Family Camp 2008

One of the enduring traditions of Grace OPC is the annual summer Family Camp. For three days the people of Grace retreat to a nearby campground (as you might guess, one doesn't have to travel far from Wasilla to find wilderness!) for a time of relaxation, fellowship, play, and ministry of the Word. The church invites a guest speaker each year to give four different presentations or messages, including a sermon on Sunday morning. Past speakers include missionaries, authors, and notable ministers. But three summers ago the church invited some nobody from Oklahoma to speak and he ended up becoming the pastor of the church! (In case you didn't catch the reference, that would be me).

We had an excellent speaker this year. His name is JD Wetterling, an elder in the Presbyterian Church of America, and an author who has written several books and articles. JD has an extremely varied and interesting background: he was a fighter pilot in the Vietnam war, has worked in the business world, has spoken to various groups across the country, and most recently managed a retreat center in North Carolina. Here is JD with his wife Karen at the camp.



JD spoke to us about the "no one" statements of Jesus from the gospel of John, weaving into his messages fascinating stories from his fighter pilot days and from the interactions he's had with various people God brought into his life as a result of his writing. As someone who is usually doing the talking in church, it was refreshing for me to sit back and hear JD minister the words of Christ to us.

You can read JD's impressions of Alaska on his blog here.



One of the traditions at Family Camp is a fishing contest for the children. How was the fishing this year? Let's just say it was a bad few days to be a Rainbow trout. Here are some of the kids from the camp, including Meredith and Maggie, with their catches.






Fishing, softball, campfires, fellowship, games, good preaching - this year's Family Camp included it all. I'm looking forward to next summer's camp.