DUCC = Disciples-UCC Caring Community
With the cancellation of our Disciples-UCC Church Camp in June due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and “stay-at-home” orders, we have been faced with what we might offer to our camp families instead. After brainstorming a lot of different options, we are choosing to pursue a plan that would not seek to create a “virtual” camp experience (because…well, that’s really not possible, right?). After doing some research, we realize that families have already had long weeks of needing to both work from home and do school work, often for multiple kids and adults all via the internet and bazillions of Zoom meetings. That made us wonder (and possibly doubt!) if a whole new week of programming would really be a welcome thing…particularly when one of the main values of camp is to DISCONNECT from technology, and reconnect with each other and the outside world of nature.
These weeks of pandemic quarantining and social distancing have created many changes in our lives and the way we relate to each other. There are new stresses and strains, and new skills that need to be learned. There is much that is unknown and many things that are constantly changing. Our families are living on the edge of great stress and strain with all the adaptation to a new reality that we are all engaged in. So, we finally settled on a spiritual paradigm we are borrowing from Celtic Christianity: strengthening our community and families by connecting with the sacred in the daily things we are already doing, creating sacred spaces and spiritual formation moments for youth and families that are rooted within the new reality of our daily lives.
We believe that HOME is the primary place of spiritual nurture and development. Our camp program is normally a way that we invite children and youth to extend the familiarity, hospitality, and nurturing of home to others that are not part of our biological families, and also see the natural world as our home. It makes sense to us to not try to add more online virtual camp programming to our over-stressed families, but offer resources and opportunities that will help families in their own time and schedules, to deepen and make meaning in the midst of things they are already doing together, such as finding alone time, mealtimes, waking and bedtimes, finding creative things to do together, ways to reflect on shared activities, finding God in the ordinary, etc.
We are in the process of gathering some folks from our churches we know are extraordinary educators, creative artists, and family spiritual formation nurturers to help us identify and create resources for families. We anticipate it will span the summer months at least, and may include special spaces on our Conference/Regional website, a private group on Facebook so families may connect with each other safely and post their experiences, fun and instructional videos, simple rituals, suggestions for art and music and environmental awareness right around our homes and yards. Many resources will be available to everyone. Also, we may have a registration for families who want to take advantage of ways to interact and connect with each other and for kids to reconnect with camp friends in a safe and secure way, and perhaps have access to special project resources. As details unfold, they will be publicized in the coming weeks as we continue to embrace our adaptive challenges and solidify our planning.
Stay tuned!