The summer of 2025 marked the 64th year since Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong established a teen camp for Church youth, a tradition we are continuing in the Living Church of God. A lot has changed since 1962, when teens gathered for eight straight weeks in Big Sandy, Texas. As with most new ventures, it was an exciting but primitive start compared to camps today. Nevertheless, it was the beginning of a long-standing and expanding program.
Yes, our world has changed dramatically over the last six decades, and our camp programs are different in many ways. The lengths of camps have changed. Faculty and staff have changed. Ways of dealing with disciplinary problems have changed. Even the names of our camp programs have changed: Summer Education Program (S.E.P), Global Youth Camp (GYC), Living Youth Camp (LYC), Living Youth Programs (LYP). There have been many ups and downs since that exciting beginning in 1962.
It was therefore important, this summer, to remind those attending Staff Orientation at Teen Camp in Texas of our legacy—the traditions and values handed down and built upon through the years—lest we forget. With the breakup of the Worldwide Church of God, those of us who joined with Dr. Roderick C. Meredith to revive the Work that God had used Mr. Armstrong to build had to begin all over again. Dr. Meredith had to start a new magazine, write new booklets, and even begin a new youth program.
Few fully comprehend what it means to build a youth program from scratch. It takes time and work to develop a harmonious team of like-minded individuals to implement practices and traditions. Thankfully, we possessed resources of personal experience to call upon.
Recapturing True Values
In 1995, our first Global Youth Camp at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, was truly a humble beginning. The most important takeaway from that year was our need for a trained staff—something that literally takes years to build and, once built, requires an ongoing process to maintain. We realized that we needed an intermediate step between camper and adult staff—a training program for future leaders.
So, the next year, we introduced what we have variously called High School Staff or Young Adult Staff. Over time, we concluded from experience that those given this responsibility were best chosen from the ages of 16 to 18, though only a few 16-year-olds possess the necessary maturity. We knew that from these teens would come the counselors and leaders for the years to come.
There were other changes that needed attention as well, such as enforcing a staff curfew. No staff members can give their best when suffering from sleep deficits, and many young people do not have the discipline to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Applications, schedules, and a Counselors’ Manual needed to be created and refined.
Maintaining a consistently high-quality, values-based program takes diligence—and not everyone catches the vision. So, Mr. Jonathan McNair and I, and several others, “came out of retirement” in 2021 to rebuild our camp program, recapturing true Living Youth Program values that were being lost. These included concepts such as doing all things decently, in order, without confusion, and in peace; leaving no one behind; and de-emphasizing the “cool factor.” We put in place mechanisms to discourage the development of in-crowds and out-crowds and the practice of girls and boys pairing off—practices destructive to a program designed to serve all campers. We instead encourage outgoing concern for others.
And these must be more than words thrown about with no effort to put them into practice. Deliberately designed traditions and mechanisms must be in place to encourage godly behavior and discourage hurtful behavior. We revived the mission statement that had been created almost two decades earlier: “To bring teens together in a learning environment for the purpose of recapturing true values; and to further the creation of a culture of purity, honor, and respect among the youth within the Living Church of God.” It should be evident from this statement that Living Youth Camp is about more than having fun. In fact, you may have noticed that the word fun is not in our mission statement!
That does not mean fun is not a part of Living Youth Camp activities. It most certainly is! We want our young people to have fun—but that should never be the primary goal of camp. Even sinful behavior is often “fun” (Hebrews 11:23–26). As we were taught at Ambassador College, godly fun does not bring regrets the next day, and it is aligned with practicing values that are rooted in the Bible.
It is only through learning the values of outgoing concern that lasting peace and happiness result. As the Apostle Paul quoted Jesus Christ, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). This principle applies to teens as well as adults. True Christianity is a way of life—the way of outgoing concern (Philippians 2:3–8).
Reviving a Program of Giving
The High School Staff program was dropped under a different administration for the better part of a decade, so reviving this position of service involves more than merely announcing the opportunity—it requires changing minds. In the years before the program was dropped, we had to turn some applicants away and ask them to be campers for another year, since, for logistical reasons, we limited High School Staff positions to twelve boys and twelve girls. Yet we struggle to attract half that number today. Why?
What we hear from several campers is that they want to remain campers for as long as they can. They see that being on staff requires work and sacrifice. That is true, but it is hardly the whole story. Maturity involves recognizing the worth of work, of accomplishing something of value. It means preparing for adult responsibilities. It means giving back to others—a sentiment expressed by many who choose to serve as High School Staff.
We see that there has been a societal change in how both parents and children think. I can only speak in generalities, but consider that the first camp in 1962 was eight weeks long with no cellphones. If you talk to any who were there, you will hear that they do not remember calling home more than once or twice, if that. Many of today’s parents can hardly imagine such a scenario.
We must ask ourselves: Have cellphones made parents and children more accepting of delayed maturity? Of course, not all technological advancements are bad—but we must recognize the ways technologies change us, and we would be wise to make thoughtful decisions regarding how we let ourselves be affected. The term “delayed adolescence” has been around for decades, but growing up to be mature adults has only been delayed further.
Homeschooling, which I fully support when it is done right, has also made many—certainly not all—children and teens less adventurous. I do not mean to impugn any parent, as parenting is the most difficult job there is, but there is a reason we hear the term “helicopter parents” today. Of course, that always refers to someone else, never oneself!
Serving as High School Staff at Teen Camp is one way to encourage maturity among our youth. Seventeen-year-olds who have enjoyed being campers since their preteen years need to consider: Is it not time to give back? Or, to put it more bluntly, is it not time to grow up? If we truly believe Jesus’ words, internalizing that it is more blessed to give than to receive, parents would be wise to encourage their children to—for their own good—take the mature approach of living a life of service. The world has changed and so have our youth camps, but our determination to recapture the true value of caring for others must not—for that is truly the way to lasting happiness.