The Executive Director of Reading Camp, Benjamin 'Bungee' Bynum, delivered the following presentation at the 113th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, at the Radisson Hotel in Covington, Kentucky on February 20, 2009.
A lot has happened with Reading Camp since I last spoke to you at our last diocesan convention. We had our 7th summer of Reading Camps at the Cathedral Domain, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Buckhorn State Park near Hazard, at Trinity, Danville, and at Mission House in Lexington—and a new camp here in Northern Kentucky with volunteers from the northern Kentucky churches that had me spinning like a top with all their enthusiasm to bring the ministry of Reading Camp—born on a mountain in Eastern Kentucky—to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky urban area. What a change of venue!
In addition to the wonderful things that happen at our Reading Camps here in KY, some of the most exciting parts of what’s happened with Reading Camp in the past year have actually not been in Kentucky. We worked the Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery in other volunteers in the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown South Africa to begin the first overseas Reading Camp. A Global Partners grant from Trinity, Wall Street secured funding for the entire cost of the camp and the South Africans are planning their second Reading Camp this summer. Again they are planning to host some of our volunteer counselors and hopefully some of their counselors can join us over here for the Cathedral Domain Reading Camp.
So much has changed since Reading Camp’s beginning, but the heart of Reading Camp is still the same. This ministry, you might remember, began with the idea of giving away our diocese’s greatest gift, the Cathedral Domain, to the children of our diocese who are struggling in literacy achievement. So Reading Camp has grown from one camp in 2002 to seven camps this past year. But there’s so much more going on.
In the past year, we continue to have great interest in the ministry of Reading Camp outside the Diocese of Lexington. If there’s a big change from taking Reading Camp from an overnight setting on top of the mountain at the Domain to the parish hall of Trinity, Covington, then there’s even more work to be done to share Reading Camp in some of the places that expressed interest in Reading Camp this past year. Places like:
the Diocese of Southern Ohio
Oxford, Mississippi
Virginia Beach
Christ Church, Oyster Bay, NY
St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Incarnation in Highlands, NC
St. Andrew’s, New Bedford, Massachusetts
St. Francis Assisi, Gulf Breeze, Fl
St. James Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, LA
St. Peter’s, Fernandina Beach, Florida
St. Elizabeth’s, Honolulu, Hawaii
the Anglican Diocese of Southeast Mexico
Volunteers in all of those places are at different stages of working to come and take part of our Reading Camp ministry here and take Reading Camp back as a mission in their own communities.
Even more exciting are two parishes that I didn’t mention: Grace Episcopal Church in Paducah and St. James in Leesburg, VA. They’re actually having Reading Camps this summer in their communities. Just like that we’ve grown again, and this summer we’ll have three out-of-diocese Reading Camps this summer in western Kentucky, Virginia, and South Africa.
So many of you in this room have already experienced Reading Camp—even if you just popped into Mission House one afternoon and saw it transformed into a jungle or horse barn or bird sanctuary. But some of you only read about it in the Advocate, or the Diocesan News or maybe you have even know someone who has been as a volunteer.
Just as those volunteers have served in the spirit, Reading Camp volunteers see this ministry as a gift of the spirit and many of the 150 staff members we have each summer will probably be able to tell you what Reading Camp means to them. For some of them it is meeting the face of God in a child who is struggling to read and succeed in this world. For others it is about helping open up the wonderful world of books to those who have never been able to go there or who just need a little extra help developing the skills they need to get there.
The Reading Camp Steering Committee and I see this ministry as a gift of the spirit. The Steering Committee has evolved into thinking that one way we serve God is through the ministry of Reading Camp and sharing that ministry beyond ourselves. We are developing a “Sharing Reading Camp” plan that will provide for good stewardship of the program’s roots and the children for whom the program was designed, but also allows for a reasonable degree of local control for volunteers wanting to do Reading Camp in their communities. We see the way we do Reading Camp here as a model, something that might change and work even better in a different situation like Paducah or Virginia or South Africa.
I have heard the statistic that Episcopalians invite someone to church every 27 years, and even if its every seven years, I know we are always struggling with evangelism. But part of what Reading Camp is, in its very nature is evangelism. What happens to the people who do Reading Camp is sacred and it is connected to who we are as Episcopalians. This is another way we can reach out.
It is an out-in-front, noisy, fun, loving, patient, and compassionate type of evangelism with those among us who are struggling with the basic life skill of reading.
And if we’re in the business of bringing people to God’s church, if they’re coming in our doors, they have to know how to read. We are people of the book.
Enter Reading Camp. The number of Reading Camp staff members who have come to volunteer with us because their friends—many of you—their friends have said “Oh you just have to do Reading Camp. Oh so, you’re not a teacher, that’s ok, we have a place for you to serve, please come join us. It’s so much fun. You will love it!”
The enthusiasm of sharing Reading Camp with your friends and family by inviting them to camp this summer or encouraging them to support Reading Camp as charitable giving—all donations are tax deductible, by the way—is just how the Reading Camp Steering Committee sees its responsibility. How do we invite more people to join us? How do we continue with this sharing?
Well, we need your help to do that.
We need your help to continue sharing this mission.
Invite us to make a presentation during your Sunday School or even to preach on Sunday morning. Clergy, that’s like a Sunday off!
Use your church’s budgeted mission and outreach funds to be sponsoring struggling readers to Reading Camp! All Reading Campers attend camp free of charge and we need your donations.
We need your time, and your energy, and your donations.
I don’t know how many jars of jelly, scented candles, neckties, or magazine subscriptions you have been given, but will you think about asking your friends and family to support sending a child to Reading Camp this summer instead? We take donations in honor of and in memory of your friends and loved ones who want to help give the gift of reading to a child who can’t read Judy Blume, Harry Potter, or even the sports page every morning.
I’m going to end with a brief story that Bishop Sauls relayed to me about an event that happened at 4:30am in the morning at the South African Reading Camp. Usually, when there’s an event at 4:30 in the morning it’s not a good thing, but this one is a little different.
Connor Egan was one of our volunteer counselors in South Africa. He’s originally from St. Michael’s in Lexington and he is now a student at Centre College in Danville.
Connor woke up on the 3rd morning of Reading Camp at 4:30am. He was sleeping in a cabin area with several children and just felt like he needed to wake up. It was as if something in his gut shook him aware. He turned over in bed and looked into the face of all of his campers, who were fully dressed at 4:30am. Connor asked them what was up and the campers said:
“We’re ready to go read Connor!”
After 2 days of camp, the students were so excited about learning to read that they were fully awake and dressed at 4:30 in the morning just anticipating their third day of camp.
Stories like these bring tears to the eyes and are just why we do this wonderful thing called Reading Camp.
Sometimes it's hard for me to tell that story, because I get a huge lump in my throat, thinking how blessed we are to have the chance to change lives by giving away our treasure. And I have seen the tears in many of your eyes as you hear the stories that come to us from every single camp. I believe they are transforming tears - tears of joy - as all of our lives are transformed through this ministry. Thank you for all you have already given to this ministry -- and all you will be giving in the future.
