Off to camp

I'm off to our region's conference center to direct a week of camp. And after 10 years of counseling and directing church camps, I get a completely new experience. That's because this year I get to direct a "specialty" camp.

Our region has several "specialty" camps, such as a mission work week camp, a wilderness backpacking camp, and a canoe trip camp. I get the privilege this year of directing our camp known as Equestrian Camp. It's a six day camp for 7th-12th graders in which they get to participate in a "rustic" camping experience. None of the nice air-conditioned lodges for us. We get the old doggies down the hill. And none of that nice staff-prepared food in an cool, comfortable dining hall. We get to cook our own food each day over an open fire. And I cannot forget, the reason for the name of this camp, our campers get to spend four hours of each day learning to ride horses at a ranch near the camp.

This is really cool.

I like this idea because it attracts a certain group of kids who are there because they want to be there. And, amazingly, all of our campers are girls. Not one boy is attending this camp. Now, I'm sure there are boys out there who would love to ride horses all week. So I'm wandering if it's the daintiness of the name "Equestrian" that keeps them away, or if there's some other reason boys aren't showing up. This leads me to the reason I like this camp. Typically it's a struggle with mixed-gender camps to get a certain few kids involved. You know the ones I mean. There are always those kids who go to camp to hook up with the opposite sex instead of to hook up with God. For once in my career I can truthfully say, "There will be none of that this week."

So what do you think? Do you like the idea of specialty camps? Do you like the idea of having horseback riding during the week? What are your theories as to why no boys are involved in this camp?

Fundraising Idea

This is a fundraiser we're working on putting together at my church. I've seen it done well other places. I'd like to share it with you because it's incredibly fun and can help you raise a lot of money for your ministry.

Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
Have you ever been to one of those spooky old mansions or theatres where they put on a Murdery Mystery Dinner? If you haven't, you're really missing out. The idea is that you sell tickets for a dinner theater. You can do this in your church's gathering hall, fellowship hall, or you can rent out a nice room at a hotel or country club. You decorate the room to look like a hotel restaurant, a bed & breakfast, or the dining car of a train.

Next, you feed the people. If you really want to cut your expenses and raise some good money, you get a team of people from your church to make a nice meal. But remember, it's got to be a good meal. Or, if you'd rather have one less detail to mess with, have the meal catered. It may cut into your profit a bit, but you don't have to worry about being responsible for undercooked chicken.

Then, you put on the show. Actors who've trained and learned their scripts act out the show during dinner. They eat dinner, too, alongside the guests, but their performance takes place before, during, and after the meal. The real key to this is that you've got to have a good mystery, a "whodunnit", for the guests to solve. During dessert the actors venture around to the different tables and sell "clues" to the guests for a buck or two apiece. After dessert you act out the end of the performance revealing the villain of the plot. The whole this is really sort of like that old movie "Clue" only with a meal.

It's a ton of fun for the actors and for the guests. If you really want to build your fundraising, have a group from your church like your youth group or a mission trip team wait the tables and ask guests to tip the servers for their ministry.

If you think this is a good idea, but don't really know where to start, give the Wesleyan Thespians a visit. I really like using their scripts because they're written by church groups so the material is unobjectionable. Their performance fees are very reasonable. And their kits give you all the help and directions you need to be successful from start to finish.

We'll be putting on our first Murder Mystery Dinner Theater this fall. I'll let you know when, because you'll all be invited.