As many of you know, Old First has been providing service camp experiences for youth and young adults for almost 40 years. It is not uncommon for us to have guests at Old First who first found their interest in ministry or social work through their time spent in a service camp at Old First. The experience is one that helps introduce a person to urban discipleship and helps young people see a real connection between the teachings of Christ and providing care and services to those in need. Our role, as a congregation, is to care for these young people while they are engaged in the service camp. Christ’s message of love flows from this care and all that they experience during their stay.
We are excited to welcome 7 service camps this summer between June 13th and August 5th. We have hired Lucas Kreuzer, to work, part-time hosting the camps, to make sure they don’t overwhelm Devan and Michael. Lucas is Pam Loughman’s son, who has been teaching English in Austria since he graduated from Kenyon College in May 2020. He is coming back to the US to begin a Master’s in German & European Studies at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. But first, this summer, he will be shepherding our Service Camps. As he will be only working 20 hours per week, we invite members of Old First to assist Lucas in hosting the camps.
There are a number of ways you can help.
- Being present some mornings to help the service campers get out the door and properly oriented to get to their work sites;
- Being present some evenings to talk with the service campers about their experiences of the day;
- Be the on call person if help is needed by the service campers during times when Lucas is not scheduled to work;
- Take the service campers on a tour of the neighborhood providing information on historic sites and other points of interest; or
- Be a resource person providing information about social justice issues of interest to the service campers such as inequities in education, disparate housing, inequities in medical care, inequities in the criminal justice and how these inequities impact People of Color and the poor.
- Perhaps some way that is not listed here but you feel called to help.
If any of these activities interest you, please let us know by completing this linked form. We will be working on setting up a schedule that will include you. If you feel more comfortable engaging in this ministry with someone else, please invite them and sign up with them.
Thank you for considering this call to a vital part of our church’s ministry and outreach.
