For the summer of 2023, we are going to be looking at an aspect of our faith that is wonderfully confusing for people of all ages.
Together at camp, we will discover the holiness of the Trinity, who abides with us and for us, revealing our own belovedness as we are wholly—from beginning to end—loved by God, the three-in-one.
Each day at camp will guide us into God’s story of love for all creation that claims us and nourishes us.
Let’s take a closer look at each day’s theme:
Creator: The witness of creation testifies to the handiwork of our God, who, out of love, made all things good. We are part of this goodness and are compelled to honor creation, the love-work of God.
Redeemer: As the incarnate person of the Trinity, Jesus takes on flesh and abides with us. Jesus speaks metaphorically as “the vine,” while calling us “the branches,” but the metaphor extends beyond, to the truth of divine friendship marked by selfless love. This holy love of God for all humanity goes wholly to the end, to death on the cross.
Holy Spirit: With wild winds and dancing tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit makes a grand entrance in the place where Jesus’s followers have gathered for the day of Pentecost. The fire of the Spirit fuels and begins the church and our formation as beloved community.
Me: Jesus begins his public ministry in the waters of the Jordan River. We hear God and see the Holy Spirit mysteriously manifested while Jesus emerges from the waters, named and sealed as “the Beloved.” Through the love and relationship of the Trinity, the title “beloved” becomes yours too.
We: Fueled by the fire-energy of the Holy Spirit, we live as disciples of Jesus, embodying and sharing God’s radically inclusive love for all the world.
To tie all of these days together, our theme verse for the summer is from Revelation 22:13. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
With Revelation 22:13 as our guiding text, (un)Equal explores the Holy Trinity through the whole scope of God’s love expressed from start to finish.
The totality of love in and through the Holy Trinity is beyond any mathematical equation.
This summer we set our calculators aside and explore the mystery of God through the formula of love—a love freely gifted to all of us!
As you’re gearing up for camp this summer, take some time to ponder and discuss these faith questions with your family or a friend:
Where in creation have you seen God’s presence?
What are some ways that you would show Jesus your love if he was with us today?
When are some times when you feel God and the Spirit’s presence most closely to you?
What are some things that you think God loves about you?
How can we as a family/community show others God’s love?