Summer schools 2024: Faith, fun and fellowship!

Encounter summer school was an amazing experience. It was an opportunity that allowed me to grow in my faith, try new things and meet new people. Personally, my highlight was the evening worship as I really enjoyed the worship music and I found it was a great place to connect with God and allowed time for response. However, I feel I experienced God in the many things we did, such as a community time when we could all gather in fellowship and have fun together.

Our chosen creative arts were very enjoyable and a great way to give praise to the Lord. I did vocal and I really liked learning the new songs, reflecting on their words and getting to laugh and have fun with our group.

I learnt many things at Encounter and one of the things I have taken away is to make time for God and give him opportunity to speak to me and for me to seek him. Encounter has definitely inspired me and helped strengthen my relationship with God.

I hope to use this experience to be a light in my community and help others do the same. I look forward to going again!

One of the highlights of camp was meeting new people. I think it’s cool to bring new friends into your social circle. They can have a big impact on your life.

For example, there was a quiet girl who was nervous and said our friendship, and the Christian activities, had deepened her faith, making it the best thing to have happened to her.

We enjoyed the activities. Many people pushed their boundaries at the Outbound Centre. Often, we were outside our comfort zone, but we all put our trust in the Lord for courage – and for safety while climbing crazy heights. Taking part in basketball, swimming and the roller disco gave us a good workout.

Spiritually, one of my favourite parts was learning about our Messiah and how accepting he is. We are his amazing masterpieces, handmade by him. Summer camp is so inclusive, no matter your race, gender or disability. It allows everyone to know about God and teaches us with kindness and love.

I now understand more about God and many personal questions were answered. This experience will stay with me. I want to thank the staff for making this happen and setting an example for us all.

Summer school, themed Kaleidoscope: Fullness of Colour, was incredible. Each day, we were uplifted by teachings from various leaders, who shared personal insights that brought us encouragement and spiritual growth.

I chose singing as my main option and, while I loved every song, ‘Wonderfully Made’ resonated the most. It was a beautiful reminder that God created me exactly as I’m meant to be. I also enjoyed discussions and songwriting, which provided a safe space for open, judgement-free sharing.

A particularly memorable moment was singing ‘Praise’ during worship. It was a powerful experience, allowing us to worship freely alongside other young people.

Each day, we explored different colours and themes, and in our cell groups made bracelets to remind us of what we had learnt. My favourite activity was Spotlight Night, where we showcased our talents. I also had a blast on the inflatables, enjoying some friendly competition with friends.

Throughout the week, I felt God’s presence, filling me with peace and reassurance. Being surrounded by fellow young people who share the same faith was a true blessing. This week is always a highlight of my year, and this one was no exception.

Based at Hadleigh Farm, the divisional youth camp took inspiration from the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics and gathered around the theme of Games Wide Open.

In teams, 33 young people created countries – complete with national anthems, flags and mascots – and competed in activities, such as inflatable equestrian, synchronised ‘swimming’ and combat archery tag.

Together we considered the ‘wide open space’ that is offered to us and what it might mean to accept the invitation to enter into it. We practised having our eyes wide open with compassion towards ourselves as well as each other, and we were challenged to think about how we could live with wide open hearts in a response to the wide open arms Jesus has for us.

Ella said: ‘Camp has given me an opportunity to meet new people that I wouldn’t meet in my day-to-day life and shown me that, even though so many of us have come from different places and backgrounds, we are all similar in some way and have the capability of connecting with each other.’

Summer school was fierce! A week full of music, laughter, creativity and competitive team challenges – #TEAMBLUE – allowing many opportunities to make new friendships while renewing existing relationships.

Some of my favourite moments were spent in cell groups sharing our thoughts about what God is to each one of us while exploring the theme of Into the Wild, as we followed several Bible stories of God working in the daily lives of his people. Evening worship was another opportunity to continue to explore our own relationships with God.

The final festival that marked the end of camp captured our adventure Into the Wild through singing, brass playing and reminders of our time throughout the week. During this time, we sang the Matt Redman song ‘Never Once’, which has become a favourite of mine since: ‘Never once did you leave us on our own./ You are faithful, God, you are faithful!’

Thank you to all the wonderful leaders who encouraged and supported us through our adventurous week. There were so many highlights and memories that I will cherish for ever. This year I will start my GCSE journey, knowing that God will always be with me no matter how wild it gets!

More than 120 students and 30 staff gathered to praise God and give ourselves as an offering to what God is calling of us all.

Our theme Encountered, Transformed, Sent looked at stories of encountering God, being transformed by the Holy Spirit and sent out by Jesus to share the good news.

Decisions were made to follow Jesus, accept him and answer calls, many for the first time. The Holy Spirit really moved and it’s a joy to watch what YHWH has in store.

Thanks to the staff for their hard work and faithfulness, for using up holiday and for serving the young people in this way. To the amazing students: we love you and continue to pray for you as you continue to encounter God and be transformed, and pray protection over you as you’re sent back to your corps/churches/communities and use what God has given you for his glory!

Please keep praying for this amazing bunch of young people.

Blessed and Dressed was the theme for summer outreach camp, writes Divisional Children’s Worker Jessica Ball. It was inspired by Colossians 3:12–14: ‘Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength ... and ... wear love’ (The Message). Daily worship focused on one of those words.

The team, using imagination, creativity, passion, and commitment, brought the verses to life through real-life Mario Kart racing, a ‘trashion’ show, prayer spaces and a ‘Be Our Guest’ restaurant experience. This ensured that the very best week was had by the children. Some of them would not ordinarily get a holiday and most had never heard about Jesus.

We underestimated God and just how much he would ensure that the team were blessed. God felt very close and spoke to many of us. It was the outreach camp’s 20th anniversary, and we thank God for those who paved the way to ensure that generations of children encountered God’s unconditional love. It was a privilege, led by God, for us to continue making the vision real.

Junior camp was so much fun. On the first day we got to see where we would be staying for the week and meet the leaders and other kids. Through the rest of the week, we had a visit to Newcastle Castle and Pizza Hut, had a water fight, went swimming, played games, built forts to play capture the king (the blue team won) and had a disco.

The food was good – but I don’t understand why there was bacon in the mac and cheese! I am a fussy eater and there was food I liked every day.

I learnt lots of new fun songs like ‘Joy, Joy, Joy’ and ‘King of Me’ to share with my corps, and the teachings were something everyone could join in with as there were different roles to act out – you could join in or just watch. 

Godly Play was good, as we could do crafts relating to the story we learnt. Before bed every day we had prayer time and hot chocolate.

I had an amazing week and I made some new friends that I will be keeping in touch with.

Over 70 amazing young people descended on Collingwood College, Durham, for Northern Summer School. A great time was had with the theme Scattered and Gathered present through the week, from worship and Bible study to the brass, vocal, drama and media studies. Rodeo Night provided some midweek relaxation with fancy dress and some country music.

The theme was based around the song ‘I’ll Not Turn Back’ (SASB 649), with a challenge to not ‘be ashamed to bear my Master’s name’. At the final festival the congregation were challenged by the media presentations, a drama called Team Jesus, vocal and brass music such as ‘All There Is of Me’ and ‘Life Ablaze’. Divisional Youth Specialist Jason Tasker called everyone to support these young people as they seek to follow and share Christ in their scattered communities. Why not come along next year?

This year’s summer school theme was Amen! Each day considered different aspects and understanding of Prayer, with daily Bible studies.

Students had the opportunity to participate in options including dance, drama, singing, brass, worship, sport, science and faith, media, and art.

Every day the whole school spent Selah time to rest and reflect and use prayer stations. The week culminated in worship shared with many family and friends who joined to support.

It was a week full of fun and worship, but more importantly a week of challenge where everyone was encouraged to get involved in prayer.

At junior camp, 32 children and 10 adults came together under the theme Deep Sea Divers. We focused on the Gospel of Matthew and introduced Jesus through the stories of his birth and baptism, times when Jesus healed, taught and did amazing miracles, and when he was put to death but rose again.

The children were also able to find out more about themselves as well as Jesus’ place in their story. Activities included a film evening, karaoke, silent disco, inflatables, a treasure hunt, a Nerf war, crafts and team games, as well as time for reflection and worship.

A daily visit from ‘The Zoologist’ kept us up-to-date with the underwater world. On a day trip to Cattle Country, the children loved exploring the grounds and play barns, meeting animals, bouncing, climbing, and eating ice cream. 

Everyone had a great week, and we were blessed to spend time with amazing children, seeing God working in their lives.

This year we brought two camps together as one division. The theme was Ignite and, through fellowship, fun and creativity, we learnt about the Holy Spirit. We used the word Inspire to theme our days, as we looked at how the Holy Spirit Includes, Nurtures, Stirs, Provokes, Inspires, Reveals and Encourages us.

The week involved many activities, from Nerf wars and water fights to praise nights and so much more. Our brilliant team led a variety of streams from band and cooking to outdoor skills and many more.

For the first time, we also ran an apprenticeship programme for over-18s. The 14 students who did this made a huge difference to the running of the camp and we continue to encourage them in their leadership development. Please continue to pray for all the young people who attended camps this year and that they would continue to know God’s love and presence.

Young people from around the division and beyond met together at Denstone College in Staffordshire. The theme was Stand and, through worship, Bible study and activities we considered Stand Up – in our identity in Jesus, Stand On – God’s truth, Stand With – where do I belong?, Stand For – part of God’s family, Stand Strong – what difference can I make? and Stand Out – sharing God’s love with others.

There were fun times and opportunities to make new friends during a scavenger hunt, a sports afternoon led by Rob Moye (THQ) and the sports staff team, a chilled night, Denstone’s Got Talent and a TV/film awards evening.

Main options included drama, brass, dance, singing, art, media, photography, musical theatre, timbrels, worship band, crafts, journalling, team games, question time and sport. The staff team led gathered worship, which included a visit from new divisional leaders Majors Adrian and Clare Allman.

In a final celebration the young people shared what they had experienced, summed up by the final song: ‘Joy!’