The Gregorian Rant

  

              Recently, we celebrated “Camp Stevens Sunday.” As a “peaceful place apart,” Camp Stevens serves the children, youth and adults of the Diocese by offering programs to allow people to withdraw from the stresses of the city and listen for the “still small voice of God.” It is also a place that offers ways for people to challenge themselves to accomplish things they never thought they could—and to learn to work together with others.

              There are two quotes in the Camp Stevens Sunday brochure that are near and dear to my heart: one is from my mother, the other is from a girl I watched grow from a camper to a counselor to a young adult. She said, “I always knew that I had so many firsts in my life at camp … but I didn’t realize how camp had had such a big hand in making me who I am today. For example, my ability to manage a classroom, teach children to work together and be kind, my expectation that all ideas will be heard in meetings—all of these came from camp.” Camp Stevens has been changing lives and giving people that place to connect with God in a unique and special way for over 50 years.

              But nowadays, fewer and fewer children are having an opportunity to get outside and to learn from and enjoy nature. Life is very different from when you and I were kids and we stayed outside playing until the street lights came on—if you had streetlights. Now, more and more children are inside plugged into this machine or that as they continue to receive the message that nature isn’t where the future is—the future is in electronics.

              Richard Louv, in his book Last Child in the Woods, talks about this. He took a group of children—regular kids from the Midwest—and let them spend a day exploring nature—giving them a chance to get their hands dirty and their feet wet. At the end of the day, they all agreed that they’d had a great time and that it was really fun, but when asked if they wanted to do it again, they all said, “No.” One boy is quoted as saying, “I prefer to play indoors because that’s where the electrical outlets are.”

              They even have a name for this—it’s called Nature Deficit Disorder. Through his research, Louv has concluded that “spending time in nature for kids is not an extracurricular activity, it’s not a ‘nice to have,’ it should be considered essential to healthy childhood development.” He found that kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) pay better attention and that kids’ stress levels plummet when they’re put in direct contact with nature, and that test scores—even SAT scores—go up. All this at a time when fewer and fewer kids are exposed to nature.

              That’s where Camp Stevens can help. Every summer, hundreds of kids from all over the diocese go there for summer camp. During the fall and spring, they offer “Outdoor Education” experiences to countless schoolchildren. Camp Stevens opens its doors to children and young people from the inner city and suburbia, people from all over Southern California, that they may experience the beauty of creation and encounter the God who created it.

              But as you may know, last September, Camp Stevens had a fire. I have seen the devastation firsthand and it is tough. But already things are moving forward—you may remember that people could give a tree at camp for a friend or loved one at Christmastime—and 130 Coulter pine seedlings have been planted and are being cared for and watered. Plans are underway for a new bathroom on Girls’ Hill and for building other, temporary structures so that Summer Camp may go on as usual. A temporary Chapel is being built and I am on the design team for the new Chapel that will be constructed. Replacement or refurbishing of other buildings is underway, as well. Perhaps the most hopeful photograph is the one on the back cover of the brochure showing new life growing out of the charred remains; and as people of the Resurrection, isn’t that what we’re all about?

              To rebuild all of this is going to cost money—almost $2 million. Yes, the camp had insurance, but insurance is never enough. Even with the insurance, the camp still needed $750,000. Now $270,000 has already been raised, but that still leaves $480,000 to go. It is our hope and prayer that through “Camp Stevens Sunday” we can raise the remaining money.

              If you did not receive a brochure on Camp Stevens Sunday, they are available in the Narthex. I urge you to look through the brochure and then make a gift to the “Fire Recovery Fund” and send it on to Camp Stevens. I plan to take the $150 I received for a wedding and send it to Camp Stevens. I would love to have you join me in making a gift. If you can’t give $150, than give $15 or $5. The important thing is to give so that we can get this facility rebuilt so that it can get on with its mission: to give children an opportunity to spend time in nature and adults to withdraw from the stresses of life and together experience the One that makes all this possible and who calls us each by name.

Faithfully Yours,

 

Fr Greg+

             

 

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that your gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land an of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we who are constantly receiving good things from your hand, may always give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

              (BCP p. 259)