Gatherings like camps, retreats, and reunions have a long history in Community of Christ. These events are deeply formational and leave a life-long impression with those who attend. This year, the church is providing a series of materials that can be used for children’s and youth camps, retreats, vacation bible schools, reunions, and family camps. We encourage planners to utilize these resources for all events, as they reinforce learning. Different facilitators and event formats provide varied perspectives on the material, ensuring that even those who attend multiple events will experience something new each time.

The 2025 camping theme is "Choose Hope."

Description

As we explore the call of Christian hope in our time, we will be drawing from various voices and sources of wisdom, past and present. Two significant voices are shaping our exploration; Geoffrey Spencer, through his powerfully relevant book, A Brightness of Hope, and spiritual practices each day for sustaining hope inspired by Luther Smith’s book Hope is Here: Spiritual Practices for Justice and Beloved Community. This theme, Choose Hope, is in response to the 2025 World Conference Theme, Hope Is Here. This theme focus is an opportunity to continue deepening our call as a people of prophetic hope even amid the many challenging and complex global issues we are facing. We hope this exploration will provide deep resources for sustaining and enacting God’s hope.

Concepts

• Hope is always present because God is always present.
• Hope is with us even when we do not feel hopeful. 
• Hope is wherever we are.
• Hope is not the same as aspirational/wishful thinking or wanting everything to turn out ok. Hope is a deeper resource of faith and resilience. Hope is a “force of God,” a movement of the Spirit, always toward the vision of justice and peace.
• Hope is an interior disposition. It is a way of orienting ourselves to the realities of the world even when nothing around us is easy or getting better.
• Hope often arises out of experiences of despair, just as resurrection follows Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
• Sustaining the work of hope requires practice and deep integrity, including formative practices that shape our lives to be God’s people of hope.
• “Fulfilling God’s dream for us is hope’s purpose.” (Luther Smith, Hope is Here, p. 10.)

Daily Themes

Day 1

• Theme: Story of Hope
• Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-10, 13, Acts 2
• Community Practice: Prophetic Remembering
• Description: Participants will locate themselves in the longer, cyclical history of God’s prophetic action throughout time as a way of deepening Christian hope.

Day 2

• Theme: Breathe in Hope
• Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants Section 163:4a, Acts 2
• Community Practice: Contemplative Praying
• Description: By starting with the feeling of hopelessness, participants will locate a hope that meets them where and how they are, while also breaking into the present with a vision for God’s future.

 Day 3

• Theme: Turn Toward Hope
• Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants Section 164:5, Acts 2
• Community Practice: Crossing Identity Boundaries
• Description: Hope is found as we open to new perspectives and dream beyond our current understandings through the rich, complexity of diverse human community.

Day 4

• Theme: Spirit of Hope
• Scripture: Matthew 5:38-46, Acts 2
• Community Practice: Transforming Conflict
• Description: Hope in God’s preferred future naturally “rearranges the order of things” and brings holy upheaval that can lead to sacred tensions and life-giving conflict.

Day 5

• Theme: Onward in Hope
• Scripture: Acts 2
• Community Practice: Celebrating Community
• Description: We move onward in hope that is tough enough to endure whatever circumstances we encounter. We deepen our capacities for sustaining God’s hope through practices of celebrating community.

Resources

2025 camping resources are coming in February or March 2025. 

• Adult Class
• Worships
• Children’s Class
• Youth Class
• World Conference recap for reunion/camp planners and guest ministers