I spent all day Saturday with an incredible group of people talking about camps, congregations, families, and faith. From the Rhythms of Faith website:

“The Rhythms of Faith Project seeks to empower parents and caregivers in family faith formation by leveraging the power of camp experiences to establish rhythms of faith through regular Christian practices.”

And, “This project is a 5-year, nationwide, cross-denominational initiative coordinated by Wheaton College’s Center for Leadership Development (HoneyRock), in partnership with Sacred Playgrounds, and generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The project seeks faith formation through partnership: partnership among parents/caregivers; partnership among camps, congregations, and the home; partnership among practitioners and the academy; partnership among different Christian traditions. We bring together scholars and practitioners from Lutheran, United Methodist, and Evangelical traditions, drawing experience from camp, clergy, and academia.”

This round of Lilly grants was, in large part, kick-started by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk’s book Handing Down the Faith. You can read about all of the grant recipients following this LINK.

I first got to know Jacob Sorenson from Sacred Playgrounds when I was serving on the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries national network board. We attended an ecumenical camp board gathering (Outdoor Ministry Connection) at a Methodist camp in Florida a number of years ago. Jake led the task group coordinating empirical research about the impact of camp and I co-led a group that created an ecumenical interim camp director training. A few years ago, when Sorenson finished his book Sacred Playgrounds, I wrote a review of it for The Christian Century magazine. .

I love that this project brings together two of my favorite things: outdoor ministries and ecumenism!! I also am passionate about this project because the synod I serve as bishop includes three Lutheran Outdoor Ministries sites: Luther Heights Bible Camp, Lutherhaven, and Holden Village.

A bonus of serving on this advisory team, was getting to visit historic Wheaton College for the first time ever. Even though I attended graduate school in Hyde Park, Chicago for three years, I never made it to Wheaton.

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