Faith Formation at our Camps
The Lutheran Camping Corporation of Central Pennsylvania operates three unique outdoor ministry sites on the territory of the Lower Susquehanna Synod, each affording the participant the opportunity to experience God in Creation, in powerfully interactive and faithful ways.
Camp Nawakwa: Arendtsville, PA
Camp Kirchenwald: Colebrook, PA
The Wittel Farm: Elizabethtown, PA
All of the web links included here will take you to the camping corporation’s website, where you will find links to their various spring, summer, and fall programming and summer camps. As traditional faith formation ministry opportunities in congregations takes a summer sabbath, consider suggesting camp, as a way to keep youth and their families immersed in faithful conversation and practices.
The Wittel Farm Growing Project
The Wittel Farm, long known as a location for days of prayer and reflection, has also been returned to a working farm. Working cooperatively, the Lutheran
Camping Corporation and Hunger-Free Lancaster County, have partnered to shepherd The Wittel Farm Growing Project. With more than seven acres of corn and other fruits and vegetables, volunteers help plant, tend, and harvest the crops that are shared at no cost, with people living with the realities of food insecurity in Lancaster county.
Volunteers can attend regularly-scheduled “dinner church” meals, campfires, and worship experiences at the farm in the summer months, and can access not only a day of service, but engage in service-learning experiences, led by the project director Pastor Matt Lenahan. To learn more about ways you can register a group to serve at the farm on Tuesdays, Saturdays or Sundays, please visit our Growing Project web page.
Conference Day Camps
A Collaboration between the synod Office for Children, Youth & Family, the Lutheran Camping Corporation, and Conferences
What if we could give children an immersive faith formative ‘camp-like’ experience in the midst of Christ-centered community where the Spirit is palpable, at a more affordable and accesible price point for many families? We are embarking on a new collaboration and you are invited! The synod Office for Children, Youth & Family (Office for CYFM) and the Lutheran Camping Corporation (LCC) are looking to partner with conferences to offer week-long Day Camps throughout the summer, for children in grades Kindergarten – 5th grade. We are asking our 13 conferences to consider working cooperatively to identify a host congregation within their conference, willing to house the week-long day camp. LCC would provide the counselors or day camp staff and all programming for the week. The Office for CYFM would offer assistance coordinating the camp and a grant to help offset the cost for daily lunches.
Click here to download the Conference Day Camp Flyer, describing the details of this proposed collaboration, and offering answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ’s). To borrow the old expression, ‘we are building this plane while flying it’, so we are asking for your patience as we know each setting will be slightly different, but we are open and willing to work with conference partners to pilot a few of these day camps in the summer of 2026!
Confirmation Camps
Collaborative Youth Ministry in the Lower Susquehanna Synod
Three shared ‘Confirmation Camps’ have existed in Lower Susquehanna Synod for many years and are poised to grow in 2026. Each of the three week-long experiences are held in June and exemplify the best of who we are when we work cooperatively as synod congregations. The three camps include:
- All Saints Confirmation Camp: June 14-19, 2026 at Camp Nawakwa
- Church in the Woods Confirmation Camp: June 14-19, 2026 at Camp Kirchenwald
- Harrisburg Area Confirmation Camp: June 21-27, 2026 at Camp Nawakwa
Over 60 congregations send youth to one of the three camps in any given year, and all three camps are open to welcoming congregations that are not currently participating. All Saints, Church in the Woods, and Harrisburg Area, all have congregations participating from across the synod, representing almost every conference, and offer curriculum for youth who are currently receiving catechism instruction in their home congregations and for youth who have already gone through Affirmation of Baptism or who have been ‘confirmed’. These camps embody what it means to gather in authentic Christ-centered community where the Holy Spirit is encountered in real-world ways. Learn more about all three confirmation camps below!
Harrisburg Area Confirmation Camp
The Harrisburg Area Confirmation Camp, serves approximately 30+ congregations that attend from various conferences, across our synod. Between 175-200 youth and their congregational advisors gather each year for one week in June (June 21-27, 2026), to explore the ways God is calling them into a life of discipleship in the world. Youth in grades 6-12, can participate in one of a number of curriculum tracks based on their age.
Our first three tracks for 6th, 7th, & 8th graders are designed to compliment congregational confirmation programs and reinforce what youth learn in confirmation class, with focuses on the Lord’s Prayer, Apostle’s Creed, the 10 Commandments, and what it means to live as a baptized child of God.
Our 3 tracks for post-confirmation students, for 9th, 10th, & 11th graders, focus on deepening their relationship with Christ, identifying the gifts given to us in baptism, discerning God’s call, and being a servant leader in the church and the world.
At the heart of this camp experience is ‘community’ with lots of time to gather with multiple generations for meals and evening events. Each track however, has a week-long curriculum, led by adult staff and counselors, meeting primarily in small groups. The week is highlighted by all-camp worship on a daily basis, along with all-camp games, activities, campfires, and opportunities for fellowship and peer-to-peer learning. While the overall theme of the week focuses on what it means to be a baptized Child of God in today’s world, each track focuses on a different aspect of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Started in the early 70’s as a cooperative ministry of Harrisburg city Lutheran churches, the camp now has participating congregations from a variety of conferences, but still bears the original name.
All Saints Confirmation Camp
The All Saints Confirmation Camp, is a partnership of 20+ synod congregations, held in June (June 14-19, 2026), with many representing the Gettysburg, Hanover, York, and Chambersburg Conferences. Pastors and youth leaders from the various member congregations comprise the staff who lead small group teachings and conversations on a variety of topics related to Confirmation. Click here to see our webpage, view our promo video and download registration materials.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- The Creeds
- Prayer Practices
- The Ten Commandments
- The Sacraments: Holy Communion & Baptism
- Service in Jesus Name
Youth in the first two years of Confirmation in their home congregations participate in interactive camp curriculum and faithful conversations each morning, and gather with their friends and leaders from their home congregations for conga-time, or “congregation-time,” each day after lunch. Afternoons are spent participating in traditional camp activities like swimming, games, crafts, with cabin groups and Nawakwa staff. Evenings are community activities like campfires, skit nights, outdoor camp games, and inspired worship often held in the beautiful natural chapels dotting the Nawakwa countryside.
For congregations looking to reinforce the basic tenets of Confirmation ministry in the home congregation, this is an ideal cooperative community approach. Say for example, you have just a handful of youth, or have limited opportunity to offer regularly scheduled Confirmation classes, this camp offering will help youth engage with their peers while exploring more deeply the basic building blocks of Confirmation. While it does not “replace” more regular Confirmation study, it does compliment whatever you might offer in your home congregation, and exposes youth to other trained leaders and caring adults.
Church in the Woods Confirmation Camp
The Church in the Woods Confirmation Camp, serves a number of congregations primarily representing the North Lancaster and Lancaster conferences, held annually at Camp Kirchenwald in Lebanon County. Youth and their congregational advisors gather each year for one week in June (June 14-19, 2026), to explore the ways God is calling them into a life of discipleship in the world. One of the most important goals of camp is giving campers the confidence to grow in their faith, engage in authentic Christian community with peers and caring adults, and to know that Christ’s love is present in their lives.
