Camps With a Lot of Spirit : Parents Turn to Religious Schools for the Secular, Sacred

At Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Dana Point, boisterous children bounce up and down on the pews.

“Gifts, gifts everywhere, sent to us with love!” they sing and holler.

Far from frowning on their rowdy behavior, Pastor John Knudson encourages it. He strums his guitar, delivering a lively rendition of the Christian song. At one point, he puts down his instrument and leads the children in a stadium-style wave.

At the church’s weeklong Vacation Bible School, children learn that religion need not always be solemn. Even 5-year-old Andy Whynaught enjoys the school.

“It’s fun,” he admits, “but I like Nintendo better.”

Many parents like summer schools that have a religious theme, too.

For reasons both sacred and secular, summer camps and schools offered by churches and temples in Orange County have seen a rise in attendance in recent years. Many have waiting lists of parents wanting to enroll their children.

For parents, the schools have a two-fold appeal: Not only do they teach children spiritual values, the camps are an inexpensive way to relieve the summer doldrums.

At St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach, all 70 openings in the free vacation Bible school filled up months in advance.

“We offer our school in August when kids have exhausted everything there is to do and their parents, God bless them, may be tearing their hair out,” says the Rev. Ken Hunter, associate for youth at St. James.

Gloria Dei had about 140 children of all faiths who attended the church’s one-week camp in June. The school filled up even though the church chose not to advertise the camp this year.

“Parents are looking for a Christian activity their children can do during the summertime,” Knudson says. “We’ve developed a Bible school that’s fun. The kids need that.”

About two-thirds of the children come from families that do not belong to the church, according to Helen Bilezikjian, church secretary.

“Half of the mothers would make sure they have a vacation Bible school to put their children in every week through the summer,” Bilezikjian says. The school has nearly doubled in size since she began working at the church four years ago.

Like most summer camps offered by community recreation departments or the YMCA, the Gloria Dei school has crafts, sing-alongs, outdoor games and snacks. Yet the day begins and ends in church, with a puppet show and singing.

“Actually, it’s pretty fun. Most of the time I don’t have anything to do in the summer,” says 13-year-old Kevin Fennel, who helps with the sixth-graders and works the sound system.

“This is what you want to see your kids doing, instead of hanging out at the 7-Eleven,” says Rose Moore of Laguna Niguel, who has two children in the school. The Moores are Catholic and the children attend St. Edward’s Parish School in Dana Point, but their church had no vacation Bible school so they signed up for the Lutheran program.

“I think half of St. Edward’s must be here,” Moore jokes.

Gloria Dei charges no fee for its Vacation Bible School. Most Bible schools and religious camps rely on volunteers to help shepherd the children, thereby cutting costs.

“It’s an outreach for us. It’s the church’s way of helping the community with day care and offering a little religious teaching,” Bilezikjian says.

Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana offers a summer camp that attracts not only parents who do not belong to the temple but many who are not Jewish.

Caron Winston, director of Camp Sholom for children from kindergarten to ninth grade, attributes the program’s growth in part to the rising number of working parents.

“We have a lot of dual-income parents in Orange County,” Winston says. “Parents are finding that because they’re working, they need some kind of care for summer. Most are looking for a high-quality program as opposed to baby-sitting.”

Camp Sholom has a packed curriculum. Every camper takes swimming lessons Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays, they are off to the beach. A weekly field trip to amusement parks such as Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm or an overnight stay at a regional park is planned for each Thursday. The rest of the week is devoted to arts and crafts, science and nature, music and sports. Cost of the program is not cheap: $100 per week for temple members and $120 for non-members. Campers can attend one or all of the seven-week program.

The camp has no formal period of religious instruction, but there are blessings before meals and a celebration Friday in preparation for the Sabbath, when campers say prayers, light the Shabbat candles, break bread and drink grapefruit juice instead of wine.

“We don’t overemphasize any kind of study. Kids are so pressured 10 months out of the year, they need to get away from that a bit,” Winston says. “We talk about certain traditions, but the atmosphere is mostly festive.”

Even parents who do not work outside the home look to church- or temple-sponsored camps for some relief from fidgety, bored youngsters.

“You want your kids elsewhere than at home. They get on your nerves, and if you can find someone else to take care of them, great,” Winston says.

Camp Sholom lasts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the temple offers extended care from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accommodate working parents.

While many camps serve as day care programs, those who run the schools say their primary purpose is to pass along religious traditions to children in a way that will make them feel welcome at that institution for years to come. They are sowing the seeds of faith.

“Our goal is to have a relational ministry. It’s not important that the children learn Bible verses, but that they’ll feel loved and comfortable,” says Liz Linton, director of the summer ministry program for first- through sixth-graders at Tustin Presbyterian Church.

The church has a waiting list of parents, many from different denominations, wanting to enroll their children in the two-week program.

“It’s a neat program for any faith, but we’re generally very Christ-centered,” Linton says.

Activities vary from banana-eating contests to Bible study time. In addition to recreation and swimming, there is a morning rally where children sing songs of praise and perform biblical skits.

Parents pay $50 for the school and $160 for a one-week stay at a camp near Santa Barbara.

“Maybe it is a good deal for parents,” Linton says. “We don’t discourage it as a day care, but it’s more than that.”

Kathy Caputo of Irvine enrolled her 9-year-old daughter, Katie, in the program not because she needed a day care but because she wanted her daughter exposed to religious ideas.

“I wanted something she could participate in that has a religious or spiritual background,” Caputo says.

Like Caputo, many parents are turning to churches and temples not just to baby-sit, but to pass along important spiritual values, according to Hunter.

“A lot of my generation were anti-institutional. All of a sudden we’re married, we have children and we want somebody to help us transfer our moral values to them,” says Hunter, of St. James Episcopal Church.

“We’re an ally. We’re helping give children values.”