“It has been important for me to share with young people where we came from and, more importantly, how that information can help them look to the future”
– Kelly Knight, Petrolia, Ontario
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Topics:
church camp | Blessings of Community | Erie Beach | intergenerational ministry | children’s ministry | youth ministry |
I have been so privileged to feel passion, excitement, fulfillment, and joy in Community of Christ! As long as I can remember the church has been woven into my life. Camps, my congregation, and the choir are all connections that are still going strong today. I cannot imagine how different my life would be if I was not connected to this community that loves me.
Over the years it has been vitally important to me that my children, as they grew, had opportunities to feel a connectedness to people that will love them and more importantly a God that unconditionally loves them. It became a passion for me to make sure that there were activities for them to feel included in something amazing. Erie Beach Reunion became something that I could be involved in and could involve my children as a family.
This reunion has been alive for approximately 113 years and is still a growing, thriving community, built on the commitment of people that have dedicated their life and passions for this camping experience. It has been important to me to plan intergenerational activities and moments for young and old to share in each other, and to pass on torches and stories and memories. It has been important for me to share with young people where we came from and, more importantly, how that information can help them look to the future.
“A House for Our Dreams” by Dori Somers is a reading that we have used many times at reunion that I feel embraces the old and new and looks forward with the knowledge of the past. I feel this reading captures my passion for our children and youth to know of the reunion’s rich heritage — where it came from and where it can go — both being equal:
“Let memories add warmth... a heritage, a quilted patchwork stitched with history of kindliness, of daring for the good, of funny moments, jokes and smiles and tears.”
Another paragraph reads: “This house shall be a dwelling place for courage, for integrity, for love engendered, nourished by a family that speaks of ‘we’ and means ‘all humankind.’”
This speaks to me so profoundly. It is what we strive for in a world that is not perfect and at times is unkind and thoughtless. It is something to look forward to in the future for all activities through Community of Christ and our homes and neighbourhoods. Have we always been successful? Absolutely not. But, oh, how we can use the experience to try and be better.
Erie Beach Reunion has weathered the changes that Community of Christ has had over the years. It has withstood hardships, differences of opinions, loss of leaders, loss of members, physical transformations — the list could go on and on. I see the reunion continuing to make differences in peoples lives. I see it continuing to grow and nurture and shelter those that come to it with open hearts and minds. I see my twin baby granddaughters running on the beach, making life-long friends, talking with a God that cherishes them, and going forth from there with all the tools they need to love life.
The last paragraph of Dori Somer’s reading says: “This is a precious place, as every home that shelters those who love and strive and share. Its blessing is in lives that meet within... In living, learning, caring, sheltered here.”
My hope is that I strive to continue with God in my life, every step, that I continue to feel the passion for our Reunion, that I know many others feel at Erie Beach and all over our world and, more importantly, my hope is that I can continue to contribute in ways that will be a blessing and pleases the God who loves me.
Over the years it has been vitally important to me that my children, as they grew, had opportunities to feel a connectedness to people that will love them and more importantly a God that unconditionally loves them. It became a passion for me to make sure that there were activities for them to feel included in something amazing. Erie Beach Reunion became something that I could be involved in and could involve my children as a family.
This reunion has been alive for approximately 113 years and is still a growing, thriving community, built on the commitment of people that have dedicated their life and passions for this camping experience. It has been important to me to plan intergenerational activities and moments for young and old to share in each other, and to pass on torches and stories and memories. It has been important for me to share with young people where we came from and, more importantly, how that information can help them look to the future.
“A House for Our Dreams” by Dori Somers is a reading that we have used many times at reunion that I feel embraces the old and new and looks forward with the knowledge of the past. I feel this reading captures my passion for our children and youth to know of the reunion’s rich heritage — where it came from and where it can go — both being equal:
“Let memories add warmth... a heritage, a quilted patchwork stitched with history of kindliness, of daring for the good, of funny moments, jokes and smiles and tears.”
Another paragraph reads: “This house shall be a dwelling place for courage, for integrity, for love engendered, nourished by a family that speaks of ‘we’ and means ‘all humankind.’”
This speaks to me so profoundly. It is what we strive for in a world that is not perfect and at times is unkind and thoughtless. It is something to look forward to in the future for all activities through Community of Christ and our homes and neighbourhoods. Have we always been successful? Absolutely not. But, oh, how we can use the experience to try and be better.
Erie Beach Reunion has weathered the changes that Community of Christ has had over the years. It has withstood hardships, differences of opinions, loss of leaders, loss of members, physical transformations — the list could go on and on. I see the reunion continuing to make differences in peoples lives. I see it continuing to grow and nurture and shelter those that come to it with open hearts and minds. I see my twin baby granddaughters running on the beach, making life-long friends, talking with a God that cherishes them, and going forth from there with all the tools they need to love life.
The last paragraph of Dori Somer’s reading says: “This is a precious place, as every home that shelters those who love and strive and share. Its blessing is in lives that meet within... In living, learning, caring, sheltered here.”
My hope is that I strive to continue with God in my life, every step, that I continue to feel the passion for our Reunion, that I know many others feel at Erie Beach and all over our world and, more importantly, my hope is that I can continue to contribute in ways that will be a blessing and pleases the God who loves me.
