Youth News - April 2023

A Message from Renee Haney 

I have asked some of our clergy and staff who serve each summer to share a little about what they do at our summer church camp and what it means to them. Please read our “WHY article” by the Rev. James Haney V (Jim), Rector at St. Paul’s, Lubbock.  

The support of the diocese for our youth and the youth program is appreciated. Thank you! It is a joy to work with the youth and members from our churches in the diocese.  

From Fr. Jim Haney

 Last summer marked my 50th anniversary of participation with Camp Quarterman in our diocese (though the names have shifted over the years). My first camp was in 1972 between my 3rd and 4th grade years. I eventually spent 8 years as a camper, a couple as a counselor, and then a further 19 years as a lay and then ordained leader at Camp Quarterman in Northwest Texas. Add to that another 8 years of leading camps while in another diocese, that brings my total participation to 37 of the past 50 summers at church camps.

 But while the camp program in the other diocese was certainly solid and also was a place of loving Christian community, it wasn't as special as the program in Northwest Texas. There's something in the "DNA" of our camp program over the years that somehow carries forward through the decades.  

 Thus, in the summer of 2008 when we were moving back home, I made sure we got both of our kids to the Quarterman Ranch in Amarillo, even though the camp session was a month before our actual moving date. I wanted Jimmy and Lisa to begin to experience the special atmosphere of camp in Northwest Texas. And as a parent it's been a special delight to see them grow spiritually at Camp Quarterman over the years, and to now see them as adults stepping into leadership roles themselves. And of course, it's also been a delight to have a fellow camper, who's now my wife, leading the camp program, and getting to help her as she ministers in that role.

It is no overstatement to say that without my experience at camp growing up in this diocese, I would likely not have remained a Christian, let alone become a priest. I first came to camp as a scared little 9-year-old away from home for the first time. And for the first hour or so I thought it might have been the worst thing that ever happened to me. But then camp got going. I began to experience this community of faith for the first time. And I had a blast. And I wanted to keep coming back. And I did come back again, and again, and again. I count myself extremely fortunate.

It was a bittersweet day on November 17, 2013, when I had the sad honor to preach the final sermon at the closing liturgy for Quarterman Ranch, formerly the Bishop Quarterman Conference Center, formerly the Episcopal Church Conference Center. That place had been so formative and important for me growing up. It was a day of grief. Yet it was also a day of celebration for all of the good memories and all of the lives changed over the years. 

But even though Quarterman Ranch closed, Camp Quarterman has continued on. This summer will be the 10th year of Camp Quarterman taking place in a location other than a property owned by our diocese. And for a decade now, we have continued to help campers from our diocese build friendships, to be a Christian community, to seek to share God's unconditional love with each other.

COMMERCIAL: This summer our focus will be on an aspect that is integral to Christianity and to my experience of Camp Quarterman. CQ has been a place where many of us have experienced God's presence in a special way. And our focus this summer will be on the Incarnation, the way God has been especially present with us in the person of Jesus Christ. The program title is taken from a popular camp song ("The Lord of the Dance"). It is,

“I Came Down from Heaven”: The Incarnation.

I hope that you will encourage the young people in your life—children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, family friends, or whatever—to come and join us for a week of Camp Quarterman.