Many thanks to our campers, summer camp counselors, families, diocesan partners, donors, the year-round staff, and for all the prayers from our wider community for another amazing summer at BCH.

Our Theme:

This year, our summer theme was "On earth as it is in Heaven". We explored what it means to pray for and to work to create a world right here that looks a little bit like we imagine Heaven might look. We talked about what makes that difficult, how to navigate conflict in Christian community, and how to see Jesus in one another, even when that's hard. We wondered what daily bread looks like- both when we're physically hungry and when we're emotionally or spiritually hungry. Then we baked bread and broke it with one another at our closing Eucharist.

Each year we work to connect our summer theme to what's happening in the world and in the lives of our summer camp community, but this summer, the connections felt more pressing- how is it that we take what we learn, the community we build, the creativity we explore with us as we leave this place? How is it that we expand our own imaginations of what's possible and then work to build it in the midst of our every day? These were the kinds of questions we spent the summer living into and the kinds of questions we hope will continue to shape the year until we gather again!

Family Camp:

This summer opened with Family Camp where we welcomed 65 campers, which is more than twice the size of Summer 2024. Families came from around the Diocese of Massachusetts, the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire, and the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. Led by a volunteer planning team and our summer staff team, we played field games, swam and boated in Otter Lake, created tile mosaics, celebrated daily Eucharist, sang songs and made s'mores around the campfire, and enjoyed getting to know one another and creating lasting memories and new traditions. If your family or parish is curious about family camp, get in touch with us about joining next summer!

Leadership Development:

Next up in our summer was junior counselor training. The leadership development junior counselor program has seen so much growth over the last three summers that this year, we welcomed two separate cohorts to JC training. 18 junior counselors, 16 of whom have been BCH campers over the last 4 years, trained together and then Cohort One supported overnight camp sessions 1 & 2 and Cohort Two supported overnight camp sessions 3 & 4. JC's support the overall running of summer camp and have their own formation program rooted in delving into their faith, their life, and their own leadership development skills.

Overnight Camp:

Overnight camp this summer welcomed 167 campers from around New England, 6 new and 2 returning visiting chaplains from the Diocese of Massachusetts and the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire, 12 returning summer staff, 4 new summer staff, and more fun than we could possibly contain in a newsletter article.

Campers arrived on Sunday afternoon to register, meet their cabin and then choose their top list of activities for the week from the list of creative offerings camp staff have put together for that session. This summer, activities included, Hollywood where campers could write, star in, and film their own short, Card Carnival, where every day brought a new card game; Backwoods Baking where campers would learn how to make a new snack in the wilderness; Pop-up Sports where every day was a new sport; Boating, High Ropes Course, Craftopia where everyday was a new arts & crafts project; Escape the Island which offered a new puzzle-based escape-room activity daily, and so many more!

Every evening was a new all-group activity (except for Wednesdays when cabins choose their activity). We celebrated Christmas in July and Summer-Ween, had an optional all-camp Gym-Out on a particularly hot night, played an all-camp game of BCH Clue, built rafts, made s'mores around the campfire, and ended every session with Rock Out Sesh'- a combination variety show/karaoke/dance party.

Our visiting chaplains led worship every morning and evening as well as provided their ministry of presence throughout all the different activities during the week, and our Director of Mental Health Programming, Aidan, led mental health workshops every morning that each cabin would rotate into throughout the week. Aidan offered programs on breathing and the senses, yoga, butter making as a practice of self-regulation, and offered additional supports as they were needed for campers and staff alike.

To open where we began, thank you- thank you to the families and guardians who trust us with your campers, to the campers who are the heart of this place, to the staff who help make it all happen, to the chaplains who lend their gifts for the week, to the dioceses who help us spread the word and connect with new communities, and to the wider BCH community who donate, check-in, lift up prayers, and are ambassadors for summer camp at BCH all throughout the year. We couldn't do it without you.

If you have questions about how you could participate in the ministry of summer camp at BCH next summer, whether as a camper, counselor, adult volunteer, parish, or to offer other kinds of program support, reach out to BCH Program Director, Kate Howton.

Faith in Action Youth Retreat

The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center are teaming up to offer a new, one day youth retreat focusing on how teens can live out their faith in impactful ways!

When: Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Where: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 354 Main Street, Hopkinton, NH.

This is a great opportunity for teens from across the diocese to participate in a powerful day of connection, reflection, and action! We also invite congregations to send a youth ministry leader to join their youth in the fun and to prepare to help participants apply what they learn when they go back to their community. 

Wherever your teens are on their faith journey, this is a great chance for them to come together to reflect, build friendships, and be inspired to act. 

Click the button below to register!

Regional Youth Retreat:

October 24-26, 2025.

Join youth from around the region in our next regional youth weekend at BCH! Have fun, explore questions of faith and community, and connect with youth and youth leaders from around New England.

This program is designed for middle and high school aged youth.

If you're a youth or parish leader in your church or community and want to have a conversation about bringing a group and/or potentially chaperoning, reach out to BCH Program Director, Kate Howton.

**We strive to make all our events as accessible as possible for families. Tiered pricing is available for all youth weekends. For more information and to register, click the link below!

Fall Work Weekend: Oct. 24-26

Join us for a weekend of work (and play!) as we complete various projects around BCH. Bring yourself, your family & friends, your church, or your youth group to BCH for the day on Saturday, October 25th or stay over until Sunday, October 26th and help us prep the campus for late fall and winter. All ages, stages, and abilities welcome!

Schedule:

Saturday, October 25th, we'll gather for breakfast in the dining hall starting at 8 am and then break into project groups for the morning. We'll gather back together for lunch at noon and then either begin more projects for the afternoon, or continue the morning's projects.

The work portion of our day will end around 5 pm with dinner at 6 pm, after which, we'll celebrate our time together with a campfire and reception Saturday evening.

For folks who choose to stay Saturday night, breakfast on Sunday will be at 8 am followed by a closing Eucharist service, which will wrap up our time together.

This is a no-cost event. To Register and find out more information, click the button below.

A picture's worth a thousand words:

2025 Summer Camp at BCH