Christian Renaissance Camps in Charles Town, WV (guest post)

Christian Renaissance Camps

The time is ripe for a Christian Renaissance. The twentieth century was one of death and despair, where will we go from here? The gospel gives us hope in the darkest of times. It gives us truth, beauty and goodness, and unlocks true creativity. Augustine lived in such a time as this. Civilization was crumbling all around him, yet he found strength in God to sound a trumpet blast that we can still hear today. Dr. Steven Hake, professor of literature at Patrick Henry College, is inviting a small group of young people (14 to 18 years old) to his home for a week (or two) this coming July to impart this vision and wrestle with these issues.

Campers can come for either one week or two. Each week we will spend four mornings studying and discussing one classic book (Augustine’s The City of God, July 12-18 and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, July 19-25). We will also spend four afternoons examining one contemporary book (Andy Crouch’s Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, July 12-18 and Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, July 19-25). The study and discussion will be in-depth and real. We will always be asking “what can we learn from these books to help us better love God and our neighbors, and to help us take our place in a Christian Renaissance?”

In the evenings, after family worship, Dr. Hake plans a series of “fireside chats” in which he will look at what following Christ is all about. Our rootedness in Christ is of first importance in any Renaissance that is genuinely Christian. Topics will include “Why a Christian Renaissance?” “The importance of Bible Study, and how to do it,” “Thoughts about prayer,”
“What does it mean to be a good brother or a good sister (I Timothy 5:1-2)?” “How can I know God’s call on my life?” “What does it mean to love God with my strength?” “Why does language study matter?” and “Is my Christian life balanced?” These will be spread out over the two weeks.

One day each week we will drop everything and have an adventure. The first week we will spend a day sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and the second week we will take kayaks down the Shenandoah River. You can learn more about these camps and register at www.christianrenaissance.org.