Make It Happen
Friday Afternoon:
Camp set-up and Welcome: From noon until 5 p.m., leader and any other volunteers set up their tents and the main campfire/meeting area tarps. Campfire area is also established and sufficient picnic tables are gathered to seat the entire group.
As campers arrive, they are greeted, registered, and guided to their camping area to set up their site and shown where to place their cooking equipment and chairs.
Friday Night:
At 7 p.m. ask campers to gather at the meeting area to enjoy drinks and snacks and for an opening prayer. The leader goes over all the rules and amenities of the campground and notifies the group of the campfire starting time.
The campfire program is loosely planned to allow for some spontaneous involvement from young adults. Think of a good small group experience around a campfire — Young adults are encouraged to read a favorite Scripture verse, tell personal stories of faith, sing or play their favorite praise and worship songs, and lead prayer or remember a special person. This is a way to show young adults that all of them can bring something worthy to the community table, that without their willingness to participate, the community is less because of it. It is important to let young adults know about this time of sharing before the event so they come prepared to bring their gifts to the campfire.
At the appointed time, the leader gathers everyone for the campfire and the program begins. This is a great time to share a little bit about Blessed Pier Frassati with the group. His life was dedicated to charity, social action, prayer, and community — all centered on his relationship with God. Frassati was a part of many student and young adult groups of his era (early 1900s). You might ask young adults to reflect on how they encounter Christ in the world and what they do to bring Christ to others.
The leader should also have additional readings, stories or song sheets available to get the program going. Once young adults relax the program usually flows along on its own. The leader can meet with specific young adults before the campfire that have specific talents such as storytelling or musical ability to encourage them to participate at the beginning of the program.
After the campfire ends, the leader ensures that the fire is damped down (or somebody agrees to do this) and trash is collected and disposed of with the help of other young adults.
Saturday Morning:
Leader (or volunteers) get up early to organize the meeting and cooking area, get a fire going, if necessary, and ensure a smooth transition for all the campers during the breakfast meal. At the end of breakfast, activity announcements (see ideas below) are given so that everyone knows when and where to gather for the various activities of the day and who will be leading the activity. The leader needs to make sure that, since he or she might be away at one specific activity, that other activity volunteers understand their responsibility to lead and gather young adults for other programs. Also, the leader should announce Mass time and ensure that all volunteers required for Mass understand their responsibilities.
Saturday Morning/Afternoon:
Activity Options:
Rafting Challenge, including BBQ lunch
A rafting experience is a fun social time that helps bond those involved in Christian community. You’ll need to provide the proper equipment or work with a local rafting company to host this experience. The highlight is often the involvement of young adult clergy participating in the fun — seeing a priest have a great time floating the river, participating in water fights, and swimming through in the water. This highlights that our clergy are real people leading real and engaging lives.
Rosary Hike (for non rafters)
Take a walk/hike that includes praying the rosary out loud as young adults hike, stopping after each decade to briefly talk about a mystery.
Revelations by the River Bible Study (for non rafters)
Invite participants to suggest a favorite Gospel story, psalm, or passage. (Psalm 51 is recommended or a story of Jesus near/on the water). Ask the young adult who suggests a passage to read it out loud. Next, ask another young adult to read the passage. Finally, it is read by the minister. Spend some quiet time meditating on the reading. Then discuss the reading and your reactions to it. This could also be called Lectio Divina by the River.
Saturday Evening:
After all the activities are completed, Mass area is set-up, and volunteers gather to prepare for their roles. The leader calls young adults to Mass and Mass is celebrated. (This event can also happen on Sunday Morning.)
After Mass, young adults gather and prepare their dinner. Most young adults will form tenting and dining groups on their own although a few will choose to go solo for tenting and dining arrangements. (You could also get a team together to coordinate meals or have groups sign up in advance to prepare meals for the whole group.)
After dinner, young adults are again notified of the campfire time and the process described on Friday Night is repeated.
Sunday Morning:
Leader (or volunteers) get up early to organize the meeting and cooking area, get a fire going if necessary and ensure a smooth transition for all the campers during the breakfast meal. At the end of breakfast, activity announcements and camp breakdown instructions are given so all young adults know when to break camp and depart. Departure happens over the course of the morning and the leader should ensure that all campers are thanked for their participation before they leave.
Sunday Afternoon:
After lunch, the campsite is taken down and the area cleaned of any remaining trash. It is important to ensure that all campers clean their respective sites before they depart. After a final inspection, the leader ensures that the camping area is clean and checks out with the campsite management and pays all bills before departing. Campers are responsible to pay the campground for their individual or small group’s site fees. Check-in, check-out, and payment methods vary from campground to campground so these instructions will be different for everyone.
Ideas
- Having short prayer hikes or walks can be a very spiritually enriching way to promote prayer into the lives of young adults as well.
- Always make sure to take an ample supply of board games, especially ones that are good for groups of people to play like Taboo or Apples to Apples. You might also include a couple with religious themes like Catholicopoly.
Recommends
- Website: For background information on Blessed Per Frassati go to www.frassatiusa.org. A very inexpensive “The Pact” kit including a prayer card and rubber wristband is also available. These tools or other inexpensive scripture study booklet or prayer booklet help young adults who may not be intimately familiar with these practices of our faith.
- Franciscan Media is a good source for faith formation materials. I particularly like ordering and taking along Scripture from Scratch and Catholic Update pamphlets available online.
- Websites: Use www.reserveamerica.com, www.recreation.gov, or www.gocampingamerica.com to find a campground near you.
