LT Camp 2023
July 23 – 29, 2023
Camp Nawakwa’s Upper Camp
Congregations are invited to identify young leaders in grades 8-12, who display gifts for leadership and who might like to strengthen those gifts in service to God and others, and to recommend them for our annual synod Leadership Training Camp (LT Camp). Participants attend at NO COST, thanks to generous financial support from Gordon Lamb, Chris & Missy Grant, Michael & Sarah Williams, C4G, and a number of other camp alums. Participants will experience a variety of interactive learning opportunities, designed to help them celebrate and enhance their leadership gifts, challenging them to harness those gifts in service to their families, congregations, communities, and the world.
The design of this experience is to help young people who already exhibit leadership gifts and skills in the parish, their school, home, or community, to get additional intentional training in what it means to be Christian leaders in the world. While we discuss vocation, this is not a camp devoted to specifically shepherding youth into church vocations. While some have gone on to be pastors and youth leaders in our Lutheran churches, many apply their gifts for leadership and discipleship in a variety of vocations, their congregations, and their personal lives. We are committed to helping young people grow in confidence and become faithful leaders and servants of Christ in all aspects of their lives.
The foundation for this curriculum comes from Mark 10, where Jesus reminds the disciples that He has come to serve others, thereby shifting the cultural leadership dynamic from one of power, to one of humility and service. Young leaders will come away with more confidence, practical experience in planning and leading small groups, and a network of peers and adult leaders who are there to support them as they continue to discern God’s call to them in their personal and vocational lives. Not exclusively a camp for young leaders discerning a call to ministry, this week is designed to help equip the participant for a life of discipleship, with an emphasis on Christ-like servant leadership.
The week includes a balance of faithful conversation, fun, fellowship, powerful worship, and a healthy mix of play and faith formation. To register, download the LT Registration Form:
2023 LT Camp Application
Mail it to:
LT Camp
Office for Faith Formation & Youth Ministry
1959 Market St
Camp Hill, PA 17011
-OR-
Scan and email to: croberts@lss-elca.org
Genuine friendships are formed at LT Camp
LT Camp includes a sense of authentic welcome
We gather around Word and Sacrament
The "Jesus Is..." Project
Each year, LT's, Alums and Counselors are asked to name who Jesus is, for them. They are invited to come up with an answer that speaks to them, and to write it on their body like a temporary tattoo, to be a visual reminder of who Jesus is in the midst of their daily lives. The idea came from New Orleans residents, who following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, moved back to their city in the wake of the flooding. When asked "why return to a city that could flood again," they responded with a photo series that had them write their responses on their bodies, then be photographed. The series hangs at the Superdome. Powerful, passionate, and haunting all at once. I was moved to wonder if our youth could capture that same passion for our Lord? They always do! These are some of those images.
LT Camp 2022: Retrospect
LT Camp was held in-person and safely in the summer of 2022. After 3 years of pandemic fits and starts, since our programming is held outdoors in conjunction with safety protocols, we found that youth who were longing for authentic community, conversation, and spiritual care and nurture, were able to do so safely. Synod Director of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry Charlie Roberts, had a COVID exposure in the weekend prior to camp, and left the community on Monday to provide for the safest possible environment for the community. The programming and spirit of the week were not diminished under the very capable leadership of Michael Williams and Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Dana Blouch-Hanson.
LT Camp celebrates a variety of "learning styles," to account for young people who are more kinesthetic, auditory, creative or introspective, and we try to cater our teaching methods to account for the variety of leaders who gather for this experience.
We continued many of our staple conversations. We also examined ways to pray outside the traditional conversation with God in the privacy of your own room, car or cabin. As always, youth had a chance to problem-solve with their peers, and were challenged to use creative thinking and leadership to help them grow emotionally and spiritually. When congregations follow the invitation to send young people who are already exhibiting strong leadership qualities, they tend to flourish in this setting, since we create opportunities for them to gain confidence in themselves and to deepen their relationship with God and one another.
Our Alumni Track is designed for youth who have completed the first-year track and who have displayed a year of practicing their leadership in a real-world setting like their homes, home congregation, school, community, or the world. Alumni are invited to return and congregations are asked to help contribute to their tuition in order to participate in a second year of LT Camp. However, NO youth are ever turned away from LT Camp due to financial limitations. Scholarships are available for all who need assistance.