Wingmann Summer Campers Learn to Trust in ‘No Other Name’ but Jesus

This summer, Camp Wingmann in Avon Park welcomed about 200 campers across four weeks of programming, all centered on a single theme: “No Other Name,” drawn from Acts 4:12, which declares “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Camp St. Peter, for high schoolers, kicked things off from June 7-12. Camp St. Barnabas, for middle schoolers, followed from June 14-19. Then two weeks of Camp St. John, open to all ages, ran back to back from June 28-July 10. Every week worked from the theme, with age-appropriate teaching for younger campers. “No Other Name” took shape over each camp week: who Jesus is, what his name accomplished and what it means to carry that name into ordinary life. The teaching challenged students to sit with hard questions and go beyond so-called Sunday school answers to a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

Garrett Waldron, director of youth and young adult ministries at All Saints’, Lakeland, and a first-time program leader this summer, led the middle and high school group during the second Camp St. John week. He said the theme met a real need he sees in students today.

“With all the universalism that is present, not only outside of Christianity, but within Christianity too, I think it’s good to have a refocusing on what Jesus tells us: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life,’” Waldron said. He also pointed to the balance Camp Wingmann strikes between fun and faith, calling it “a light touch of worship and Christian education that can be disarming and welcoming for those not familiar with Christianity.”

The Rev. Dr. Rob Strenth, chaplain for the Order of the Daughters of the King® for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, member of the Standing Committee and the Commission on Ministry, and rector of St. Matthew’s, Orlando, served as camp chaplain for one week this summer and noticed something in the way the teens worshipped.

“It wasn’t the usual thing where you can kind of tell some kids are just going through the motions,” he said. “This was different. You could just tell it was real.” He added that the same spirit carried through mealtimes and everyday conversations, with no split between “spiritual mode” and “regular mode.” “It was all just one thing,” he said.

The Rev. Garcia Barnswell-Schmidt, one of the diocese’s two youth ministry coordinators, said the summer reflects what she hopes to see across all diocesan youth programming. “Camp Wingmann has done an amazing job of creating a safe space for children and youth to explore the deep questions of their faith,” she said. “Whether they’re brand new to these conversations or further along in their walk with God, it is a privilege and just simply beautiful to be invited into their world, where we can observe their journey, all while encouraging them to still be kids and have some fun along the way.”

Some of the most powerful moments happened far from the chapel. At the ropes course, this writer’s daughter, Chloe, stared down a climbing wall well over 30 feet tall, certain she wasn’t going to complete the ascent. Camp Director Joshua “J.J.” Joseph encouraged her to try anyway, and once she had climbed a few steps, to aim for just one more.

“If you stop and give up, that’s what you’ll do in life too,” he told her. She kept climbing until she reached the top, ready for whatever came next, a picture of the week’s theme lived out in real time.

The next opportunity for students to reconnect at Camp Wingmann will be Winter Camp, with dates still to be announced. Updates and registration details will be posted at campwingmann.org.