volunteer if you’re interested!

We have just opened up the 2018 staff and camper registration forms. More information will be coming soon, but if you want to volunteer and/or get your camper registered really early, feel free to try out the new forms!

Note that the camper early registration discount ($365 instead of $395!) will be available until May 31st.

There is, as always, no charge for volunteering, although we do ask volunteers to pay for their own transportation to and from camp (and we do charge a nominal accommodation fee for any under-age children volunteers may need to bring with them).

When? July 10-15, 2018 (volunteers, July 9-15)
Who? Kids aged 8-16
Where? Seven Springs
Why? Fun, fellowship, wisdom, and worship!

What do I do? Right now, just…

1. pray,
2. plan to volunteer/register, and
3. save the date!

A huge thank-you to all who have volunteered to serve at camp! We have enough. (Though we still might need a few more volunteers if we get quite a few more campers… so if you were thinking of applying to volunteer and haven’t done so yet, please do so!) It looks like it’s going to be a great camp!

We also have quite a few campers signed up already… but don’t worry if you haven’t applied yet. There’s still room! Still, space is limited, so, if you haven’t signed up yet, sign up today!

An information meeting about volunteering for camp will be held

Saturday, June 4th at 4:00pm
at St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Church

Anyone interested in volunteering for camp – or even just learning more about our camp – is strongly encouraged to attend.

Camper Registration is open here: www.allsaintscamp.ca/register-online

Apply to be a volunteer here: www.allsaintscamp.ca/staff-pages

As Great Lent draws to a close and we are considering how we can best use the gifts and talents and time that God has given us to best serve Him and His children, please consider volunteering to serve His children at camp this summer.

You can apply to be a volunteer for Camp 2016 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1al7MoLDg6QB5j7grcnRQ26XX2VomXp1CHBQF6Xw6PJY/viewform

If you do apply, thank you! We will respond to the applications we receive as soon as possible. Please also review our Camp Staff pages to learn more about what will happen and what is expected and what is needed to volunteer for camp.

And, if you are a camper or a parent of a camper, our 2016 Camper Registration pages are also open already. Save money and apply now!