Our mission at Covenant Pines Ministries is to encourage campers to take their Next Step in Christian faith. We focus on this mission all year round, but during our summer ministry season we have the privilege of operating all four of our ministry centers; serving students, families and individuals at Covenant Pines Bible Camp, Adventurous Christians, Silver Beach Family Camp and Covenant Pines Off Site. After each summer of ministry, we like to share stories about how campers around CPM have taken next steps.
Covenant Pines Bible Camp: Campers at CPBC make commitments each week to dedicate their life to Jesus, make a change back home, start going back to youth group and more. This is truly the heartbeat of the summer and why we do what we do. One story that sticks out from this summer is from a high school camper who spent time at camp as a SWEAT. After this camper returned home, we were notified that this high schooler had made a personal donation to the Next Steps Campaign. We were so encouraged by this tangible next step of tithing by this camper!
Adventurous Christians: At AC, the challenge of a week on trail really helps people reflect on what their next steps are. This summer, one student while on trail felt particularly inspired by the leadership development on trail as well as the satisfaction of completing a canoe trip. In this student’s trip reflection he mentioned that one day he hopes to be a guide at AC to help provide this experience to others. We love to see next steps like this!
Silver Beach Family Camp: One of the best things about Silver Beach Family Camp is the community that is created over years and years. These families see each other every year and get to know each other, watch each other’s children grow up and families evolve. One Silver Beacher commented on the way Silver Beachers come back to each other every year and share stories of faith, and how they are able to encourage each other in their own walks with God.
Covenant Pines Off Site: One of the biggest and highly anticipated Off Site events each summer is our Covenant Pines Golf Tournament. The tournament is a fundraiser to raise money for camper scholarships. This year, we had a record breaking year for sponsorship. It was so cool to see businesses and individuals take their own next step in faith and generosity by sponsoring the event. Because of this, we were able to raise $16,000 for our camper scholarship fund – allowing campers to continue to take a next step in Christian faith.
These are just a few of the ways campers have taken next steps around Covenant Pines Ministries this summer. As we conclude another full summer of ministry, we look forward to continuing our mission as we transition into retreat season.
Earlier this week, our full time staff gathered for a zoom meeting. During the retreat season, we do these weekly but in the busyness of summer we try to do them once a month. We started our meeting by sharing ways that we have seen God working this summer and there was a resounding theme across our ministry: Community.
Community is at the core of most camps. At CPM, we see this emerge in the temporary communities that are established for one week of youth camp, Silver Beach, or on a canoe trip; the summer staff community that intentionally exists; or the full time staff who have committed to living a life in community together. But in our meeting this morning, it was apparent that the community of Covenant Pines Ministries reaches beyond what would typically come to mind when you think of “camp community.”
At Adventurous Christians, there is another Wilderness Camp off the Gunflint Trail, and our staff has gotten to know their staff quite well over the years. At the beginning of this summer, when both camps were out on their staff training trip, the two groups crossed paths. Mind you, this was not planned and truthfully shouldn’t have even happened given the routes both groups were taking. This short exchange allowed for some shared laughs, but also an opportunity for our staff to care for some of theirs in a time of need. The timing lined up perfectly enough to care for our friends when some of them really needed it.
Earlier this summer, there was a camper at Covenant Pines who needed a little more one-on-one attention then your typical camper. This happens from time to time, and we do our best to provide that attention when needed. This camper had a desire to still participate at camp, to feel a part of this unique community that is created each week, but also knew she had limitations. Her counselor was attentive, thoughtful and caring for this camper (all while also lifeguarding) to make camp a place where she felt comfortable to participate.
Every first day of camp is a little chaotic, including at the Bus Stop at Salem Covenant Church. We load all the campers on the bus making sure everyone is accounted for, pack the trailers and answer any questions about the week of camp ahead. Once the buses leave, there is a communal exhale as the campers make their way to camp. Some parents choose to stick around and share their excitement for their campers with each other, pray together, and make plans to hear about their campers weeks when they get back. The parents who send their children to camp are creating their own little community themselves, making the impact of the week of camp grow farther.
These stories share the ways that the community of Covenant Pines Ministries reaches beyond our campers each week. Stories were also shared about the personal community staff are finding, volunteers who are coming up and contributing to and bringing life to our community, and the growth we are observing within the people we are serving alongside. It is a humbling reminder that we are all apart of something bigger. A bigger story, and an even bigger community in God’s family.
We have had a busy spring at Covenant Pines Ministries as we prepare for a summer full of ministry. Our spring has included some staffing transitions, the Worship Center Groundbreaking, new furniture and more in the midst of the usual summer preparations. As we look to summer ministry, we would appreciate your prayers for our Full Time Staff at CPM. We work hard all year round, but summer ministry is our bread and butter. It comes with great joy but also very hard work!
Below is a list of ways you can be praying for specific full time staff members this summer.
Pam Lofgren, Foodservice Director, CPBC: You can pray that Pam would have sustained energy in the day in and out of the inner workings of the kitchen as the kitchen staff strives to sustain all the campers through the ministry of food. JOY, even when the feet hurt, LAUGHTER, when there’s a kitchen blunder, and a lifetime of memories created with my kitchen staff as we serve and work alongside one another this summer in the name of Jesus.
Jared Jensen, Operations Director, CPBC: You can pray that Jared will become acclimated to his new role well, and is able to keep up and learn during a busy season.
Matt Braun, Camp Director, CPBC: Matt would love prayer to be able to balance the needs of our campers and staff while at the same time managing the construction of the new worship center well.
Dave Cairns, Executive Director, CPM: Dave would appreciate prayers in regards to fundraising efforts around the Next Steps Campaign, working with the contractor to best steward our gifts, and encouragement of camp directors as they lead their staff.
Matt White, Camp Director, AC: You can pray that Matt would have a good balance of needs. His own, staff, campers, buildings. Knowing when to do which thing so he can have peace.
Lina Swanson, Guest Service Director, AC: Lina would love prayers to be able to find rest in the middle of the busyness.
Holly Abramson, Director of Marketing and Off Site Ministry, CPM: You can pray that Holly would smoothly adjust to the new schedule, rhythm and busyness of summer ministry while remaining present and balanced with her family.
Thanks for joining us in prayer as we enter into a big season of ministry! Please also be praying for our campers, summer staff, volunteers and everyone who makes camp possible over the next few months. It is our deepest desire for God to work through us so we can encourage campers to take their next step in Christian faith.
On Saturday April 15, we braved the cold and rain for a significant day in Covenant Pines Bible Camp history. We have now officially broken ground on the new Worship Center! A small group of people gathered at Covenant Pines as we worshipped, prayed over and sacredly and ceremoniously broke the ground that the Worship Center will be on.
As many of you know, plans for a new Worship Center have been discussed at Covenant Pines for almost 50 years, it feels surreal to finally begin construction and see the vision come to life. Camp is blessed to move forward with this project and we ask for your prayers as we take our own next step in CPM’s future.
Construction will begin this week at camp and continue for about a year. We have plans in place to ensure that the impact to camper and guest experiences are limited. However, the location of the Worship Center will be very visible when you enter camp – so things will look and feel different!
Official Groundbreaking Photo:
Nicole Thompson (Station 19; Architect), Sarah Verdoorn (CPM Board), Matt Braun (CPBC Camp Director), Shawn Johnson (BJ Baas; General Contractor), Tim Gosen (CPM Board), Sara Sosa (CPM Board), Todd Joing (CPM Board), Dave Cairns (CPM Executive Director), Bryan Schmidt (CPBC Facilities Director).
Covenant Pines Bible Camp Staff:
Pam Lofgren, Bryan Schmidt, Erin Burkstrand, Casey Kongla, Matt Braun, Lexi Schafer, Mia Schaller, Matteo Sosa and Jared Jensen.
Past and Current Camp Directors
Bruce Peterson (1977-2014), Dave Cairns (2015-Present), Mark Cairns (1973-1977)
This is an exciting time for us at Covenant Pines Bible Camp! We look forward to celebrating with the entire Covenant Pines community when we dedicate the Worship Center in Spring 2024. Stay tuned for more details on this event in the coming months.
Last month we shared stories about changed lives at Covenant Pines Bible Camp from our Senior High MEA Retreat. Our vision at Covenant Pines Ministries is to change a life. Of course, we envision campers when we think about this – but they are not the only ones having their lives changed. Summer staff members for years and years have shared about how working at camp has transformed their lives.
About a month ago, I received an email from a friend, Alex. It had been a few years since I’d heard from him and was happy to see the email pop in my inbox. Alex and I worked on summer staff for a few summers together and he spent a year at camp on Ministry Staff while I was the Program Director. Alex did not grow up at camp and didn’t have a Covenant history or background; he had first heard about camp from a friend from college, Tate, who encouraged him to apply to be a counselor. Alex was studying at the University Wisconsin LaCrosse pursuing a degree in Exercise Science and was on track to be a Physical Therapist…until he spent a couple of summers at Covenant Pines.
The email Alex sent was sent to a few of us on staff here at CPM, and he was writing to share with us that he had completed seminary and that was going to be ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He thanked us for the support in ministry we had given him at camp, and wrote in his email,
“The summers I spent at CPBC (2012 & 2013) completely transformed my hopes, dreams, and desires for life. And the year I spent on ministry staff (2013-14) taught me so many valuable lessons regarding ministry, especially that the work is not always fun… it can get messy! Oh how important it was for me to learn that lesson at a young age…”
This story is just one of many. I’m sure many of you reading this relate to Alex and can share your own ways how spending a summer at camp changed your life. Not everyone who works at Covenant Pines or Adventurous Christians will change their life to be in ministry – but some will. And some will meet their best friends or their mentor, some will heat from God in a way they never have before.
We are hiring for summer staff at both Covenant Pines and Adventurous Christians now. Can you think of a young adult or two that could benefit from a summer with us? Now, I mean it…can you make it a point to reach out to these individuals and send them our way? You never know…it could even change their life.
To learn more about working at Covenant Pines Bible Camp or Adventurous Christians, click here.