As the Western American Diocese Annual is going to press, we are just about to begin our 2012 Camp St. Sava program in Jackson, CA. This year we mark the fifty-first year of the camp and the fiftieth season at St. Sava Mission. We have over 220 campers registered, which is a few more than last year. Camp enrollment has been growing, slowly and steadily, for the last five years. Again, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Camp St. Sava, nearly ten percent of the campers attending are receiving a full scholarship. One of the goals of the Friends stewardship program is to enable families who do not have the financial means to send their children to the camp.
We are pleased to report that we not only have consistency in the number of campers, we also have complete continuity in the administration of the camp program. Proto Dusan Bunjevic will direct the first week of camp, as he has for over forty years, aided by his son Paul as the lay director. Proto Petar Jovanovich is again in charge during the second week with the help of Krstina Pavlovich and Michael Rhoads. During the third week, Proto George Gligich leads the clergy, and Nick and Marc Salata are back as co-lay directors.
In addition to the clergy directors mentioned above, we must also thank Fr. Djurica Gordic, Fr. Ilija Balach, Fr. Zoran Savic, Fr. Bratislav Krsic, Fr. Norman Kosanovich and Fr. Russell Radoicich for taking time from their parish duties to serve and teach the children of the whole diocese. We also thank everyone who volunteers time to serve the camp and our campers. You are too numerous to name individually.
Our summer camp program is a combination of diverse activities--religious, cultural, physical and educational. Naturally, we begin and end each day with a prayer service: Matins in the morning and Vespers in the evening. Each week, the campers also prepare for Divine Liturgy by making a personal confession on Wednesday evening, and then they partake of the Holy Eucharist at Divine Liturgy on Thursday morning.
The rest of the days are filled with activities: swimming in our Olympic-size pool, volleyball on our new sand court, basketball or tennis on the Colich Sports Court, as well as kolo dancing, learning folk songs and liturgical singing, arts and crafts, and plenty of time for rest and relaxation.
Our clergy directors and their assistant priests offer religious education daily to all the campers. The theme for this year’s program is “And Lead Us Not Into Temptation.” The curriculum was developed by the national Education Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North America, and a manual was prepared to serve all the diocesan camps throughout the continent. Campers will be led in discussions of important topics relevant to their lives: the sanctity of life from conception, the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, as well as how to understand the difference between legal and moral standards. Campers are separated by age groups, and instruction is appropriately geared to each level.
We thank all parents and families who participate in our camp program. We strive to provide a safe and healthy environment where our children can grow in the Orthodox Christian Faith.
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