Sarah: Could you tell us about Camp Washington’s new summer offering, Women’s Camp?
Tuesday: “I'm really, really, excited to share the Women's Camp that we're going to be hosting this summer at Camp Washington. All of us deserve some time for refreshment and rest and renewal, and I know that some of the best experiences I've ever had in my life have been going to camps or to retreat sessions that are specifically for women and women-identified people. I wanted very much to give that same opportunity to other women.
Hello! I am James, Camp Washington’s Summer Camp Director. As with most people, I hold many other hats outside of work: brother of four, son, advocate, rock climber, friend, a partner, Episcopalian, and so on. One of the of these roles is "Young Adult."
“Changemakers Camp is going to be a session that focuses on making use of our voice, on the many different avenues of how to care for our world, and all while still doing ‘the camp thing.’
If you are at Camp Washington on November 2 for A Day of Growing Hope & Forging Peace, you will hear a distinctive sound, even from the parking lot—a ringing that has a steady, metallic harmony as hammer comes into contact with metal. This is more than just a hammer hitting metal, though. It is the sound of guns becoming garden tools. It is the sound of violence and tragic ends becoming objects of nurture, creativity, and new life. It is the sound of folks becoming blacksmiths.
November 2, 2024, will be a workday at Camp Washington’s fully-equipped forge and at the center of it all will be the Rt. Rev. Jim Curry and his crew. Bishop Curry retired as ECCT’s Bishop Suffragan in 2014 and in 2017, co-founded Swords to Plowshares Northeast, a non-profit that takes its name from Isaiah 2:4 and reduces gun violence by transforming pieces of guns into objects, especially garden tools. These garden tools are then given back to local community and parish gardens, the once tool for violence now a tool that nurtures the growing of vegetables and flowers.
It will also be a day when Swords to Plowshares Northeast takes on new apprentices. Blacksmithing is a traditional trade that is learned by doing, by being beside someone who has beaten and formed metal many times before you. “I want to train the next generation of blacksmiths,” Bishop Curry said in a phone interview earlier this month, “November 2 will be a day of learning traditional blacksmithing techniques.” Bishop Curry hopes that during the workday, the group will create mattocks from gun barrels—a mattock, especially one created by Bishop Curry and his crew, is a two-sided garden tool with a handle, one side to be used as a hoe, the other side to be used as a fork for soil cultivation.
On our call, Bishop Jim shared the catalyst for both forming his non-profit and shaping his love for blacksmithing: the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, which took the lives of 20 students and six educators. He, along with then Connecticut Bishop Diocesan Ian T. Douglas and Bishop Suffragan Laura Ahrens traveled to the scene of the shooting to be with the shaken and mourning community. It is an experience he will never forget. “I had to do something,” he told me.
That something came through the craft of blacksmithing and the witness of the Reverend Jeremy Lucas and the Mennonite blacksmith ministry based in Colorado, RAWtools. Bishop Curry went west and worked at the RAWtools forge, learning how to turn guns into garden tools. He also brought members of the RAWtools ministry to Connecticut to train members of his team.
At the forge of RAWtools, “I fell in love with process,” he told me. “I was learning a traditional skill; I was training for something. Blacksmithing is a full-body process and it allowed me to physically step into my desire to change things. And it was fun! Through shaping metal, areas of great tragedy can reclaim something, and that reclaiming is really joyful.”
And many throughout ECCT have already benefited from Bishop Curry’s apprenticeship to blacksmithing as well as his apprenticeship to peace. Connecticut community and parish gardens nurture their crops through his garden tools, many (including me) have a necklace or bracelet from which hangs a piece of a bullet casing transformed into a heart—and even the crook of our current Bishop Diocesan’s crozier was formed by Bishop Curry’s passion, mission, and artistry at the forge.
Like all apprentices that came before, you too, can learn from Bishop Curry’s expert craftmanship on November 2 at Camp Washington’s forge. You too, can fall in love with the process and become part of the bigger story that brings peace and hope into a world that so often gets stuck in loops of violence. You too, can strike metal and hear that metallic, melodious sound as you “turn swords into plowshares,” just like Isaiah has called us to do.
Written by The Rev. Tuesday Rupp, Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Woodbury
John 1:37b-41
[Jesus’s first] two followers said, “Jesus, where are you staying?”
Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.
These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
Camp Washington, Lakeside, CT
5) NEW FRIENDS
There are no phones allowed at Camp Washington. Everyone sleeps in cabins, and everyone shares bathrooms and showers. Everyone will sweat and get dirty; everyone will smell like sunscreen and bug spray; everyone will be new to some aspect of camp life. What a gift. On Sunday night, a lot of kid conversation consisted of TikTok catch phrases; by Friday morning, I heard kids humming songs and chants from the week, talking with excitement about games and activities, giving detailed descriptions of bead crafts, or comparing their favorite meals. New friends had inside jokes to share, with nary a “skibbidy” to be heard.
At Camp, “new friend” is a broad category. Here’s a short list of places that our campers and counselors come from: Our campers and counselors hail from various places, such as Turkey, Jamaica, Honduras, Hungary, all over New England, and other parts of Connecticut, which can feel like a completely different country to a child. Kids, counselors, and staff shine across the spectrum of race, gender, neurodiversity, skills, interests, and faith. For Episcopalian kids, this was a way to connect with each other and their shared faith, making this one of the largest and most vibrant youth programs in our diocese. While participating in activities in small groups, creating skits, singing camp songs, over meals, and even during daily prayers, the kids formed bonds that could last a lifetime during cabin time and cookouts. It’s worth noting that, for our week, one very special Episcopalian was on hand to lead us in a rousing version of the classic camp song, “Goin’ on a Lion Hunt” (thanks, Bishop Jeff).
4) BEN’S FOOD
Yelp rating for meals at Camp Washington: 5/5 stars for kid food. This is hands-down the best kid-friendly food you will ever eat, and there is something for everyone. Food is abundant and delicious, and fresh salads and ripe fruit are available daily. Ben’s secret recipes are the subject of much speculation and debate, but the main ingredient is certainly love.
We also received our nourishment in other ways. The customs of mealtime are a key part of what makes Camp Washington special. This is one area where I observed a significant difference between the campers on Sunday night and those on Friday morning. We expect everyone to take turns in serving, carrying, setting up, and cleaning up. Family-style meals mean that everyone at the table has to pay attention to the needs of others. Everyone engages in conversation and connection three times a day, free from distractions such as screens. Three times a day, we came away from mealtime satisfied.
3) BULLSEYES
This week at camp, I knew of two kids who shot bullseyes (one of them was the youngest camper that week)! Amazing! I witnessed campers creating artwork that they could proudly display at home, enhancing their swimming skills, baking cookies with Ben (refer to point #4), experimenting with dance and art classes, and experiencing canoeing for the first time. One camper shared with me that conquering her fear of heights during the ropes course was the highlight of her week. Bullseye!
These are the kinds of successes that happen when the reward is fun. People who love, celebrate, and embrace you for who you are, and who encourage and support trying out new things, can foster these kinds of successes.
2) THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE
After a week of creating, refining, making costumes, practicing dance steps, song lyrics, or impressions of counselors, this is Camp Washington’s night to shine. Campers, counselors, and staff cheered each other on through two hours of skits, songs, dance routines, amazing feats of flexibility, more skits, group dance numbers, instrumental solos, one very memorable singer, still more skits, and a rousing group finale. Perhaps the abundant snacks and cotton candy cones helped the audience stay attentive. I like to think it was a sense that every person on stage was a friend, and we always cheer our friends on.
One performance particularly stood out to me: a counselor-in-training, torn between a deep desire to share a song and crippling stage fright. Last summer’s attempt to get on stage ended in tears. This year, after several halting starts and stops, sharing and self-expression triumphed over fear. The sung and danced rendition of the song was brilliant. The cheering and applause were deafening. My heart exploded with joy and wonder. Bullseyes truly come in many and varied forms.
1) BELONGING AND BECOMING
I have heard that it takes something like 11 contiguous hours with the same people to form a group. I don’t know if that number is “true” or not, but the idea is clear: spending lots of time with the same people is required for that alchemical transformation that transforms a bunch of individuals into a group. Summer camp has the potential to do that; you’ve got the time and the togetherness. The question is, what kind of group are you going to form?
At Camp Washington, I encountered a culture that values both self-expression and community equally. A sense of belonging to the whole intertwines with the process of becoming (remembering?) who you are. There isn’t enough of that in the world, in church, or in our daily lives. But for one magical week, there was belonging and abundance. Maybe it’s like a little glimpse into the kingdom of God. I hope so.
But don’t take my word for it—come and see for yourself!
The Rev. Tuesday Rupp, Rector of St. Paul’s Church in Woodbury, served for the first time as a chaplain for children’s camp at Camp Washington, and is really excited about coming back for Summer 2025!
