Church Camp by Cara Meredith

Church Camp by Cara Meredith

Excavating a sometimes wacky, and equally harmful, part of white Evangelical culture

Roasted marshmallows, campfire stories, shaving cream battles--for some of us, Christian summer camp is where we felt most at home, where we could be the most authentic versions of ourselves. But for campers at white Evangelical church camps in particular, camp was also often the place to inherit a toxic image of God and of each other. From purity-motivated admonitions not to "make purple," to the emotional manipulation of "Cry Night," to the utter lack of diversity among campers and staff, the culture of white Evangelical camps has too often betrayed a generation.

In Church Camp, longtime camp speaker Cara Meredith exposes the ways in which white Evangelical camps sold individualized versions of Jesus to impressionable youth. Campers were forced to "sit with their sin" so they could fully understand God's conditional love. Camp life emotionally coaxed campers into making a formative commitment to Christ (and therefore to white Evangelical subculture). Further, camps commodified the faith of these young people to bolster their own funding and power.

Along the way, Meredith weaves in notable history of the camping movement, revivalism, and white Evangelicalism. She asks profound questions about who God is and what it means to be human. Following the progression of a typical week at camp, Church Campweaves together Meredith's own story and the powerful stories of dozens of other former campers and camp staff members. Along the way, she invites us into the tension of accounting for our past while moving toward a better future.

Whether you went to church camp or not, whether you loved camp or hated it, Church Campwill peel back the layers, hold the powerful accountable, and help you envision a more vibrant, loving, and inclusive faith.

Meredith, Cara: - Cara Meredith is a writer and speaker whose work has appeared in numerous print and online publications, including Christianity Today, iBelieve, and For Every Mom. A former high school English teacher and outreach ministry director, she holds a Masters of Theology from Fuller Seminary. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two sons.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9798889831006
Title	Church Camp
Author	Cara Meredith
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Year published	2025-04-29
Number of pages	226
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.