Going camping

Lutheran, The, Apr 2001 by Lamb, Lynette

at age 41, I finally went to summer camp. When it came to vacations, my parents had been more Holiday Inn than Sierra Club. So while my friends trundled off to Bible, canoe and Girl Scout camps, my family hit the national monuments and interstates.

Fun and relentlessly educational as those trips were, I longed for the lazy lake days, campfires and group camaraderie that seems to blossom best in the piney togetherness of overnight camp.

Two summers ago, I noticed in my bulletin that some families from University Lutheran Church of Hope, Minneapolis, were planning to attend Mount Carmel Ministries, a family camp in Alexandria, Minn. Although work commitments kept my husband at home, our 3-year-old, Grace, and I signed up for a week.

What a week it was. Mount Carmel, an ecumenical Christian camp run by ELCA pastor Johan Hinderlie and his wife, Sonia, offered everything I'd hoped. Located two hours north of the Twin Cities, most of the camp is built on a rise overlooking crystal-clear Lake Carlos.

During the day we enjoyed typical vacation pursuits: swimming, boating and bicycling. Nights included campfires, recitals and talent shows.

But the spirit that infused the place meant the most to me. Each day was framed by worship. And the camp offered faith-based morning sessions for all ages. Adult Bible studies were held in the breezy old pine sanctuary or out on the main lawn. Children's sessions included age-appropriate songs, crafts and play.

Part of the camp's spirit is due to the guests and staff. I met interesting people from all over the country. My daughter found the preschool staff so fun, warm and loving that she talked about them months later.

But the best bonus was one I least expected: Mount Carmel gave my family a time and place to forge friendships with members from our church. Parishioners with whom I hadn't served on a committee or sung in the choir, I might have simply passed by in the halls for years. Even if we did manage to chat, it's difficult to cement a friendship in the few rushed minutes between adult forum and worship.

When Grace and I arrived at camp, we knew one family well, another slightly and the rest not at all. But after eating, worshiping, swimming and kid-wrangling together for a week, we left Mount Carmel fast friends. In fact, our church families had so much fun we couldn't wait a whole year to do it again. We rented the lodge at Mount Carmel for a winter weekend and skated, skied, sang and worshiped together.