Formed by Christ, Formed for Service
Rhoda’s First Adventure at a Lutheran Camp – Part 2
Yes, my first experience at a Lutheran camp (as the keynote speaker at the LCMS Northwest District Youth and Family Ministry Conference, held at Camp Lutheridge, Idaho) was so enriching that I’m sharing a second installment. The opening worship included a rite of thanksgiving for baptism, spoken as water was poured from a pitcher into the font (a large salad bowl borrowed from the camp kitchen, as was the pitcher). In my first address the next morning, I spoke of the process of baptismal living as the primary way in which we as Christians are “formed” to be Christ for others in ministry, linking the ritual we had experienced in worship to our transformation through baptism. I had also provided a pithy definition of ritual as actions that are repeated, communal, and symbolic, assigning “homework” to the group that asked them to reflect on ritual in family or civic life that met the definition.
Lest all this talking of talks makes the conference sound too heady and boring, the planning committee had carefully scheduled a series of “Get Connected” activities. From my perspective as the keynote speaker, the loveliest aspect of Name the Gift Olympics was the way in which the planning committee tied the individual events into the program theme of “Formed.”
On the second full day of the conference, one of those activities was called “Name the Gift Olympics.” The conference attendees were divided into teams, and individual members of each team competed in events based on different gifts and skills. The baptismal theme was clear in the “Strongest” competition (photo, right). Each team member held a pitcher of water with arm outstretched for as long as possible. Gradually, one guy after another set his pitcher on the floor until Cody and Matt were the final two. Cody (left) stared down Matt until his arm failed.
When it was time for the “Smartest” competition, the “smartest” member of each team was given a piece of paper and instructed to unscramble three words—with a clue that they had heard these words in one of my keynote addresses. The winner was Jackie Druckhammer, who may have had an edge over the others, since she was a former student who had heard me lecture on the components of a ritual in an Honors class. Jackie (left in the photo, CSP ’14) is holding the scrambled letters; Alanna Davis (another former CSP student, ’16) was the team member who delivered the correct words to the judge. See the photos, below for details.
What a joy it was to experience the ways that the planning committee reinforced the conference theme and important content from my keynote addresses through the frivolity of the “Get Connected” fun. Thanks be to God for these faithful servants of Christ, formed for ministry among God’s people!