In 2021, youth pastors from four Charis churches came together to start a camp experience just for middle schoolers. The first year of Ignite Middle School Camp, 80 students from Grace Polaris Church, Bellefontaine Grace Church, Marysville Grace Church, and Movement Church spent a week together at Camp Cotubic learning what it means to ignite their faith.
This week marked their sixth year of camp. Since that first camp, the group has welcomed new churches, expanded its leadership team, and outgrown their initial camp setting. This year more than 300 students and 100 volunteers from 16 churches in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland gathered at Heartland Retreat Center in Central Ohio.
This year’s theme was “Into the Fire” and was based in the book of Daniel. The main evening session speaker was Pastor Dave Nicodemus (Grace Polaris), and the morning sessions were taught by Pastor Blake Cruise (Movement), Ben Campbell (Grace Polaris), Pastor Bryce Cruise (Marysville Grace), and Pastor Nick Mazza (Bellefontaine Grace).
New this year at camp was the program team — a group of high school students from Grace Polaris who served in all capacities from running games to greeting at check in to cleaning up after meals. The team met with programming co-directors Ben and Hannah Campbell throughout the school year for spiritual development and practical training in preparation to serve the week of camp.
The camp emphasizes biblical fun and biblical truth. Activities are designed to foster relationships with other campers and counselors through team building games, meals, group discussions, and free time options. Campers also earn points for their teams by memorizing Bible verses and answering “Spark Questions” such as “Who is the Trinity?” and “How do you define repentance?”
Another ongoing emphasis of the week are their FIRE values: faith, inclusion, respect, encouragement. These values are talked about often, modeled by the staff, and expected of the campers. They set the tone and create the culture that enables everyone to feel like they belong at camp.
More information about Ignite Middle School Camp can be found on their website IgniteMiddleSchoolCamp.com.
Photos provided by Ignite.
