The Patrick Henry College Teen Leadership Camps help campers explore their faith and grow closer to God. One key aim of Teen Leadership Camps is to show campers how Christianity permeates every single part of life.
Maybe you’re uncertain about Christianity. Perhaps you grew up in a Christian home but aren’t exactly sure you can (or should) trust what those around you are sharing. At Teen Leadership Camps we want to introduce you to the transformative power of the Gospel and help you encounter God.
Teen Leadership Camps at Patrick Henry College helps teens better understand what it means to be a godly young adult, navigating an increasingly secularized world. Spiritual growth is the priority for each teen at Teen Leadership Camps, regardless of the camp theme that a student attends.
Staff have designed a program with 4 spiritual growth priorities: personal time in God’s Word (daily devotionals), group study of God’s Word (chapel), and small Bible studies led by counselor staff, classroom instruction that is faithful to the Word of God.
- Daily Devotions
Here’s what Sarah, a former Patrick Henry College Teen Leadership Camper, said about devotionals, “Daily devotionals were one of my favorite times at Teen Leadership Camps. While I didn’t like waking up early for breakfast (I doubt any high schooler does), I definitely liked hearing a devotional from a head counselor or the camp director while I ate my bagel and drank my orange juice. The second time I went to camp devotionals were much more meaningful to me. After we had a large group devotional, all of us campers would take our Bibles and scatter around the Dining Hall for a personal Bible study. The study questions made me think deeply about how I applied my faith to my everyday life and convicted me of places where I wasn’t giving everything over to God. Hearing a powerful testimony from a counselor about how God worked in their life was such an encouragement to me and my fellow campers when I attended in 2014. As I continue to see God work at Patrick Henry College I’m convinced that your new counselors, who are currently students at Patrick Henry College, will have stories that are as powerful, if not more.”
- Chapel
During the week you’ll experience powerful times of worship with your fellow Patrick Henry College campers and counselors. Whether the message is given by a counselor, the camp director or instructor, or consists of a skit, we want to preach the good news of Jesus Christ with boldness.
Maybe your favorite part of the spiritual life at Teen Leadership Camps will be corporate chapel, held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. On Monday and Wednesday you can expect to hear a Bible-based message from your counselors that will both encourage and challenge you in your relationship with God. At Patrick Henry College we take the Word of God seriously and believe that it has transformative power in the life of the believer. Messages at camps exemplify this belief. We know that all humans have rebelled against God and seek to disobey His authority. Because of this, humans are separated from God and are without hope apart from the saving death of Jesus Christ. As 1 Corinthians 1:23 says, we preach Christ crucified (for us). Without the Gospel, we cannot be saved.
On Tuesday and Thursday nights counselors lead Bible studies, called Wing Chapel, where you’ll read and discuss a passage of God’s word along with the fellow campers who live in your wing for the week. At wing chapel you’ll find an environment with people who love God and love others. Your Patrick Henry College counselor will lead you and your fellow campers in discussion and help you really wrestle with the wisdom contained in God’s word. We hope that wing chapel will be a place where you feel safe to talk about your personal struggles and gain assistance and encouragement from your fellow believers. By participating in Wing Chapel together with your wing, you’ll get to know people better and make important friendships that will last far beyond your week experience at camp.
- Classroom Discussion
While some of our camps are outwardly more focused on spiritual topics, for example Leadership and Worldview Camp, you’ll find that the instruction at all of Patrick Henry College camps points you back towards God. At Patrick Henry College we believe that faith and reason are not in opposition to each other, and that a bold, strong faith in God is not opposed to academic excellence.
Your faith should effect everything that you do, whether that’s your career, your friendships, and your schoolwork. At Patrick Henry College Teen Leadership Camps you’ll find that our instructors are passionate about making faith and reason connect for you in your camp experience. We hope that you’ll find that your camp experience will strengthen your personal relationship with God by exposing you to spiritually rich teaching and a spiritually rich environment.
- Bible Studies
At Patrick Henry College, we don’t shy away from difficult topics you’re struggling with. Your counselors and camp instructors want to help you wrestle with what your faith means to you and help you grow closer to Jesus. At the end of the day, we don’t want you to ultimately take away some winning Moot Court strategies or video editing techniques. We want you to come away with a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, your Savior. Nothing in life—not a career, family, or wealth—is more important than your relationship with God.
The spiritual nature of your instruction means that you’ll also find yourself having conversations with your fellow campers in the dining hall about your faith. Being a Christian in an increasingly secularized world is hard, but being a Christian teenager might be harder. Instead of finding yourself more discouraged about the state of the culture today, you’ll be encouraged by finding a community of like-minded Christian college students. Your new friends will build you up as you all talk about what it means to be a Christian and how you can live for Christ when you get back home. Maybe you’ll learn techniques for witnessing to unbelievers in your classrooms. Maybe you’ll talk about showing the love of Christ to the people in your debate club. During meals you’ll find yourself talking with both your counselors and with your fellow campers, so there’s no telling just the extent of wisdom you’ll hear shared.
If growing interests you, please consider joining us at this Summers Patrick Henry College’s Teen Leadership Camp. For more information about Patrick Henry College Teen Leadership camps.
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