A Very Churchy Summer

By Beki Greenwood

**Be sure to view this article in full with placed images in the September / October Issue**

As we settle back into school and our busy fall schedule, I keep finding myself reflecting on our summer. For the first time, my kids and I attended not only convention, but both Almont and Fryeburg camps too. The extended time we get to spend with our Swedenborgian community is so important to us—it forms bonds that will last a lifetime. It was a crazy busy summer of travel and adventure and it flew by. It was totally worth the exhaustion.

We (my husband, Jason, and I) are lucky that both our kids are great travellers. My daughter, Serena, having recently traveled to Detroit for the Memorial Day retreat, was already an expert at the Massachusetts to Michigan journey. We planned an early flight to get to Michigan State University at a reasonable time in the afternoon. Lucky for us both, Rev. Kevin Baxter and his two sons, Ephraim and Zeb, were on the same early flight as us. It was so nice to be able to travel together and handle “kids in an airport” together.

After an easy flight and a snooze on the Michigan Flyer bus, we arrived at the Kellogg Hotel. Serena immediately connected with Office Manager Brittany’s daughter Calliope, who had never attended Convention before—and off they went. My son, Nate, was thrilled to be in a hotel room with TV and internet where he could unwind while I went to work. It was really great for us as a family to be in a hotel at convention.

As more and more people arrived, the kids quickly found their groups to reconnect with. Many of the teens had just been together at the SCYL retreat, and it was like they had never been apart. Nate and the younger kids remembered being together at the Bridgewater Convention and had a wonderful time being back with each other.

I love watching all the kids connect with one another and put together their worship services. But I also love reconnecting with my friends and coworkers. There’s nothing like bonding over executing a huge event. Working closely with Brittany, Rudy, Jennifer, and Emily the past couple years has made Convention not just work, but fun. And some of my favorite Convention moments happen in the free time after the day is over. There truly is no better way to end the day than with snacks and a good laugh with your spiritual family—and boy did we have some good laughs! What a blessing our Swedenborgian connections are.

After months of planning leading up to Convention, in the blink of an eye, it is time to go home. As we are packing up, Nate realized he left his backpack on this Michigan Princess, as he had been distracted by a nosebleed and finishing a game of hide and seek. After much strife and many emails, the bag was found by the Michigan Princess staff and retrieved by Ronnie, an Almont regular, who generously offered to bring it to Almont for us, where we would be in just a few short weeks.

I have wanted to go to Almont for years. But the circumstances were never quite right. This year with the way our schedules worked out, and my responsibility shift at the FNCA, we were able to make it happen. So back to the airport we went.

This time, joined by my niece Caroline, we met up on the same flight as Rev. Sage Cole and her sons, Theo and Zach. Another smooth flight to Detroit and we were picked up by Heather Oelker, and we were on our way.

It was kind of surreal for me to arrive at Almont. I’ve heard about it my whole life, have many friends who always talk about how much they love it. And there we were. We were greeted with open arms, dinner, and a full property tour. (The church camp junkie that I am, I was pretty excited for the tour.)

For all three of us, we all had friends already there, so it wasn’t like we were completely walking into an unknown. For me, seeing so many young adults who had come to Fryeburg as teens, and how thrilled they were to see me there, fulfilling the promise I made to them—that I would eventually make it to Almont—was so heartwarming.

It was really nice to be at an event that I didn’t have to help plan. But also, knowing how difficult it is to fill dorm parent staff positions at camp, I volunteered to be the Middle Boys (9–12 year olds) dorm mom. What a crew of characters! One of my favorite parts about being a dorm parent was getting to know my Little Boys dorm mom counterpart, Mckenna. I love when I meet new people at our Swedenborgian gatherings and it feels like we’ve always known one another. Mckenna was one of those for me, and so was Tirah Keal. Though I had met Tirah and her husband Solomon at Convention, I didn’t have the time there to get to know them. What a treat to get to spend a week at Almont together and discover  what amazing humans they are. Sometimes you just get that, “I knew you in a past life” feeling—and it is amazing.

Being experts at “camp life,” having attended FNCA their whole lives, the kids took right to the daily schedule. They had things to do all day long, and I was able to attend sessions and learn how to play Bridge (another highlight of my summer). Before we knew it, it was towards the end of camp, and we had made it to Survivor Day. Serena, being thirteen, was initiated into the group along with seven others who either turned thirteen in the past year or were new to camp. What a fun day full of costumes, silliness, and water balloons ending with a beautiful candlelight service in the Almont chapel.

And just like that, our week was over and we were getting ready to drive to FNCA with Katie and Ben. Katie called us the “New Margie and BJ” as we ferried kids overnight across the eastern time zone.

We arrived at FNCA just in time for a delicious turkey dinner for Sunday lunch—a welcome treat after a night of gas station snacks. It was another surreal arrival for me. It had probably been at least twenty years or so since I had arrived to FNCA after it had already started. Definitely a different feeling, but certainly not a bad one. 

It was really fun to be at both camps with some of the same people. It was especially nice for Nate to be able to spend so much time with two of his favorite people, Theo and Ben, both at Almont and the first week of Fryeburg. They have built nice friendships over the past several years at FNCA and had the best time spending two weeks together. 

The first week of FNCA always flies right by. Great people, good lectures and discussions, beautiful weather, and of course lots of fun and laughs, make time just cruise on by. Oh, and more Bridge! There’s nothing like playing cards at camp—one of my favorite camp activities. There is always a shift of energy from week one to week two. It’s neither good nor bad, but just a change. There were a lot fewer kids and teens week two, but we had some returning kids who had not been to camp in several years. But that is another beautiful thing about camp—it doesn’t matter if you were there last year, two years ago, or twenty. You’re always welcomed back, and it is like you never left.

Even though there were only seven kids in our combined group of ages 11–17, we had a great time. At the FNCA we’ve established a “Senior Spark” program that on sessions like this the Flames (teens) invite the older Sparks (kids twelve and under) on some of their outings and activities. It worked out really well with this group. We took them hiking, thrifting, swimming, bowling, and out to the local cafe. One night the teens even played online games with Almont teens. So fun for all of them.

The other aspect we all love about FNCA is spending time with our extended family (image below). My sister Dawn and her family live just a town over from Fryeburg. My kids love every minute of time they get to spend with their “Maine Cousins,” and it’s great that we can see them at camp. My brother Ben also lives in Maine and comes over to spend time with us too.

By the end of camp, we are ready to be home with Jason and the cats Almont felt like a month ago, and Convention felt like it had been a year. But, we’re already talking about next summer and where that adventure will take us.  

Read the full issue of the September/October 2024 Messenger