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.
Our mission at Covenant Pines Ministries is to encourage campers to take their next step in Christian faith – whether that be introducing Jesus to them for the first time, a camper feeling compelled to return to church, saying yes to a mission trip…we aim to meet campers of all ages where they are at in their faith journey and encourage them to take that next step. Our vision statement is to change a life. We want your experience at Covenant Pines to be one that is unique and leaves an imprint on your heart – changes your life.
At our Senior High MEA Retreat at Covenant Pines Bible Camp this past October, the Saturday morning chapel looked a little different than the typical service. Our speaker, Sam Randall, invited students to share brief “faith stories” or “God moments” from their lives. This practice allowed campers to become familiar with sharing parts of their faith journeys, but also created a space where campers could relate to one another and realize they weren’t alone. It was a moving morning of sharing, and many students talked about how they’ve seen God through their mental health struggles, addictions in their families, social pressures at school and more.
Three students in particular shared about how Covenant Pines had shaped their spiritual formation. One camper from Bloomington Covenant shared that he didn’t necessarily have a major “moment” in his life where he felt a shift in his faith, but that the previous summer at camp had shaped him. On Next Steps night, his cabin mates were sharing their struggles, sharing their faith stories, and he felt compelled to listen and encourage his friends. He knew God had gifted him to be a good listener and a good friend; and that was revealed to him at Covenant Pines.
Another camper shared that he had never been particularly religious or spiritual, but has been invited to Covenant Pines by a friend. The chapel sessions admittedly were a little overwhelming, but at one point throughout the week a staff member had led a breakout session on worship through music. The time was more reflective and allowed campers to worship God through music in whatever form felt comfortable. This camper said for the first time, he felt freedom to worship in a way that made sense to him. He took these practices home and still worships through playing instruments.
Finally, a camper got up and shared that Covenant Pines was the first place where a true Christian community was revealed to her. She had attended camp before and had fun so continued to come, but one week at Senior High Camp, it was made clear to her that the people at camp were different. They supported her, encouraged her and allowed her to be herself. The community made her take her faith more seriously and want to continue to pursue Christian friendships more deeply outside of camp.
These are just a few snippets of stories shared by these students. We are fortunate to have heard these stories shared and feel encouraged that God is working through the ministry of Covenant Pines! We look forward to hearing more stories this summer – we’d love for your camper to join us. Click here to register and learn more about summer at Covenant Pines Bible Camp!
Our Executive Director share his thoughts on this past year at Covenant Pines Ministries.
December is a time of reflection. I’m sitting by the window watching the snow fall as I write this article and thinking back over all that has taken place over the past year. You have read stories in the past months of individual Sacred Places at CPM, of the exceeding generosity of donors and of Next Step faith steps taken by both campers and staff. Collectively, we celebrate these stories and God’s fingerprints on them. This morning I reflect on stories that are hidden a little further below the surface, but still have God’s fingerprints on them.
Pickleball. Yes, that pickleball. Did you know that each week since mid-October 20-60 players have descended on CPBC to play pickleball? What started out as a casual conversation has grown into a daily morning event. These players from the McGregor community sign-up online for a 3 hour window to play in the gym. For the majority of them, this is their first introduction to the ministry of CPBC. And while there is no chapel service, God is using pickleball to create community relationships, grow our volunteer network and even generate a few donors. (Our staff would love to teach you how to play on your next trip to camp!)
It was an unexpected phone call that brought John and Maria to Adventurous Christians. You’ll get to meet them if you visit AC over the winter. John and Maria love Jesus, are retired and have an adventurous side to them. After spending the past few years traveling the US on their motorcycle and volunteering with various ministries and park systems, they were looking for a part of the country they had not visited before. With a newly converted Greyhound bus as a tiny home, Northern Minnesota seemed like just the place to spend a winter volunteering. A google search and series of phone calls later, John and Maria arrived at AC in October and will be volunteering through the Spring. They brought with them a passion for serving God, skills that fit specific needs at AC and humbleness to be used by God wherever and whenever.
The CPM Board approved a new employee handbook in 2020. For the most part the approval was to update language and make minor revisions. There was one significant change – the inclusion of sabbatical. While widely accepted in higher education and for lead pastors, sabbaticals are not as common in camping ministry. Knowing that our year-round staff give sacrificially and with our desire is to create a healthy rhythm of work and rest, a sabbatical policy was developed for staff who have worked at least five years. In September, I was the fourth employee to experience a four week sabbatical. During my time away, I spent 9 days solo backpacking 140 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail. A few friends thought it was crazy to have this be my first backpacking trip. God used this time away from emails, meetings and phone calls to bring rest. It was so rejuvenating to spend this solitude time hiking, reflecting and praying.
The mission of Covenant Pines Ministries is to Encourage Campers to Take a Next Step in Christian Faith. I am thankful for obvious ways this occurs through Chapel and conversations around the campfire. I’m also grateful for the times God shows up during pickleball, unexpected phone calls and the solitude of hiking.
Thank you for your support of Covenant Pines Ministries.