Just under six months ago, I let you in on a little secret. Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicals Betrayed a Generation1 wasn’t just a good idea, it had become an actual book contract!
Nearly 60,000 words later, the first draft of the manuscript is complete. Now, I comb through edits from my editor and a couple of beta readers; I continue to interview folks, because will there ever not be a person who has a story the rest of us need to hear?
But also, I let the words I’ve already penned sit and ruminate for a little while. When questions pop up — Should I define capitalism differently in chapter 6? Should I explain the overarching concept of white evangelicalism more thoroughly in chapter 1? — I write them down on the giant piece of paper taped to the back of the Murphy bed.
This too can simmer. This too can wait.
There are, of course, questions that continue to pop up — questions you may remember from the announcement on Substack six months ago:
Camp is a place I hold in deep tension.
When my own boys became old enough to attend camp this summer, I didn’t know whether or not I could — or should — send them there. For instance, could I send them to a place whose memories I hold dear, even if I know this place holds a stance on LGBTQ+ individuals I don’t support? Where is the line between exposing children to values I no longer wholeheartedly embrace or promote? Is there even a line? Does it matter?
I know I am not alone in asking this question, not when it’s asked in numerous interviews, Instagram DMs, and in-person conversations alike — not when the tension of a place stands in tension with an evolution of person and faith. When who we are now is not the same person as who we were ten, twenty, thirty years ago, in other words.
So, can I send my kid to church camp?2
As I see it (and from multiple conversations with folks asking the same question), the following six options exist:
Don’t send your kid to church camp, at all. This, of course, is perhaps the simplest, easiest answer, because if the shoe fits, wear it! BUT. I love camp. I would even go so far as to say I love the camps I also criticize. As one reader noted, “your kid can go to a church camp that is inclusive, compassionate, ask their honest questions about faith, even walk away from faith practice and still belong and be respected.”3 So, will your child miss out on a fundamental experience of childhood by not going to any camp at all?4
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