Youth are all smiles at a New Beginnings camp last year at Camp Wingmann. The New Beginnings spring camp is scheduled for March 22-24.
There will be joyful singing and clapping to the tunes of a live musical band, and smiles will be all around as middle-schoolers enjoy the latest highly anticipated spiritual retreat at Camp Wingmann.
An estimated 75 to 80 youth ages 12 to 15, sponsors and team members are expected to descend upon Camp Wingmann on March 22-24 for the 2019 New Beginnings spring retreat. The event has become one of Camp Wingmann’s premier events with its emphasis on relationships, fun activities and bonding.
“This retreat weekend has been going on in our diocese for well over 30 years,” said Rev. Phyllis Bartle, the director for New Beginnings. “I’ve had the extreme joy to work with it for much of that time.”
Bartle, who is the rector of St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Orange City, said the appeal for the weekend has been and continues to be “that kids come where they are emotionally and spiritually, and are accepted. They grow a bit, make new friends and can come back again and again. As they mature, they are encouraged to come back and work on the team and help others in their walk with Christ.
This year’s team is made up primarily of high school students who act as small-group leaders, PSC (prayer, share and care), and music/tech, Bartle said. The adult team is made up of a spiritual director, married couple, weekend advisors, etc.
Bartle said Rev. Tracy Dugger will serve as spiritual director, and Carl and Julie Pollard will serve as the married couple speakers.
This spring’s camp begins on Friday, March 22, with evening games and a lively music set. “Primary business for that first evening is breaking up into groups and some getting-to-know you exercises,” Bartle said. “Getting to know your family group also leads to getting to know yourself. The whole theme for the weekend revolves around relationships – self, friends and peers, siblings, parents, Jesus and God, and then our relationship in the Church and the world.”
On Saturday, March 23, the camp continues with an examination of those relationships through talks, skits, videos and music. Campers also will take a long break in the afternoon to enjoy the setting by swimming, playing sports or just relaxing in the quiet of the shady oak trees, Bartle said.
The camp concludes Sunday, March 24, by building on the relationships that organizers and campers have been exploring since the first day. The event culminates with prayer and sharing, and worship.
For more information on New Beginnings, email Bartle at phlealess@aol.com
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAMP WINGMANN