Bible Camps and ACOP Culture

[Emma Hodges]

• Family and adult camps have significantly impacted the Pentecostal Movement because they have been where so many people have had some incredible spiritual encounters. They are a time when people can come together and build relationships, learn about God, and have some powerful experiences. It also relates back to Pentecostal history and is an important part of the early Pentecostal church in Canada.
• Bible camps have played an important part in my spiritual history. I went to family camp every year as a kid, and then as a pre-teen and teenager, I went to youth camp in the summers. It was very influential to my spiritual journey because camp is where I met and built important relationships with other believers. I also learned a lot about spiritual disciplines and still implement some of those spiritual disciplines in my life today.

[Kimberly]

Adult and family camps are very important because it shows that community and learning together as Christians is still important even when you’re no longer a child. There isn’t an age when we no longer need to be encouraged by another Christian and dive into the Word together. I love that ACOP is highlighting full family engagement in Bible camps!

I did not get to experience Bible camp as a kid, but I am very excited to be introducing it to my kids. I also got the opportunity to speak at our local Bible camp this summer and it was such an awesome experience to see how impactful it is for the kids, and also the leaders/speakers. Bible camp is something we are now making a part of our family life.

[Jaylen Hodges]

I think bible camps seem to hold a special anointing for God’s movement in peoples lives. It is so commonly heard that people had some of this first tangible experiences with God at camp, or they got saved at camp, or healed at camp, etc. Perhaps this is due in part because non-christians tend to send their kids to bible camps, but I believe there is some level of anointing on them where God really moves in particularly pivotal ways through them. At the same time, many bad stories come out of bible camps as well, which ultimately all comes down to how the camp is being led and stewarded, which is also what it would also come down to with its successful side as well.