Camp Brookwood: A Chaplain’s Perspective
By Chris Hayes
A brand new cabin built for an entire family does not exactly constitute “roughing it,” especially when it has a TV with DVD
player in the main room. And even though the walls and floor are unfinished, having a refrigerator isn’t “doing without” in my books! Clearly, someone wants Brookwood chaplains to be comfortable during their time at camp.
I hope this short article paints a picture of my time at Brookwood this past summer. I am just one of the many chaplains to offer time to the camp over the years.
I approached my parish vestry about Camp Brookwood with caution since I had already offered a week of youth ministry to Choir School, but the vestry members were quick to give their blessing to this endeavour, even though they knew it meant another week away form the parish for me.
When I got to camp I was surprised at the little amount of “scheduled” time for the chaplain! I was asked to give a 50-minute 
presentation to a third of the kids there (usually eight or nine young people) at a time. I repeated the presentation twice more in the morning to catch all the campers.
Evening chapel worship services, which were very flexible, are also led by the chaplain, along with others (I chose to use the Compline service from the BCP — it’s wonderful to see people standing on the pews screaming “All for Jesus!!!” one minute, and then singing quietly as they pray/sing that wonderful hymn, Te lucis ante terminum, or, Before the ending of the day.
While the schedule is not too demanding, the bulk of the chaplain’s work takes place during all of the other hours. If you’re willing to really get involved with the entire life of the camping week, there are great things to be gained through relationships of trust and confidence.
Sometimes it means getting a sweaty (baseball at 30º can do that to you), but it can be well worth it in other ways. You get to know the kids in a way that “preachin’ and teachin’” don’t often accommodate. A fellow chaplain this summer wound up playing sports on a field under a foot of water. It became the defining moment of the week!
There was a great willingness by the kids there to talk about themselves and their lives, and to share their reactions to the things they experienced at camp. With the pleasure of serving for two weeks, I found that the staff was also most willing to talk about their experiences, and to seek counsel about their own situations, as well as those of their campers. Christ was most present during these times, and it is during many such conversations that real chaplaincy work takes place.
If you have a gift of listening presence and a desire to learn more about how Christ works in the world, I highly recommend chaplaincy, especially with young people in summer camp situations.
Want to know more? Ask someone you know who went to camp to tell you about it!
The Rev. Chris Hayes is rector of the Parish of Richmond.
Diocesan Communications
06 October 2009
