The Episcopal Conference Center is a place that I hold very dear to my heart. I think that it is only right for me to write my first blog about this place, seeing as to how it has been one of the many sculptors who turned this mess of clay into the slowly becoming masterpiece that I am today. What makes this place so amazing is the people there or were or have been. E.C.C itself is a massive piece of clay constantly being molded by the people who come to it. I have met some of the closest people to me that I will be able to flat out say will always be the closest. They are not just friends but are my spiritual brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles, and the occasional really old people. I consider myself a Metalhead but I break the stereotype here by saying, I have laughed and cried and worked my butt off with these people for as long as I can remember.
But some other things about why this place is so special to me. It is in my eyes (different from its specific view) a semi religious community that supports all religions, faiths and ideas. It supports freedom of expression (within appropriate boundaries) to the campers and the counseling staff. I myself have been allowed to one summer speak to the camp of my struggle with drugs and alcohol linked with my struggles in public school. Besides me, their have been and is a certain time when counselors can share their struggles in life or experiences at camp with camp. This has been altered a bit from previous times but it exists. More about E.C.C. It is considered a church camp but the root word isn't "church". Their are morning and evening services, but whats more important is whats between them. Breakfast for starters. Best food a person can find away from the generic kitchens, restaurants, and fast food chains we support ourselves with. From Pop Tarts to Cereal to Buttered Bagels and Coffee (Hot Chocolate or Mochas for us sugar fiends), camp has our morning eatery and drinkery covered. Now for work projects.
The camps property manager in the off season and during comes up with "splendid" ,"wonder full", and "fun fulfilling" work projects to help camp stay in shape and its "happy campers"....and counselors. Whether your felling trees (the correct term instead of just chopping) and dragging them to the chipper, to skillfully painting cabins or weeding the gardens, their is work to be done. Lunch. Chicken in the Shape of Fun, Chicken Fajitas, Tacos.....nuff said.Workshops, my favorite, one of the times I can wear a dress and not care, and get away with it too. Workshops are consisted of different activity stations that campers choose to do for the week and then on certain weeks, show what they have done throughout their time in their workshop. Some things that are offered are Rock Band, Photography, Creative Writing, Dancing (I got a video wanna see it?) , Musical Theater (where my dress wearing escapades began) and the now famous Duct Taping Workshop. These are things that allow the campers and counselors express themselves the way they want to.
Free time. Yes at church camp we can have time to ourself and not be saying Hail Marys or the Lords Prayer all the time, but if you want to thats why theirs free time. During it you can go to the lake and swim and be protected by the waterfront director and counselors who are also certified lifeguards. Or you can go into the woods to see the camps animals, like a giant bull (yup we gotta bull) or llamas (llama llama llama). For us active people their is usually a sport offered during lunch like Ultimate Frisbee or Ultimate Frisbee or Ultimate Frisbee, and the occasional Basketball Tourney (yeah I entered and lost and still sore about losing it thanks Deborah). Or for the gentle and mild their is the occasional cloud watching or meditative sessions. Afterwards theirs Chaplains Hour, which is what I consider an interactive church sermon. Most of the time their is a speaker and a topic and it is discussed as a whole and then broken into cabin groups. I get a lot out of this and enjoy hearing others insights on whatever the topic. This is where I spoke on my experience with drugs and alcohol with a fellow member of staff and was very appreciative of the support we were shown and the opportunity to do so.
Dinner time! Drummettes Bowl please (drum roll drummettes bowl get it), pass the mac n cheese because its yellow meal and no one likes it (and why did i say pass the mac n cheese when their is a cafeteria system and we dont pass anything except napkins for Code Thirteens). To Evening Program where we either watch a movie like the fabled Space Jam or Heavyweights, or we're not just seeing me in a dress anymore but half of guy counseling staff donning tutus with a snorkel with a dustpan strapped to their ear and trashcans for feet while riding a broom (younger children's week limited time only....actually only this time), or we gather round the fire and make s'mores and sing camp songs like my personal favorite Shut De Do.
But, these are all the material and physical reasons of camp that I love. As i have gotten older, I have become a very spiritual person and since becoming sober even more so. Besides the literal food that this place provides, the spiritual food it gives me does me the world, it means, the world it has become my world. Being at this place makes me feel that my Higher Power is always literally near me, more than when I am elsewhere. Being here amplifies my Faith, as spinach to Popeye amplifies his strength. Being here makes me feel different in a way that I can't even convey in this blog. You have to go their and want it, to feel it.
This blog is written for all current, future and past staff and campers of the Episcopal Conference Center
