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Military Summer Camps

Looking back, the military camps were a lot weirder than we thought at the time. My older daughter and her two best friends were in the last group at Trail to Life Camp, up in Greenwich, Ohio, run by one of the Mansfield Christian School staff who had Grace Haven connections. Trail to Life seemed to have been a kid version of Marine boot camp, complete with obstacle courses. The theme (reflected in the camp song) was that "we are the army of the Lord." Part of the idea was to toughen the kids up.

When the camp closed in the early 1980s, there must have been a lot of nostalgia for military-themed summer camps because Grace Fellowship quickly got their own: Cross Training Camp.

When I think back on my own childhood and remember church summer camp, I remember Bible stories, nature studies, swimming, and games like capture the flag. Grace Haven kids remember some of these things, but they also remember that everyone had a military rank and a lot of time was spent learning to march in formation. Obstacle courses and water balloon battles with truly sophisticated firepower were standard. Kids had plastic helmets and pretend military gear. All ages were together, so the younger kids (who, of course, were the lowest ranks) had somewhat normal daily schedules, but the high school kids (who would have been camp counselors in a more traditional camp) formed their own subgroup. After all, they were officers. When the younger kids were in bed, this officers' group seems to have had a lot of freedom.

I guess the whole thing was OK, though the military metaphor seems just creepy, misplaced, and overdone for a church camp. Perhaps, in the back of the leaders' minds, they were preparing for some sort of Christian Nation takeover. Anyhow, in retrospect the part I remember hearing most about was the unregulated and unrestrained group of high school kids—some of their activities resembled hazing to humiliate low-status members of the group and other activities sound like a remake of "Lord of the Flies." There was less of military precision and more of naked savages stampeding in some of those late-night activities.

Odd stuff for a Christian summer camp at a place called Grace Haven.

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