A Table in the Wilderness: History, Theology, and Practice of Summer Camps in the Evangelical...

8/18/2019 A Table in the Wilderness: History, Theology, and Practice of Summer Camps in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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A TABLE IN THE WILDERNESS:

HISTORY, THEOLOGY, AND PRACTICE OF SUMMER CAMPS IN THE EVANGELICAL

LUTHERAN SYNOD

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE SEMINARY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

MASTER OF DIVINITY

BY

JEFFREY D. HENDRIX

BETHANY LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

ADVISOR: DR. THOMAS KUSTER

MANKATO, MINNESOTA

APRIL 2015


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Abstract

THESIS: A Table in the Wilderness: History, Theology, and Practice of Summer Camps in the

Evangelical Lutheran Synod

STUDENT: Jeffrey D. Hendrix

DEGREE: Master of Divinity

DATE: April 2015

PAGES: 117

This thesis explores the idea whether or not summer camps in the ELS have a common

historical and theological foundation which has guided them in developing a distinct Lutheran

camp culture. Besides the social and theological foundation of these camps, this study also

seeks to examine the culture of the Lutheran summer camp experience. What are the shared

experiences at these camps which can help paint a picture of summer camps in the Evangelical

Lutheran Synod?

A summary of the history, theology, and practice of summer camps in the Synod will

help detail the unique need that these camps fill, as well as the unique ways that camps are able

to minister to people of all ages. Possible areas of improvement and outreach will also be

explored in order to assist future leaders and directors of camps in the Synod.

To accomplish these goals, this thesis employs a method of ethnography as well as the

simple combing through of historical documents. The camps included in this study are Camp


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Indianhead - MN, Camp Indianhead - WI, Camp Lor-Ray, Camp 4 Star, Camp Lutherhaven, the

ELS Circuit Camp in Florida, and the now sold and renamed Schwan Retreat Center, as well as

other camps of the Synod held in Iowa and Texas. As a point of context, two appendices are

included: A listing of every Lutheran Youth Association convention by year and theme, and an

incomplete list of every summer camp theme.

The summer camps of the Synod were found to have shared common histories, many of

the camps were founded as a direct result of discussion on the Synodical youth board level. The

camps in one way or another all share similar programs and features, many of which have been

borrowed from one camp to the next. Finally, continuity was found in the summer camps of the

Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a continuity of helping young people grow into the life of the

church, as well as a continuity of teaching the historic Christian faith.


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Acknowledgments

Sincere thanks and appreciation are extended to my thesis committee for their input and

gracious understanding in this unique area of study. I am especially grateful to my chair, Dr.

Thomas Kuster for his guidance and genuine interest in my efforts. In addition, I am grateful to

Prof. Erling Teigen and Pres. John Moldstad Jr. for their help in researching certain areas of my

thesis. Each of these three committee members have had some personal experience with summer

camping in the ELS and I have benefited from their first hand knowledge.

My thanks also go out to my parents, James and Jacalyn Hendrix who have continuously

supported me through my lengthy post-secondary education; and finally to my wife Carla, who

has now been forced to watch me struggle with two graduate theses in four years, and has been

wonderfully forgiving and patient. Finally thanks to my colleagues and brothers at Bethany

Lutheran Theological Seminary as well as all of my professors for their interest in the work of

the Gospel, and encouraging me in my pastoral study.


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Abstract 1

Acknowledgments 3

1. Introduction - Historical & Theological Background 6

2. Historical and Theological Context 12

The Development of Christian Camps in America 12

Scouting & Pioneers. 15

Early Synodical Youth Work. 18

Young People’s Association. 20

3. Brief History of Summer Camps in the ELS 27

A Synod Summer Camp is Founded. 27

Camp Indianhead - MN & Camp Indianhead - WI 29

Camp Lor-Ray. 34

Southern Minnesota-Northern Iowa Circuit Camp. 47

Camp Four Star. 49

Camp Olympic Lutherhaven. 51

Florida Circuit Camp. 54

Texas Circuit Camp. 56

Schwan Retreat Center. 56

4. Religious Activities 60

Service Under the Trees. 60

Bible Studies and Methods of Religious Instruction. 63

Devotions & Songs. 68

Conclusion to Chapter Four. 74

5. Conclusion 77


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Suggestion for Future Research. 77

Blessings and Challenges. 77

Areas for Outreach. 79

“Glamping” 80

Early Childhood 81

Hispanics 82

Practical Applications & Suggestions for Planning and Organizing a Camp. 84

Conclusion: The Distinct Nature of ELS Summer Camps. 88

Bibliography 90

Appendix A. YPA / LYA Conventions 97

Appendix B. ELS Camp Dates, Locations, Directors, and Themes 99


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1. Introduction - Historical & Theological Background

On a Monday morning in early September of 1844, dozens gathered under two oak trees

for a unique worship service. So many were in attendance that no building could contain all the

worshippers. A simple board was wedged in between the two trees to serve as an altar. The text

for the preparatory address was from Psalm 78:19, “can God furnish a table in the wilderness?”

The text for the sermon was Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy

laden.” This service was not a summer camp service, nor was the service held outside by1

choice, or trying to manufacture a pioneer experience. This was the true pioneer worship

experience. Only a day before, the first Norwegian Lutheran church service on American soil

led by a regularly trained clergyman was held in a small barn in the settlement of Koshkonong,

Wisconsin. J. W. C. Dietrichson was the pastor, a man who had ventured from Norway out of

sympathy for these emigrants of Norway, always planning on returning to his homeland once his

work of organizing was done. This was the beginning of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod as it

exists today. The scene is taught to every pastor of the Synod to serve as a reminder of its

humble beginnings.

121 years later, another group of worshipers, the theological descendents of those first

settlers, gathered beneath a grove of oak trees a few hundred miles away in western Michigan.

The setting was similar, but the reason was very different. Seeking pastoral relaxation while

receiving pastoral care, campers vacationed at a newly purchased forested property surrounding

a private lake. Camp Lor-Ray was the first camp property purchased and developed by members

1 S. C. Ylvisaker, Grace for Grace: Brief History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod , Christian Anderson,

and George O. Lillegard, eds. (Mankato, MN: Lutheran Synod Book Company, 1943), 19-21.


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of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. When it was founded in 1965, it seemed to be right in the

middle of a Lutheran camp boom. More permanent Lutheran summer camps were started

between 1955 and 1965 than any other period of existence of Lutheranism in America.2

However, researchers have noted that beginning around 1960, summer camps in America were

actually on a decline; declining not only in terms of the number of camps, but declining in the

sense that the traditional emphases of American camps were giving way to alternative camps.

This presents the question of why, within the broad setting of American organized camps,

Lutheran summer camps developed in this specific period in history? Were there some

theological emphases that were especially stressed during this period of time that gave way to the

explosion of Lutheran summer camping, or was the development of these camps more practical

in nature? These questions serve as guiding questions for a general basis of study. The time

period between 1955 to 1965 will receive some special attention, but an entire brief history of

summer camps of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod is presented, so this study will go far back as

the 1940’s, as well as up to the present day. Besides the social and theological foundation of

these camps, this study also seeks to examine the culture of the Lutheran summer camp

experience. What are the shared experiences at these camps which can help paint a picture of

summer camps in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod?

Presently, the only research that exists on the topic is either of a secular nature, or too

narrowly focused on a specific camp to answer any questions relating to the culture of the

Lutheran summer camp. Three books deserve mention however, because of their

cross-departmental research into summer camping in America. The first is Children’s Nature:

2 That is, camps either owning their own land or camps comprised of official associations or organizations,

rather than simply church outings. Based on a survey of ELS, WELS, and NLOMA camp websites.


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The Rise of the American Summer Camp, by Leslie Parks, which researches the business of

summer camps as well as their contribution to the upbringing of children. Second is the doctoral

dissertation of Clarence Peters in 1951: Developments of the Youth Programs of the Lutheran

Churches in America . This work is the one of the most comprehensive works examining the3

theology of youth programs in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. However this massive work of

over 550 pages spends a mere one page on the Norwegian Synod’s youth programs. A few more

pages are devoted to Lutheran summer camps in general, but camping is not the focus of his

work. His dissertation was also finished a year before the first summer camp was even begun in

the Norwegian Synod. Peters does list the number of Lutheran summer camps across all synods

and churches as being in the hundreds already in 1950. Nearly all of these were camps that had

no specific property of their own, and many don’t exist today. This reinforces the idea that

camps since the 1960’s - and thus many of the camps in the ELS - are of a different nature.

The third book worth mentioning is A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the

Shaping of American Youth , 1890-1960 by Abigail A. Van Slyck. Van Slyck uses the fields of

architecture, psychology, sociology, and education to trace the history of camp life and the

impact of what she aptly termed, “manufactured wildernesses” on American youth.

Van Slyck has suggested that camps of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were

institutions aimed at “providing respite from what were regarded as the moral and physical

degradations of urban life, evils to which women and children were understood to be particularly

prone.” She has gone so far as to claim that as the teachers, directors, and Scout leaders4

3 Clarence Peters. Developments of the Youth Programs of the Lutheran Churches in America. (PhD. diss.,

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 1951).4 Abigail A. van Slyck. A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth,

1890-1960. (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2006), ixx.


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arranged the environment of summer camps to meet the needs of the children, they helped invent

a socially-constructed notion of “modern childhood,” which was in-part a rejection of

modernism. “From the perspective of these adults,” she wrote, “the modern world deprived

youngsters of essential childhood experiences, and camps were one means to compensate for

those losses.” This raises the question of whether or not religious camps attempt to correct or5

compensate for what some leaders may see as failings of the modern church - or of modern

culture at large. Do religious camps try to create oases of religious or liturgical practice

perfection, at least in the minds of leaders? An ascertainable method of determining this very

thing will simply be comparing the religious aspects of various camps to the common religious

practice in the Synod. This is done in chapter four.

Both of the books previously mentioned fit within the emerging field of the history of

childhood. While each is useful, both books have their shortcomings, in that they tend to

overstress the creation of race and gender identification as a dominant motivator in early summer

camps. Additionally, neither one spends much time on the religious experience, and where they

do, religion is often negatively connected to racial and gender identification. Even these two6

studies end their research on summer camps at about 1960, due to the already noted decline in

American summer camping. Since the bulk of this essay focuses on the Lutheran Camp7

experience after 1951, when the first youth organization of the ELS was founded, the two

5 van Slyck, xxi.6 For instance, Paris spends a considerable length in discussing the “muscular Christianity” movement and

the ways it attempted to reinforce masculine identities while suppressing femininity.7 Paris characterizes: “If your childhood experience of camp includes having sung, “Little Rabbit Foo Foo”

or Al Sherman’s 1963 classic “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” then you are younger” than the generations she

chronicles in her book. “Still you will undoubtedly recognize many camp rituals that are well over a century old,

such as the use of the term ‘counselor,’ the importance of camp songs, and the variety of activities. For over a

century, children have experienced the pain of homesickness, learned to swim, and sat around campfires at night,”

14.


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aforementioned studies will provide some contextual notes on certain universal camp rituals and

themes.

The historical development of summer camps in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod is a

timely and interesting subject, not only from an historical perspective, but also particularly from

a religious and communicative perspective. 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of Camp Lor-Ray,

the first camp property owned by members of the Synod. Reflecting on the last 50 years is a

positive way to learn useful approaches in conducting a uniquely Lutheran summer camp, and

also to anticipate what challenges a camp may face in the future. Examining the shared

experiences of camps serves to show what programs and activities have worked in teaching and

instilling the Christian faith in the campers. Finally comparing religious practices allows us to

see whether leaders view camps as venues where they may be allowed to experiment with a

variety of liturgical practices, without the supposed hindrances of the traditional service structure

seen in most churches.

Besides being the only comprehensive look at the Lutheran summer camp experience,

this essay is unique and important in a few other ways. First, this essay aims to examine what

social functions and religious functions Lutheran camps serve. Second, it examines why certain

religious practices may exist at camps and what effect the differences in practice has on campers.

Finally, this essay offers practical application and guidance from current camp directors.

The method this essay employs is a combination of ethnography and the careful combing

through of historical documents. Brochures, Bible study outlines, devotion topics, summer

themes, songbooks and hymnbooks, lists of activities, and even pictures, old slide reels and


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videos have been examined. Nearly 40 interviews were conducted with individuals connected in

some way to camps: directors, Bible leaders, board members, and former campers.

The camps included in this study are Camp Indianhead - MN, Camp Indianhead - WI,

Camp Lor-Ray, Camp Four-Star, Camp Lutherhaven, the ELS Circuit Camp in Florida, and the

now sold and renamed Schwan Retreat Center. Throughout the Synod’s history, other camps

have been held in Iowa and Texas; these will receive passing mention. As a point of context, an

appendix is included which is the first listing of every Lutheran Youth Association convention

by year and theme, as well as incomplete list of every summer camp theme of each camp, based

on available information.

This thesis is arranged accordingly in the following four chapters: Chapter two surveys

the h istorical and theological context in which the majority of ELS summer camps developed.

Chapter three contains a brief history of the summer camps in the Synod, with particular focus

on Camp Lor-Ray. Chapter four examines the religious activities at various camps. Finally,

chapter five concludes with practical applications for summer camps, specifically relating to

theological matters, but also more generally in the overall successful operation of a Lutheran

summer camp, and finally comments on the distinct nature of Lutheran Summer Camps.


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2. Historical and Theological Context

The Development of Christian Camps in America

The history of ELS camps is situated within a larger context of American summer camps

generally, and religious summer camps specifically. About the same time that Norwegian

immigrants were settling in the midwest, building churches, and living true pioneer lives,

semi-rustic resorts were springing up in the east for middle- and upper-class Americans who

wanted to escape hectic urban life. Towards the middle of the 19th century, “doctors, religious

leaders, and the popular press began increasingly to promote vacationing, especially as a tonic

for urban men caught up in the rising industrial economy.” In fact the term “vacationing” itself8

did not come into broad usage until the 1850’s. Vacationing (which usually meant escaping to a

rustic retreat or moderately-rustic lodge) was largely limited to middle- and upper-class

Americans, since farm-dwelling Americans could not afford to leave the farm for an extended

period of time, and urban working-class Americans lived paycheck to paycheck. This set the9

background of summer camps for youth. Early summer camps existed to give the boys and girls

entrusted to their care a summer-time oasis free from care, with the exception of certain moral

instructions, hygiene, and practical skills.

The first church-sponsored summer camp was actually only the second boys’ camp in

America, according to at least one account . It was begun in 1880 by the Reverend George W.10

8 Leslie Paris. Children’s Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp. (New York, NY: New York

University Press, 2008), 22.9 Ibid., 22.10 Ibid., 32. Nancy Ferguson and Jennifer Burch in Camping Magazine reported that the first organized camp

began in 1861, with other organized camps springing up “soon” thereafter. While they don’t claim it is the first of

its kind, they list Camp Chocorua in New Hampshire, founded in 1881, as the beginning of their history of religious

camping. “2011 November/December Camping Magazine.”


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Hinckley of West Hartford, Connecticut. Hinckley was a non-denominational minister who had

“surrendered to God” after a period in life where he had “rebelled against religion” for being

unable to attend Yale College and Yale Theological Seminary. He was a self-proclaimed11

“apostle of fresh air,” starting his camp for Christian boys with the reasoning that “the race was

dying; dying of its own stupidity, dying of in-doorness.” In a book he self-published on the12

subject over thirty years later, he lamented the modern idea of “camping” in a glorious lodge

with all the modern conveniences - or more - of home. He called that sort of camping a farce,

and claimed that it didn’t even deserve the title of “camping.” He also lamented the poor

training and equipping of boys of his time, and inadequate boys’ camps. “Many boys’ camps,”

he wrote, “are conducted on the same principle [such as camping in a glorious lodge]. It seems

to be assumed that a boy does not know how to do any one of a hundred things that would prove

a positive benefit; and that because he does not know he should never learn. Three years ago, I

camped out with four or five boys; it was the real thing.”13

Hinckley was deeply imbued with the so called “muscular Christianity” movement which

sought to increase piety, morals, and physical health for men through the combination of certain

Christian teachings with physical activities. The movement took its founding principles based on

Paul’s various sport and physical metaphors for the Christian life. The YMCA (Young Men’s

Christian Association) was formed directly from this movement. Another organization was the

Boy Scouts of America, which will be touched on later in this chapter.

American Camp Association, November/December 2011, accessed March 2015,

http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/1111/religious-camps.11 Ibid.12 George W. Hinckley. Roughing it with Boys: Actual Experience of Boys at Summer and Winter Camps in

the Maine Woods. (New York, NY: Association Press, 1913), 2.13 Ibid., 3.


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Paris has found that at the beginning of the 1900’s, “many camp brochures promised

‘health and strength and true Christian manliness,’ as outcomes of the camp experience.”14

Muscular Christianity and many camps in the late 1800’s had an overtly anti-modernistic tone,

even while the country was transitioning. However, with World War I came an almost universal

acceptance that modernism was here to stay. Thus, Paris has noted that muscular Christianity15

“came to seem old-fashioned and, in the wake of the First World War, even distastefully

militaristic.” Forced to reinvent themselves after the War, Christian camps adopted more16

“ecumenical programs that stressed morals over religiosity.”17

Camps saw rapid growth and change in the interwar period. Many secular camps used

the outdoors as “springboards” for outdoors activities, while protestant religious camps used the

outdoors as a means in and of itself. The outdoors added a “special dimension” to religious

contemplation, with most services being conducted in open-air “chapels” in clearings in the

woods. Even the campfire was a religious event. In fact, Paris has quoted one camper at a18

YWCA camp in Florida in 1925, and commented that her letter was exactly the type of response

to camp that the staff most wished to elicit. The camper wrote, “I am older this year and can

appreciate the wonders of God’s world more...in Bible class I have met a new Jesus, an out door

Saviour who loved nature as much as we ourselves and who knew how to understand it to a

greater extent.” Characteristic of reformed theology, attendees at these Christian camps came19

14 Paris, 71.15 The Norwegian Synod’s essay in 1931 by the Rev. Geo. O. Lillegard was on Modernism, citing examples

of where modernism had polluted and destroyed good theology.16 Paris, 72.17 Ibid.18 Ibid., 118.19 Essay in scrapbook, “Pinellas County, Girl Reserve Camp 1925 at Port Richley, Florida,” box 219, YWCA,

in Paris, 132.


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to view worshipping in nature as communing with God. Apart from the Word, the experience of

time alone with God in nature was itself viewed as sacramental.

During the second World War, for obvious reasons fewer camps were founded, and some

were even converted into military camps. The American Camp Association reports that the

period after the second World War and before 1970 saw the highest percentage of American

summer camps being founded. This could very simply explain why the majority of Lutheran20

summer camps were founded within this time period.

Van Slyck has noted that “by about 1960, however, traditional camps seemed to be on the

decline, outpaced by camps teaching special skills and eventually outnumbered by day camps

(which often functioned as summertime day care centers for school-age children).” Lutheran21

summer camps seem to fit within the model of traditional summer camps, since their “special

skill” or emphasis was the instruction of youth in God’s Word, a similar emphasis for many of

the early camps. It appears then from this perspective, that Lutheran camps were merely late in

developing.

Scouting & Pioneers.

One of the most stressed areas of discord during the breakup of the Synodical Conference

(The ELS withdrew fellowship from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1955, the

WELS in 1961, forcing the breakup of the conference in 1967) was the issue of Boy Scouts and

Girl Scouts and the false teachings allowed and taught in both, and thus the concerns over

participation in each organization. The Boy Scouts of America was founded on February 8,

20 American Camp Association. Mapping PowerPoint., n.d., slide 10.21 van Slyck , xxvii.


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1910, the Girl Scouts just two years later. It would be a logical assumption that an alternative22

to these programs would comprise a significant amount of early discussion in the ELS, and

especially on the ELS youth board.

Surprisingly, very little has been written by the ELS on the issue of scouting. Even23

from WELS sources however, very little was written early on. One of these earliest writings by

the WELS, which pointed out the errors in the Scouts and the problems of fellowship with

joining a scout organization, was titled “Our Position Against Scouting” (quoted by John

Huebner in an essay called “A Fresh Look at Scouting,” emphasis original in Huebner) published

in 1954. Huebner suggested that this was really an unfortunate attitude to have, since WELS24

was not, after all, against Scouting , but against the unavoidable false teachings and practices

within the organization. Only one relevant essay existed in WELS before 1954, one presented at

the Michigan district of the Wisconsin Synod in 1951 by Prof. C. Lawrenz. Huebner has25

suggested also that the reason there appears to be little commentary on the scouts from early on

is what he calls the “argument from silence,” that is, virtually everyone in WELS was in

agreement on Scouting, and that since everyone was in agreement, no papers or essays needed to

be written. Indeed, where the argument from silence holds true for WELS, it is even more true26

for the ELS. The first mention of scouting in the annual Synod Report of the former Norwegian

22 Boy Scout Handbook, 10th Edition, 1990 in John Huebner, “A Fresh Look at Scouting,” (paper presented

at the Everglades Conference, WELS South Atlantic District, Sept. 18-19, 1990), 6,

http://www.wlsessays.net/files/HuebnerScouting.pdf.23 Paul R. Zager prepared an essay for the ELS Doctrine Committee in 2001 entitled “The Christian and

Scouting: How Compatible?” In it he mentioned that “written evaluations by earlier pastors from the ELS and

WELS can still be found with a little searching.”24 John Huebner, “A Fresh Look at Scouting,” (paper presented at the Everglades Conference, WELS South

Atlantic District, Sept. 18-19, 1990), 2, http://www.wlsessays.net/files/HuebnerScouting.pdf.25 Carl Lawrenz. The History of the Boy Scout Issue. (Essay given at a special convention of the Michigan

District of the Joint Synod of Wisconsin and Other States at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Saginaw, Michigan, June

28-29, 1951), http://www.wlsessays.net/files/LawrenzScout.pdf.26 Ibid., 8.


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Synod was in 1961 and was actually a suggestion to examine the pioneer program in WELS to

see if it would be an acceptable alternative for the Synod. In 1962 the Synod did officially

recommended the “Lutheran Pioneer” program as a “positive approach to the problem of

scouting.” 27

However, where the ELS and WELS were silent, the LCMS was not. At the national

convention of the LCMS in 1944 (which also was held in Michigan), the Synod adopted an

official stance on Scouts: “It is a matter for the local congregations to decide.” The acceptance28

of scouts in one of Wisconsin’s sister synods naturally caused rifts in WELS, and even court

cases. WELS found a solution by starting their own Scouts-like organization, “Lutheran29

Pioneers.”

The idea for a Lutheran Pioneer association actually stems from one of the most unlikely

sources: a pamphlet published by a layman in the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA).

One of the concluding statements in the pamphlet was this: “We have no other choice but to cut

off this growing menace (i.e. Scouting) and to develop our own Christ-centered youth program,

one that is established by Lutherans, led by Lutherans, and therefore contains only true Lutheran

theology. Surely our Lutheran church has the resources for establishing such a program”

(emphasis original). Bruce Thompson, a WELS layman, and his pastor, Reuben Marti, took up30

the challenge and created the “Lutheran Pioneers” in June of 1951. It was founded on the

following pillars: 1) that it contain true Lutheran theology; 2) give the boys the great outdoors; 3)

27 “Report of the Youth Board, Action of the Synod,” 1962 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical

Lutheran Synod, 1962), 70.28 Huebner, 8.29 Ibid., 8-9.30 Scott Carmichael, “The Early History of the Lutheran Pioneer Program,” (Senior History Paper for

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, WI, 1986), 2.


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build leadership; 4) build citizenship; 5) teach safety; and 6) give the boys something

constructive to do. Only a few months later, and while attending a pastoral conference to31

explain the Lutheran Pioneer program to other congregations in their conference, Rev. Marti

suffered a stroke and the Lord called him home a few hours later. The Pioneer program would

spread nonetheless, growing up to 500 trains in WELS congregations.32

Since the Pioneer program was recommended for use in the ELS in 1962, various

congregations have made use of it. However nothing in writing could be found about specific

numbers of congregations with Pioneer trains. One thing is certain: Pioneer trains, where they

were used, provided a positive approach to scouting, incorporating Biblical teachings with

physical programs.

It is possible that the acceptance of Scouts in the Missouri Synod gave their summer

camps a reason to start, the way that the rejection of Scouts in the ELS and WELS caused

summer camps to spring up in these two synods. Scouts in the Missouri Synod would need a

place to hold retreats. Children in the ELS and WELS, since they could not become scouts,

would also need a place to camp and hold similar retreats. No doubt there were many other

factors besides Pioneers that went into the founding of each camp. One of these factors was a

willingness to revitalize the Young People’s Association of the Synod (later Lutheran Youth

Association) and to create a committee which would handle all the youth work for the Synod.

Early Synodical Youth Work.

31 Ibid., 3.32 Ibid., 4.


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After World War II ended, the Synod turned its attention to work it had started before the

war, including beginning a Seminary program and organizing youth work. In 1947 a resolution

was passed to begin a youth committee for the Synod. The 1947 General Pastoral Conference

elected a committee to bring recommendations to the Synod regarding “young people’s work.”

So in 1948 the following recommendations were presented at the annual Synod Convention:

1) that the Synod elect a “standing” board for young people's work; 2) that this board

shall be made up of one pastor and one layman from each circuit of synod and the

president of Bethany Lutheran College...4) that this board now be elected to lay plans for

permanent joint work among the young people’s societies in the congregations of the

synod and present those plans to the next convention of the synod; 5) that meanwhile this

board shall immediately make plans for such work during this year and carry them out in

such a manner as the board deems advisable; 6) that this convention discuss: a) the possibility of having a convention and choral union this summer; b) topic discussion

material; c) the formation of regional groups.”33

However, no action was taken at this convention other than the creation of this

committee. The 1949 report gave an explanation:

The committee believes that all recommendations and proposals for action in this

convention are premature until the Synod itself has formally decided what part of the

Synod as a synod wishes to take in young people's work…(E.g., shall the Synod interest

itself in a synod-wide educational program for young people, synod-wide projects for

young people, synod-wide gatherings or conventions of the young people? Etc.)34

Accordingly, at the same convention, three directives were given to this newly formed

committee “a) arrange a Synod-Wide young people’s convention, b) take steps to revive the

Choral Union, and c) make suggestions for educational work in the young people’s societies.”35

From 1949-50 the youth committee consisted of Rev. Clarence Hanson, Rev. Iver Johnson, and

33 “Overture to Synod Regarding Young People’s Work,” 1948 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian

Synod, 1948), 6534 “Report of the Young People’s Work Committee,” 1949 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod,

1949), 74.35 Ibid., 76


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Prof. J.A.O. Preus, and from 1950-1951 the committee was made of Rev. Alf Merseth, Rev.36

Neil Hilton, Prof. Alfred Fremder, and delegates Elmer Olson, J. Frank Harmon, and Einar

Ingebretson.37

In 1950, in addition to the projects set forth a year earlier, the committee came to the

Synod Convention with three main objectives: “1. The encouragement of Christian knowledge

and fellowship among the young people of the Norwegian Synod. 2. The revival of the Choral

Union. 3. The furtherance of interest in Bethany Lutheran College.” The committee38

immediately set to work on accomplishing the tasks the Synod delegated to it and began to plan a

Synod-wide young people’s convention to be held in 1951 from a Saturday at noon until the

following Sunday evening. In addition, the committee proposed three more goals: “a) That an

annual summer camp for our Synod’s young people be established, b) That to this camp all our

Synod’s young people who have reached the eighth grade be invited, c) That the initial summer

camp be conducted in 1951.”39

Young People’s Association.

While the first Synod summer camp would not be held that summer, the first Young

People’s Association (YPA) convention was held in 1951 at the Norseland-Norwegian Grove

Parish from July 21-22 with about 80 in attendance. The topic was “The First Table of the Law”

presented by D. L. Pfeiffer of Cottonwood, Minn. In actuality, this convention was a

36 “Convention Committees” 1950 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod, 1950) 7.37 “Convention Committees” 1951 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod, 1951), 5.38 “Report of the Young People’s Work Committee” 1950 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod,

1950), 51-52.39 Ibid.


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“reorganization meeting,” but the first national convention of YPA. The Young People’s40

Association was officially founded on October 17, 1936 as the Young People’s Organization

(YPO) of the Norwegian Synod, though an informal association had existed since at least 1933.41

YPO was originally an organization of the societies in the Albert Lea Circuit of the Synod, with

annual two-day conventions in Mankato closing with a Choral Union concert. Apparently42

sometime during the Second World War, both YPO and the Choral Union had ceased to meet,

likely due to a shortage of manpower. YPO was the umbrella organization of youth43

organizations within each church of the Norwegian Synod, called Young People’s Societies

(YPS), which had existed in the former Norwegian Synod since 1906.44

It should be noted that in the early- to mid-twentieth century, the term “Young People’s

Society” was more or less a universal term referring to what would roughly be equivalent to a

“youth group” today. The individual youth programs of the Wisconsin Synod and Missouri

Synod congregations were also called Young People’s Societies.

40 The Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s archives has a single folder titled “First YPA Convention” in Board for

Education and Youth; Lutheran Youth Association 1936-1970. Coll. s. 720. Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Bethany

Lutheran Theological Seminary.

The 1950 Synod Report suggests that this was the first convention, but the 1951 Report mentions it is a

reorganization meeting, which seems to imply meetings in the past.41 A budget was set aside for the Young People’s Association in 1933, and in 1934, the Synod Report stated

the following: “The Saturday afternoon session was given over to the Young People’s Association of the Albert Lea

Circuit, the president of which is Wilford Huso, Northwood, Iowa. Student Martin Galstad of Concordia Seminary,

St. Louis, MO delivered an excellent lecture on the work of the young people of the congregations, which createdinteresting discussion. Added to this, several musical numbers and an excellent address by Rev. J.A.Moldstad of

Chicago about the work of the first leaders of the Synod, making a special point of the first service and sermon

under the Juve oaks on West Koshkonong in September, 90 years ago, made this indeed a very festive session.”

1934 Synod Report (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod, 1934), 63.42 The Choral Union of the Synod has been in operation since the reorganization of the Synod in 1918. The

Choral Union, made up of YPO (YPA) members from across the Synod, would join together in a sacred concert

each year for Synod Convention. The event is known today as Honor Choir.43 Clarence Peters, 322-323.44 Lutheran Youth Association (Mankato, MN: ELS Otteson Museum, n.d.), museum exhibit label.


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In 1951, the YPO constitution was reworked and the organization renamed Young

People’s Association. As with YPO, the purpose of YPA was “the glorification of the God of all

grace, and the promotion of the spiritual life of Christian young people.” Very different from45

any youth program today, YPA functioned as a mini synod, with an elected president,

vice-president, treasurer, and secretary with annual business. Similarly, the YPA convention

functioned like a mini synod convention, with business meetings, board meetings with youth

appointed to individual boards, an annual essay, and the selection of annual service projects. All

confirmed members of the Association were eligible to vote and hold office. Time for fun and46

fellowship was obviously included, but the emphasis of the convention, and of the association

itself was service. The format of these conventions remained similar all the way until the47

1990’s.

45 Constitution of the Young Peoples’ Organization of the Norwegian Synod as adopted at Bethany Lutheran

College, Mankato, Minn., on October 17, 1936, and revised October 15, 1938, and October 19, 1940, and 1952,

Board for Education and Youth; Lutheran Youth Association 1936-1970. Coll. s. 720. Evangelical Lutheran Synod,

Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.46 Unlike the Missouri Synod’s Walther League, which seemed to be a society within a society, the

Norwegian Synod regarded “all Young People’s Societies within Synod congregations, or congregations served by

Synod pastors” as members of the association. For congregations which had no formal society, individual members

upon recommendation of their pastor were regarded as members of the association ( Constitution of the YPA, Article

III Membership).

Every society was entitled to four votes at convention; every pastor, professor, and Christian Day School

teacher serving in the Synod was entitled to one vote each; and every confirmed member in a Synod congregationwas eligible to office and speak at convention (Constitution of the YPA, Article V. Conventions, par. 2-4).47 The 1951 Young People’s Work Committee reported that the young people of YPA offered to assist in any

way possible with the Centennial Celebration of the Synod in 1953. With the Centennial Celebration of the

reorganized Synod coming up two years from the writing of this essay, it could be a worthwhile project for youth in

the ELS today to be involved with helping with the2018 anniversary celebration.

The Constitution of YPA stated that it “shall serve the local societies by furthering the study and

appreciation of the Bible, a deeper understanding of history, principles, and activities of the orthodox Lutheran

Church, and by offering practical lessons in Christian service, and assisting in the social phase of young peoples’

work. Ibid.


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A similar synod-wide youth organization had existed in the Missouri Synod called the Walther

League, but the Wisconsin Synod did not have any such organization. The general sentiment in48

the Wisconsin Synod through at least the 1950’s seemed to be that there were dangerous

theological developments in the youth organizations of some other Lutheran church bodies. An

essay delivered in 1937 in the Wisconsin Synod by E.E. Kowalke stated that youth groups

should not exist in the church as special groups. They posed “a threat to the unity of the church”;

“they so easily instill in their members a wrong conception of their calling before God as

children in the family and as members of the Church”; “they so easily develop a false conception

of what constitutes church work…their attention is distracted from the one purpose of the whole

congregation to their own private objectives.”49

Another reason was a very pastoral concern, that the youth in a congregation should be

served by their own pastors. In 1951, Rev. John Brenner, president of the Wisconsin Synod,

wrote in a letter to Dr. Clarence Peters, who served on the Missouri Synod’s Board for Young

People’s Work and was working on his dissertation about youth programs in America, “The

Wisconsin Synod does not have a synodical program for young people, believing that each

congregation should take care of its own, all of them, and not only those that get interested in an

inter-congregational organization.” Although the Missouri Synod’s Walther League was not

intended to usurp the authority of the local congregation, this seemed to be a fear among the

Wisconsin Synod. In the ELS however, this did not seem to be a concern. In fact, although this

48 As a point of interest, the first LCMS camp was established in Arcadia, MI by a 1923 conference of the

Walther League. The “experience of combining a program of education and worship with wholesome outdoor

recreation” proved to be so popular that the Walther League extended the camping program to the districts. In 1950,

43 camps with a reported attendance of 2,208 campers from 36 camps, were held in the LCMS. Peters, 94 &

140-141.49 E.E. Kowalke, The Church and its Youth (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 1937), 14-17

in Peters, 324.


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never came to be, in 1959 it was suggested to model the youth work after that of the Evangelical

Lutheran Church (ELC), with a full time pastor as director at the top, not simply as an advisor.50

At the inaugural synod-wide reorganization convention in 1951, an executive committee

was formed for the Young People’s Association, consisting of high school, college, and seminary

age individuals. The following officers were elected to this first Executive Committee: Sven

Tjernagel, President; Owen Swenson, Vice-President; Gudrun Annexstad, Secretary; and

Dorothy Gullerud, Treasurer. The Synod’s Young People’s Board and the Executive Committee

of the Association were to work together to plan the annual conventions.

In 1954, the Young People’s Work Committee began publishing a new periodical for the

Young People’s Association, called YPA Quarterly under the editorship of Robert Moldstad, a

young Seminary student and president of YPA. The YPA had elected Moldstad to be the

association’s president in 1953. Other officers included Larry Monson as vice-president,

Amanda Tjernagel as secretary, and a young high schooler, James Olsen as treasurer.51

By 1954, the Synod’s 1949 directives to the The Young People’s Work Committee were

capably fulfilled. Much was accomplished by the board during this year and its report to the

Synod stated that the guidelines were reviewed and approved by the Board, and duties were

established and reaffirmed. The Synod had one more important change to make regarding this

board in 1955: “Whereas, the name “The Young People’s Work Committee” is an unwieldy one,

1) resolved that the Synod adopt the recommendation of the Committee of Committees that the

50 Minutes from the ELS Youth Board meeting, May 26, 1959, Minneapolis, MN, Board for Education and

Youth Minutes/Correspond. 1987-_. Coll. s. 700. Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Bethany Lutheran Theological

Seminary.51 “Report of the Young People’s Work Committee.” In 1954 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian

Synod, 1954), 69.


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name of ‘The Young People’s Work Committee’ be changed to the name ‘Youth Board.’”52

That same year, the young people in YPA reported they too were considering a new name:

Lutheran Youth Association (LYA). LYA was suggested as the new name because the present

name “‘Young People’s Society’ doesn’t even tell us that it’s a Lutheran society.” At the YPA53

convention it was decided to wait to rename the association until the Synod decided a new name

for itself. The new name would be used anyway in 1956, two years before the Norwegian Synod

was renamed the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

YPA/LYA is an organization that appeared at first to have only passing significance for

ELS summer camps. Further study however revealed just how much this organization affected54

summer camps in the Synod. Since YPA functioned like a mini Synod, many of the duties of the

youth in the association paralleled that of board members in the Synod. The YPA Quarterly

revealed that in addition to promoting the YPA convention, promoting the attendance at Bethany

Lutheran College, and writing theological essays and meditations, the youth of the association

actively promoted the camps in the ELS and helped plan them. An LYA Quarterly article

entitled “Come to Camp: A Real Vacation!” had this to say:

Have you ever had the unhappy feeling that you have practically wasted your summer’s

vacation? Perhaps you looked for work and could not find any. Nor could you afford an

expensive vacation. So you stayed around home, and loafed away most of your time.

Nor much to do, and nothing very exciting happens to make you feel that your summer

vacation was worthwhile. Or you may be among the more fortunate young people who

have a job or live on a farm where there is always something to do. Your summer, then,

has not been wasted, but you may feel disappointed because your summer was almost all

work, and no recreation. In either case have have the answer to your summer’s problem.A week at one of our Lutheran youth camps will make your summer one to remember.55

52 “Guidelines for the Youth Board.” In 1955 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod, 1955), 74.53 YPA Quarterly, Vol II., No. III, (1955), 4.54 The only experience the author has with LYA is attending the 2014 convention as a Seminary student

breakout session leader, and observing LYA as merely an annual youth convention.55 LYA Quarterly, Vol. III, No. III, July 1, (1956), 1.


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The older members of YPA took ownership of the summer camps in the Synod and

regarded them as their responsibility. In this way YPA was a complete support network for

youth work in the Synod from grade school age to Seminary.

Knowing these historical, cultural, and religious contexts helps to better understand

possible motivators behind forming summer camps. With these backgrounds set for camps in

the Synod, the next chapter will outline the specific histories of each camp, how and when each

one developed, as well as major events and undertakings in particular camps.


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3. Brief History of Summer Camps in the ELS

A Synod Summer Camp is Founded.

The first Synod youth camp was scheduled for 1951, but did not take place as was

planned. The Young People’s Work Committee explained:

Upon examining the aspects of the work involved in this project, the committee found

that it was a much greater undertaking than they had realized, and concluded that it would

be unwise to undertake such a venture without sufficient preparation. Therefore the

committee has not arranged for the establishment of a youth camp this summer. The

committee has not disregarded the Synod’s instructions. It is planning to conduct a

summer camp at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minnesota, in 1952. A summer

camp, if it is to be made available to the rank and file of our youth, may not be

self-sustaining. The committee, therefore, asks if the Synod, since it has authorized this

venture, would be willing to give it any financial support.56

The Synod did not grant this funding to the committee as it had requested; instead it

offered funds to help with promotions when necessary. The resolution stated that the “Young

People’s Summer Camp be operated on its own income.” This would impact how the Synod57

dealt financially with summer camps in the future. To this day, the Synod grants only a small

stipend to each camp.

By the next summer, the Young People’s Board had acquired the use of Lake Shetek

State Park in Tracy, Minnesota, for the Synod’s summer camp so the use of Bethany College’s

property was not needed. This camp, called “Summer Bible Camp at Lake Shetek State Park”

was held from July 20-27, 1952 under the direction of John A. Moldstad for all children of

confirmation age or older. The cost was $15 for the whole week, or $3.00 for campers who

wished to stay shorter periods. “A spiritual and physical program” was planned, including a

56 “Report of the Young People’s Work Committee,” 1951 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod,

1951), 79.57 Ibid.


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special closing “open-air service on Sunday, July 27, at 11:00 a.m.” Dean Norman A. Madson

of Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary delivered the sermon.58

Children were welcome to bring a camera, musical instruments, a phonograph, and a

flashlight. This official Synod camp would be operated by the Synod only for two years. That

same summer however, the congregations in the Eau Claire, WI circuit established their own

“Young People’s Camp” in Drummond, WI under the direction of the Rev. Raymond Branstad.

This camp was named Indianhead Lutheran Camp, a reference to the shape of the

Wisconsin-Minnesota border, which was commonly thought to resemble the head of a Native

American with headdress. This camp was open to young people age 12 and up who were “of

good Christian character.”59

With two camps in the Synod, one run exclusively by local churches, the Synod urged the

Young People’s Board to “make every effort to continue such camps.” The Young People’s60

Board operated the camp which became referred to as Lutheran Camp or Lake Shetek Camp in

1952 and 1953. However the 1953 camp was not as well attended as the previous year and the

camp directors recommended to the Board that other arrangements should be considered for the

coming season. After studying the matter, the Young People’s Work Board concluded that it

should not continue to operate a camp on behalf of the Synod, but rather it recommended that the

various circuits of the Synod consider operating their own camps.

As a result, two camps would be operated by local congregations, Lake Shetek Camp and

the camp at Drummond, Wisconsin. These two initial camps eventually became known as

58 Ibid.59 YPA Quarterly, Vol I., No. II, (1954), 5.60 “Report of the Young People’s Work Committee,” 1952 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod,

1952), 47-48


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“Camp Indianhead,” through a sometimes confusing arrangement: The camp now known as

Camp Indianhead - MN was located for a time in Wisconsin, and what is now known as Camp

Indianhead - WI was at one period joined together with the camp in Minnesota.

Camp Indianhead - MN & Camp Indianhead - WI

The second issue of the YPA Quarterly, published in July of 1954 by Seminarian Robert

Moldstad, described the camps which would be taking place in the coming weeks. The Lake

Shetek camp, it stressed, would be the same camp that the Synod operated, but now run by the

circuit consisting of congregations in Sioux Falls, Okabena, Luverne, Rose Dell, Belview, Delhi,

Rock Dell, Cottonwood, and Tracy. Rev. T. N. Teigen would be the camp director. While it

would be operated by a local circuit, they welcomed young people from the whole Synod and

even from the whole Synodical Conference. The inclusion of the others in the Synodical

conference was the beginning of the Wisconsin Synod’s own Lake Shetek Camp, Minnesota

Valley Bible Camp, still held at the same location.

Indianhead Lutheran Camp has “one of the finest camping set-ups available...with such

conveniences as hot and cold water...two lovely beaches, boats, ball grounds, etc. It is the kind

of equipment which one expects to find only at the more expensive resorts,” boasted The YPA

Quarterly. The program likewise was impressive, described as “the result of years of61

experience in this type of youth work. It is a well balanced program of spiritual instruction,

devotion, and recreation.”62

61 YPA Quarterly, Vol I., No. II, (1954), 5.62 Ibid.


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By 1955, interest had increased in camps so much that four camps would be conducted

by area congregations in different regions. Lake Shetek Camp would be sponsored by the

Southwestern Minnesota-South Dakota circuit, with Rev. Arthur Schultz serving as Dean of the

Camp. Island Lake Camp, in Lengby, MN, would be sponsored by the Northern

Minnesota-North Dakota circuit, under the direction of Rev. John A. Moldstad. Clear Lake63

Camp was tentatively planned by the Iowa-Southern Minnesota circuit in Northern Iowa to

include the circuit YPS convention on the last two days of this camp. Finally, Indianhead

Lutheran Camp in Drummond, WI, would be sponsored by the Wisconsin circuit, with Rev. R.

Branstad as director. The next year in 1956 after only one season, the Northern Minnesota64

camp was suspended, but Indianhead Lutheran Camp was extended to two weeks: the first week

for pre-confirmation age youth and the second week for teens. As many as 175 youth attended.65

In 1957, the original Lake Shetek Camp was also not held, dropping the number of camps in66

the Synod down to two.

Camp Indianhead, which now drew youth from as far away as Chicago and Iowa, was

forced to change its location in 1959 and was held at St. Croix State Park in Minnesota. This

move prompted the Board to write of the difficulties in securing campsites and began

considering the purchase of a camp site: “The Board has spent some time considering the

possibilities of purchasing a camp site or encouraging some group within the Synod to do so.”

Minutes from the Youth Board show that the Board had actually discussed a number of options,

including a “joint camp with double authority.” Director Branstad preferred however to operate

63 The Minnesota Camp would return to this location years later. The island camp is an LCMS camp named

Luther Island Camp.64 YPA Quarterly, Vol. II, No. II, (1955), 10.65 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1956 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Norwegian Synod, 1956), 80.66 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1960 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1960), 78


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the camp “free-lance style.” Also mentioned was the misconception that most have about the

Synod Youth Board, that it is in control of the camps. It was made clear that the Synod does not

have control or responsibility in the summer camps program, and it was noted that the one camp

the Synod did operate folded up. So the idea was floated of a corporation affiliated with the

Synod purchasing a camp and making it available for youth work in the Synod on a rental basis.

Nothing was decided, and thus at the Synod Convention, they resolved that “for the moment”67

owning their own camp site was not feasible. However the Board would continue to study such68

an option year by year for the next six years.

A sub-committee of the Board was authorized in 1960 to study and plan the Synod’s

summer-camps program with power to act. This decision brought the camp once held in

Drummond, WI under the Synod’s direct control. In addition to the circuit camp’s leaders

difficulties in securing land, the Board gave one reason why this was done: “Regrettably the

leadership of Pastor Branstad in the summer camp program is no longer available.” Rev.69

Branstad however had recently purchased a retreat on Sullivan Lake in Hillman, Minnesota

called Squaw Point. He invited the Board to rent his facilities for the summer camps of the

Synod. The Board accepted his offer and moved Indianhead Lutheran Camp to his resort. Thus,

beginning in 1960, Camp Indianhead would be the official Synod camp, and Clear Lake Camp in

Iowa, now operated by the Southern Circuit No. 4 of the Synod due to a restructuring of the

circuits, would be held only one more year.

67 Minutes of the ELS Youth Board. May 26, 1959 , Board for Education and Youth Minutes/Correspond.

1987-_. Coll. s. 700. Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.68 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1959 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1959), 7069 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1960 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1960),


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Upon a recommendation from the Youth Board to create a position of a Youth Director,

the Synod resolved at the 1960 convention that “the Youth Board, as quickly as possible, fill the

position of Youth Director to: a. Edit and publish the LYA Quarterly; b. Serve as executive

secretary to the Youth Board; c. Be advisor to the Lutheran Youth Association; d. Direct the

Summer Camp program.” This position was never filled by a full time called individual.70

Beginning in 1961, only one camp served all the youth of the Synod, ages 10 and up, and

children would arrive by bus or train from all across the Synod.

This camp was generally regarded as the continuation of Camp Indianhead, WI. In an

LYA Quarterly

article from 1963 which proclaimed “Fun? If you had much more of it, you

would die of exhaustion!” the camp was called the “13th consecutive season of camping.” The

program remained the same; in fact it was explained “there would be a howl of a protest if we

tried to change it too much. It has proved itself over the years.”71

While pastors and congregations supported this camp, it was not done so without

criticism. Some congregations pleaded with the Board to lower fees and find a more centrally

located area. The Board reported:

In considering the camping needs of our Synod’s youth program [we are] repeatedly

faced with the question: ‘Shall the Synod own its own camp?’ Before going any further

with the details of acquiring, financing, and operating a centrally located camp site of its

own, the Youth Board is herewith asking the Synod in convention to express whether it

wishes the Youth Board to proceed further in this matter towards acquiring a camp site of

our own. We are not asking the Synod to work out the details of financing, or the details

of operating such a camp if we were to have one, but simply to indicate whether the

Synod wishes the Youth Board to consider further the question of our own camp site, andto take steps toward working out arrangements which might make such a camp site

feasible.72

70 Ibid.71 “Camp Action,” LYA Quarterly, Vol 10, No. 1, (March 1963), 7.72 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1963 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1963), 76.


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The Synod responded in 1963 by acknowledging the fact that not all the congregations of

the Synod are located where they could make use of a Synod a camp, such as congregations in

Michigan or Washington, and so it resolved that the Synod itself should not take upon the task of

purchasing a camp site. Not completely dropping the camp site idea, another resolution was

passed: “We should encourage congregations to establish summer camps, and that the Youth

Board continue to work with interested congregations in the establishing of such camps or

camp.”73

Finally in 1964 an evaluation of the Synod camp at Squaw Point was done by the Youth

Board. It was noted that the camp served five areas of the Synod: The Northern Circuit, Twin

City and Southern Minnesota, Madison Area, Chicago area, and Iowa. For the Northern Circuit,

the board observed that even though the camp was the most easily accessible to this circuit,

interest was not so great since the churches served mostly rural families of lower economic

status. From the Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota a good number of youth attend. It was

observed that as many as 50% of youth come from the Madison area, but distance was a

problem. For Chicago, it was reported that distance was a problem, and no children had come

from the Chicago congregations since the price was raised above $15.00, but Lombard alone

supplied 30 campers in 1962. Cost was $21.50 for the week in 1964. Since the Synod camp74

was already lower than the average church-operated youth camp of other synods or churches

which were between $30-$40, the Youth Board could do little to reduce cost. Regarding

distance it was suggested a more central location for the Synod camp would be towards Eau

Claire, WI. As a fair solution, the Board decided it would arrange for two Synod camps for

73 Ibid., 77-7874 In addition to hosting their own circuit camp in 1962 with 166 campers and counselors, sending 30 campers

to Camp indianhead shows what an impressive interest in camping the Lombard congregation had.


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1964: Camp Indianhead North at Squaw Point, and Camp Indianhead South near Black River

Falls, WI at a YMCA Camp. Rev. N. Madson would be the director of Camp Indianhead North,

assisted by Rev. Carl Wosje, and Rev. A.V. Kuster would be the director of Camp Indianhead

South, assisted by Rev. W. Petersen.75

While the Board was busy regaining a camp under its control and questioning whether or

not to buy land, Robert (Bob) Moldstad, the first editor of the YPA Quarterly and now the pastor

at Lombard, IL; James (Jim) Olsen, once the high school student treasurer of YPA, now pastor at

Holton, MI; and Theodore (Ted) Kuster, pastor in Chicago, IL took the encouragement of the

Youth Board to begin a camp seriously.

Camp Lor-Ray.

“Camping is not new. Man’s first nights in this world were undoubtedly spent under the

newly created stars. The Children of Israel spent forty years in tents. And God’s church

convened regularly in a tent. Nevertheless camping possibilities are still new...in the field of

camping there are no prescribed limitations.” These words were penned by the Rev. Robert76

Moldstad for a presentation to the Chic-La District of the Lutheran Pioneers at Palos Heights, IL

on May 28, 1963. This was his rationale for camping, one which he had developed through his

years of experience in the woods.

Moldstad had spent many summers camping in the Northern Minnesota Boundary Waters

with his family and had been a Bible leader at Camp Indianhead. He brought his love for77

75 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1964 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1964), 84.76 Robert Moldstad, Introduction to Church Camping in the Local Congregation. (Presentation to the Chic-La

District of the Lutheran Pioneers at Palos Heights, IL on May 28, 1963), Board for Education and Youth; Lutheran

Youth Association 1936-1970. Coll. s. 720. Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary.77 Kathy Bruss, interview by the author, June, 2014.


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camping to his congregation, St. Timothy Lutheran in Lombard, Illinois and to the entire Lake

Michigan Circuit. In the outline of his presentation, he described 11 different types of camping.

His congregation was involved with many of them, including camping on the church lawn.

“This has been used effectively in Lombard as a father-son-daughter camp-out, any age, held

once each summer, with mothers invited to breakfast the next morning. Fathers prepare the

breakfast.” A second type was circuit camping, which he had started for the first time the year

before in 1962 at Herrick Lake near Lombard. He described it as a camp “where several

churches of a given area come together for a joint camp, each group responsible for their own

children to a greater extent.”78

Congregations of the Lake Michigan Circuit of the ELS, mostly from the Chicago area,

pulled together to put on the camp under Moldstad’s direction. Rev. Ted Kuster was assistant

director. In its first year, excited to escape the city life of Chicago, 166 campers and counselors

attended. Boys’ camp and girls’ camp were split, four days each. The second year they

anticipated up to 250 attendees. Lorlie and Einar Raymond “Ray” Reiser, Jr., members of St.79

Timothy, were youth leaders of this camp. Tragically on August 3, 1963, the Lord called them80

home to heaven in an automobile accident.

In 1964, with Robert Moldstad on the Synod’s Youth Board and the success of his circuit

camp, the Board reported that it once again was investigating the possible “acquisition of area

campsites for redevelopment.” The possibility of land came at an unexpected location. Rev.81

78 Robert Moldstad, Introduction to Church Camping in the Local Congregation.79 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1963 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1963),

75-76.80 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1965 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1965),

69-70.81 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1964 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1964), 85.


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Jim Olsen, who graduated from Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1963 and had

received a joint call in 1964 from the mission board and Holton Lutheran Church, was pastor in

Holton, MI. Already that fall Olsen learned from a member, Jean Thompson, of property for sale

near the congregation. In the Spring, Thompson invited Olsen to visit the property and later that

week Olsen called Moldstad to inform him of the property.

The land was 23 acres of federal government-owned property surrounding a 16 acre

borrow pit. An upgrade of US 31 in 1963 extended the freeway north from Muskegon to just

north of Montague. The construction of this segment of the highway involved bringing sand to82

help raise and level areas of land, and as a result, numerous man-made lakes (borrow pits) were

formed along the new stretch of freeway which the federal government was now selling. A few

short weeks later, both Moldstad and Olsen explored the property together.

About the same time in March of that year, Moldstad had received and accepted a call to

serve at First Lutheran Church in Suttons Bay, MI. Ted Kuster filled the vacancy at Lombard.83

God’s timing in calling Moldstad to Suttons Bay allowed for that congregation to be more easily

included in the circuit camp. Moving the circuit camp which was begun in Lombard to a central

location in Michigan would make perfect sense.

Moldstad and a layman from his now previous congregation in Lombard, Dr. William

Langreder, worked to form an association with the intent to buy the land. The Association was84

arranged similarly to the Lutheran Youth Association which Moldstad had been president of just

82 Michigan State Highway Department. Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Cartography by

MSHD. Section M7–L8., 1963. US31 Wikipedia article, accessed January, 2015,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_31_in_Michigan.83 Leroy Meyer. “Brief History of St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Lombard, IL.” Oak Leaves, Vol. 10, No. 4,

2007, 4. http://www.els-history.org/download/oak-leaves/oak-leaves-vol-10-no-4-2007.pdf84 “Camp Lor-Ray History,” Camp Lor-Ray, (n.d.) accessed January 2015, http://camplor-ray.org/history.


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ten years prior. Any person in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or in a congregation in

fellowship with the ELS, regardless of age, could be considered a member in the association.

The initial group - men and women, and youth members of LYS groups from the ELS churches

in Chicago, Lombard, Suttons Bay, and Holton - met near the proposed site on May 22, 1965.

The Association declared its purpose: “The obtaining of a camp site and developing it for use of

the Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations of the Illinois and Michigan area...” Olsen was

elected as Chairman, Moldstad as secretary, and Langreder as treasurer.85

The association was called the “Lor-Ray Camp Association” in memory of Lorlie and

Einar Raymond “Ray” Reiser, Jr., the youth leaders of the initial circuit camp in Lombard. Soon

other members from St. Mark’s, Chicago, St. Paul’s, Chicago, Holton, and First Lutheran joined

the association. Olsen visited the state highway department office in Muskegon and learned that

the lake and property were under federal control, but the sale was being handled by the state, and

an auction was scheduled for the coming fall. Moldstad secured financing for the land from

personal funds and from inheritance money given to the church from Lorlie and Raymond

Reiser, and at the land auction the bid put out by Olsen and Moldstad won. The 23 acres of land

which surrounded the 16 acre lake were purchased on October 14, 1965, at a price of $4,600.00.

In addition to the members of the congregations of the Lake Michigan Circuit, Olsen

traveled to about a half dozen WELS congregations to try to interest men and women there to

join the new association. Memberships were sold for $2 per individual and $5 for families. As

memberships in the Lor-Ray Camp Association brought in funds, the loan from pastor Moldstad

was repaid. Soon Moldstad loaned more money to the association to purchase another 102 acres

85 Summary of the Organizational Meeting of the Lor-Ray Camp Association, Twin Lake, MI: Lor-Ray Camp

Association, 1965.


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of adjacent land on March 1st, 1966 for $3,000, and finally another 40 acres of land owned by

Jean Thompson. Eventually the Lor-Ray Camp Association had a physical location to camp, and

with 165 acres, Camp Lor-Ray became the Synod’s answer to years of discussions of buying a

camp property for Synod youth. Congregations from as far away as Madison, WI would travel86

to use this new camp.87

The Youth Board of the Synod noted in convention that summer that it was possible to

operate two Synod camps without campers from Illinois, and so it requested that Camp Lor-Ray

be a third Synod youth camp. “The Youth Board asks pastors Theodore Kuster and Robert

Moldstad to operate a camp that would serve the Illinois and Michigan Youth of our Synod. This

camp will be a tent camp, in session July 11-17, at a location near the Holton, Michigan,

congregation.”88

Within only one year, the association began developing the land for camp use. A Pioneer

Train from St. Paul’s, Stevensville, MI (WELS) worked during the spring of 1966 to clear an

entrance road to the camp. The Lutheran Youth Society from Suttons Bay cleared an area next89

to the lake for a chapel and built an altar and cross. Olsen commented in an interview that there

was no end of willing helpers. Numerous WELS members from congregations in Muskegon,

Grand Haven, St. Joseph, Stevensville, and Benton Harbor all came to help. Duane Anderson,

who was an architect and member at St. Paul’s, Chicago, drew up the plans for the camp

86

“Report of the Youth Board,” 1966 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1966),71-72. With clarifications from James Olsen, interview by the author, June 2014.87 Minutes from the Annual Meeting of the Lor-Ray Camp Association, Twin Lake, MI: Lor-Ray Camp

Association, April 19, 1969, 6.88 “Report of the Youth Board,” in 1965 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1965),.

69-70.89 Camp Lor-Ray History, http://camplor-ray.org/history.

My father, James Hendrix, was likely one of the young pioneers along on this trip. He doesn’t recall

helping clear land, but he does recall getting hit in the face with a flying baseball bat, swung by fellow pioneer,

Freddy Krieger.


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buildings and Gus Gorske from Stevensville headed the building committee. Duane would90

later be called to be the chief architect for the Wisconsin Synod. In general, the Lutheran91

Church in Michigan was experiencing tremendous growth and momentum during these few

years. A new ELS Congregation, Faith Lutheran in Muskegon served by Rev. Tom Kuster,92

was admitted into membership and a new preaching station in Petoskey was begun by Moldstad

in 1966.93

Amid the growth and excitement however, tragedy would strike again for members of a

congregation served by Moldstad. In early July of 1966, Gene and Albert Setterbo were driving

three children to Camp Lor-Ray from First Lutheran in Suttons Bay. God saw fit to allow an

automobile accident to bring both Gene and Albert to their heavenly home. The lake at Camp

Lor-Ray would be named in their memory.94

Robert Moldstad would continue to serve as the leader of the Lor-Ray Camp Association

in “his most influential role [of the camp] as head camp counselor at each youth camp,” until he95

was called as a missionary to Peru in 1972. In fact, Ted Kuster was the Synod’s first96

missionary in Peru in 1968, and Jim Olsen followed in 1970. The three men who worked to

90 Jim Olsen, interview by the author, June, 2015.91 “From Architecture to Evangelism: He’s Still Building the Church” in Forward in Christ , Vol. 82, No. 5,

May 1995.

http://wels.prometdev.com/news-events/forward-in-christ/may-1995/architecture-evangelism-hes-still-building-chur

ch92

1966 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN: Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1966, pg. 4.93 “Report of the Board of Missions,” 1966 Synod Report , 48.94 “Special Notices” in Record-Eagle Newspaper , Traverse City, MI. July 19, 1966, 18. Also, Camp Lor-Ray

History, http://camplor-ray.org/history95 James Olsen, interview by the author, June 2014.96 In all, Moldstad would found two congregations, a circuit camp, a camp association, a newsletter for

Lutheran college-aged youth, Mission News, Faith Missionary Society, and help found the Peruvian Seminary, all

between 1957-78. Robert Moldstad was concerned for the ministering of people of all ages and all nations. He had

a heart for missions and desired to work for a WELS Mission in Africa so that he might gain experience for working

in a foreign mission of the ELS.


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found Camp Lor-Ray would work together again to build the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in

Peru.

In 1968, the youth camp was expanded to two different weeks for different ages.

Moldstad wrote that in addition to the ELS youth, 25 WELS youth attended this year as well.97

In 1969, a separate WELS youth camp was begun, and between the youth camp, groups, and

family campers, over 500 people used Camp Lor-Ray. The youth camp at Camp Lor-Ray98

continued to be operated and supported by the Synod Youth Board and considered one of the

three official Synod Camps until 1970 when it was turned over to the Lor-Ray Camp

Association. By 1973, the Synod’s Youth Board would turn control of its other two camps to

area congregations.99

Six weeks of group youth camps were planned for 1970, divided among ELS, WELS,

and LCR youth camps of various ages, directed by Robert Moldstad, Mr. Ken Nolte, and Rev.

Don Krause. In addition, three teen retreats, a girls camp, an organized family camp, a

programmed camp for inner-city Chicago youth, and a half week “handi-camp” were scheduled,

not to mention church outings, pioneer retreats, and weekly campers in the family camp portion

of the camp.100

With the explosion in growth, the association hired a full-time summer Camp Manager in

1971, Bob Ring. He was given a trailer to live in for the summer along with a small stipend.

97 Letter, Robert Moldstad to Ted Kuster, August 16, 1968. A History of the ELS Peru Mission - 1968-1972.

Accessed March 2015,

http://www.kuster-web.net/History-ELS-Mission/history-els-mission/1968-moldstad-correspondence/680816-bob-to

-tfk-a.html.98 “Report of the Youth Board,” 1970 Synod Report, (Mankato, MN Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1970), 73.99 “Report of the Board for Education and Youth: Youth,” 1973 Synod Report , (Mankato, MN Evangelical

Lutheran Synod, 1973), 63, and “Report of the Board for Education and Youth: Youth,” 1974 Synod Report ,

(Mankato, MN Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1974), 87-88.100 Scheduled use of the group camp area Twin Lake, MI: Lor-Ray Camp Association, March 5, 1970.


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The association also looked to create two more administrative positions, including one that

would manage a planned college ministry program of the camp. In less than ten years, a small101

circuit camp in Illinois became one of the largest non-profit organizations affiliated with the

ELS.

The Lor-Ray Camp Association hosted a church camping seminar in 1970, entitled

“Church Sponsored Youth Campouts - Principles and Methods” at the newly constructed Faith

Lutheran Church in Muskegon. Moldstad reiterated his simple and humble rationale for

camping: “Camping, or living in tents is not new...tenting for God’s people helped convey the

idea that their life on earth was just a sojourn, heaven was their permanent home.”102

After a dining hall and cabins were constructed at the camp, a master plan for the Camp

Lor-Ray property was developed. A new building, which would serve as a family cabin for

groups, a nurse’s

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