A Dispatch From St. Andrews Camp

by Matushka TAMARA COWAN

Formation of our children happens whether we plan it or not. If we don’t do the forming, our kids are formed by their environment: TV, the internet, social media, and friends. In an era when sports and other weekend activities keep our families away from church many Sundays, the Orthodox Christian formation of our youth is taking a hit. Thus, it is vital for parents to have a plan.

For 61 years, Saint Andrew’s Camp has fit the bill: It’s a place to form our young people through a network of Orthodox friends, mentors, and potentially even future spouses (many of our priests and matushki met their spouses during summers at St. Andrew’s Camp!). We host some 100 campers each year, and while more than half come from our Diocese, we are also blessed to host youths from the Antiochian, Bulgarian, Carpatho-Russian, Georgian, Greek, Romanian, Russian, ROCOR, and Serbian jurisdictions, and even some non-Orthodox campers.

We organize the summer into five themed weeks, and every year we look for new ways to enrich the kids’ experiences. During Horse Week, which is typically our most popular, campers visit nearby stables every day for horsemanship and riding lessons, culminating in an awards ceremony and a hoedown. For Ecology Week this year, four counselors taught a Christian perspective on the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. In the evenings, the kids gazed at the stars through professional-grade telescopes. During Music Week, campers recorded a music video, choreographing it and playing the instruments themselves. Art Week found the kids learning sculpting and drama, and Teen Week featured swing-dancing practice and service at a local soup kitchen.

In addition to our traditional elective classes—archery, crafts, and swimming —a nearby Christian camp now gives us access to its water slides and kayaks. Field-trip destinations this year included Delta Lake, Howe Caverns near Albany, the Utica Art Museum, the Utica Zoo, and a Thousand Islands boat tour.

The heart of the St. Andrew’s Camp experience is the religious-education classes and daily services, where campers and volunteers learn to sing, read, and serve. This year, the classes focused on liturgical and sacramental theology. Campers roleplayed and filmed the services of Vespers, Matins, Proskomedia, Liturgy, Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, Marriage, and Unction. With two services and two classes daily, the volunteer priests still found time to get to know each child and offer them pastoral guidance.

This past summer, 75 percent of our campers received scholarships. We were happy to be able to offer scholarships to all campers in need who wanted to come. We are thankful to our many benefactors and to Archbishop Michael, who continually appeals for scholarships! Funding for 70 percent of these scholarships comes from private donors within the Diocese, 20 percent from Diocesan parishes, and 10 percent from other dioceses.

Our plan to build a badly-needed new dining hall is underway; we have pledges for 10 percent of the $300,000 cost. God willing, we will break ground soon. We are grateful for any support of this urgently needed new facility!

Please consider joining our St. Andrew’s Camp youth ministry for 2019 by donating a scholarship, pledging toward our new facility, or coming to work with us to form the young sons and daughters of our diocese. As Archbishop Michael says, “Not only are our children the future of our Church—our Church must be the future of our children!” With God’s help, Vladyka’s leadership, and your generosity of funds and faithful prayers, may it be so!

Matushka Tamara Cowan is the DiocesanDirector of Christian Education and theProgram Director of St. Andrew’s Camp inJewell, NY. She is married to ArchpriestDavid Cowan, the rector of Holy TrinityOrthodox Church in Yonkers, New York.