Dear friends,
I want to share with you what I will be doing while I am on study leave. As I have for over 50 summers of my life, I will leave next week to attend Berwick Camp – a United Church family camp of Methodist origins, nestled in the Valley of Nova Scotia amid a towering forest of old growth hemlock trees. This year, Berwick Camp will celebrate its 150th anniversary of people gathering in this sacred place to worship and learn together, and be nurtured in the Spirit.
Almost since its inception, Berwick Camp has run for 10 days every summer, from the last weekend in July until the first weekend in August. It began as a revival tent meeting with the aim of converting people to Christianity. History books record how extra trains were added while the camp was in session, to transport multitudes of people from various parts of Nova Scotia and beyond, with daily numbers often topping 4000, coming for almost continuous worship services throughout the day. Over the years, the focus has changed from evangelism to nurture, training ministers and lay leaders through worship and study groups, with activities for all age groups.
As a child, my memories of Berwick revolve around the playground, vacation bible school and crafts. Then as a teenager, the youth program was central to my developing spirituality, as was the music program. As an adult, I have been nurtured by Bible Study, lectures and discussions on current issues in spirituality, insight into mission work, and inspirational preaching in the worship services. In my experience, Berwick is a wonderful opportunity to network with other ministers – to find out what they are doing in their congregations, and to hear stories of new ideas and new approaches that I can try. When I was growing up as a “PK” (preacher’s kid), I discovered at Berwick that many of the other youth were also PKs, and because of this shared experience, it became a place of belonging for me. Now when I attend, I connect with people I have known my whole life. Although many ministers attend, it is also a haven for lay people, who come to be refreshed and nurtured through the various programs and the grounds themselves. And so it is that the experience of this retreat centre is often passed on from generation to generation. Parents bring their children, and then those children bring their parents back, and later, their own children.
Berwick Camp is located within the town of Berwick, in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. It is nestled in an old growth forest of hemlock trees, many over 300 years old. These days, numbers for the 10 days fluctuate between 1000-1500, with many staying in small cabins and others, like me, camping in trailers, tents and RV’s. If you joined in our service last week, you would have seen photos of the front porches of some of these cabins.
This year, one of the highlights of the program will be the presence of John Bell from the Iona Community (Scotland), who will be the “minister in residence”, leading the worship services each evening. I have attended many workshops with John over the years, and look forward to his leadership. Some of the liturgical resources I use in preparing for worship come from him, and some of the hymns in our hymn books were written by him.
The adult morning program (Theology for Today), will be led this year by six different L’Arche Communities from the Maritime Provinces. If you are not familiar with L'Arche, it is a worldwide network of communities where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together. Through an examination of the core values of L’Arche, the program will explore some of the elements of shared life together that help the L’Arche community discover meaning in their day-to-day reality. Through art, movement and reflection, we will experience things that bring us closer to the truth of ourselves and each other and to the beauty of our common humanity.
I am also part of the leadership team this year: I will be leading five early morning (pre-breakfast) worship services. Because it is the 150th anniversary, I have chosen as my theme “Porches and Pathways: Spirituality and the Architecture of Berwick Camp”, and will explore how the grounds and its buildings serve to nurture spirituality.
I have had many experiences over the years as part of the leadership at Berwick. I led the entire music program for a few years; I have also led the early morning worship a number of times; I have collaborated on contemporary worship services; I have written and directed a musical to be performed at Berwick; I have led information sessions on justice issues from my experience with the Guatemala-Canada Solidarity Network, and also solidarity with Sabeel – our partners in Palestine who are working on peace and justice initiatives, working with Christians, Jews and Muslims.
For more information, I recommend you to the Berwick Camp website: https://www.berwickcamp.org/ You can find here a list of programs. Plan are also underway for some of the programs to be offered online.
Thankyou for the opportunity to pursue this continuing education experience where I will also be offering leadership in the wider church.
In solidarity and toward Shalom/Salem,
~Rev. Keith Hagerman
