Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation

Theologian Meredith (The Color of Life) provides a bruising exposé of Christian summer camps as an extension of a poisonous white evangelical culture. Drawing on her own experiences as a camper and a counselor, she depicts a religious institution that’s anchored in patriarchal ideals, including a purity culture that leads girls to believe that “their bodies [are] evil”; that preaches a “message of conformity” that excludes Black campers; and that caters primarily to the rich (a week of camp for a middle schooler can cost around $2,000). According to Meredith, the camps teach kids to believe that they’re “dirty rotten little sinners” who must seek salvation by publicly committing or recommitting their life to Christ. (In some cases, the numbers of campers who do so are tallied for donors who want to see their dollars at work—a transactional model of faith where salvation has a literal dollar value, Meredith notes.) Throughout, she offers an incisive, unsparing critique based on her own recollections and interviews with other former campers and counselors, while also acknowledging the camps’ value in sparking some Christians’ faith (one pastor notes that despite “theology and all the... fluff around it... something about camp and the mystery of camp, and meeting God there, is beyond words”). This is sure to spark debate. (Apr.)