Life at Camp, Heaven on Earth
A Typical Day
Each session is filled with activities to allow young people to experience a holistic Orthodox Christian lifestyle. Campers experience an average day with cabin wake-up at 7 AM, breakfast at 8 AM, followed by Orthros at 9 AM. Divided into groups of two or three cabins, the morning program consists of two one-hour sessions, filled with Christian Education classes and other activities to enhance the educational program. Campers have a 30-minute break before lunch to change into afternoon attire.
Lunch is to refuel for an afternoon of sports and fun. All campers attend 3 one-hour afternoon periods where they choose from Arts and Crafts, swimming, soccer, angle ball, volleyball, basketball, archery, canoeing, “bumping”, and ultimate Frisbee, just to name a few. The campers get a snack at 3:30 before the third afternoon period begins.
5:00 PM offers a rest and needed quiet or social time within the cabin. Evening commences with dinner at 6 PM. Songs and playful chants are often heard at mealtimes and create an atmosphere of love and fellowship. Following dinner is Vespers at 7:00 PM.
Each evening, beginning at 8 PM, all campers come together to be entertained and participate in a wide variety of programs such as serenade night, pool party, skit night, campfire, dances, and much more.
Following evening program, cabin time allows for unwinding and unanswered questions for individual cabins. Contemporary moral issues may be addressed in older cabins while younger units are getting needed rest.
Prayer and Fasting
At Camp St. Raphael, prayer is an important part of our daily life. Every morning, the entire camp comes together to pray and hear the Gospel at Matins. Campers participate in the service through chanting, singing and serving. In the evening after dinner, the camp joins together again to give thanks for a great day of camp at Vespers.
In addition to these services, campers who have prepared themselves have the opportunity to take part in the sacrament of communion at Divine Liturgy. We also gather one evening to pray to our patron Saint Raphael at his supplication service. Campers come home after camp knowing the hyms of the church through the daily services.
As an Orthodox Christian camp, we adhere to the tenets of the faith, and therefore, on prescribed days we follow the fast of the Church in a very simple and humble attempt. Our fasting practice at Camp St. Raphael is to refrain from meats on fasting days. While we recognize that families follow different fasting practices, here at CSR we feel this is a reasonable expectation of all campers and staff to aid us in our spiritual growth. We encourage you as parents to speak with your children about fasting while they are at camp.