Seeing stars is just one of the joys of spending a week or two at a summer camp in Mississippi. Far away from city lights and nestled within vast forests and beside shimmering lakes, the state’s numerous sleep-away camps offer children not just the chance to find the Big Dipper but also unstructured moments to discover the spark inside themselves.
“Camp is a thrilling adventure—away from family, maybe for the first time, and discovering things you didn’t know you could do,” says Sarah Dabney Gillespie of Strong River Camp & Farm. “Spending time in the natural world is healing. Childhood is when you realize the beauty of nature and develop a lifelong appreciation of it.”
Read on to learn about the recreational activities and overarching missions that make seven Mississippi sleep-away camps unique.
Camp Lake Stephens, Oxford
When Ross Polsgrove was in elementary school, he was very small. “So I was picked on a lot,” he recalls. “And Camp Lake Stephens was the only place I had ever been where I didn’t have to be on guard for people messing with me about my size. I immediately fit in and was cared for. It automatically became my favorite place in the world.”
Today, Polsgrove serves as the camp’s executive director, and this place is so much a part of his life that he and his wife Anna got engaged and married here. So what makes Camp Lake Stephens, which first welcomed campers in 1946, so special? “Our entire program is focused on creating community,” Polsgrove says.
Traditional camp activities including swimming, ziplining, and kayaking are done in “family groups”—groups of campers from multiple cabins who experience camp together. “Our goal is for every camper to come away with a profound sense of God’s beauty outside, and with new friends,” Polsgrove says.
Some of the latest upgrades to the camp, which is a ministry of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church, include a 135,000-gallon pool and a covered pavilion that serves as a hotspot for games ranging from basketball to gaga ball to 9 square. The camp has also enhanced its Adventure Camp program in which older campers stay in treehouses, cook their own meals, and engage in activities like rock climbing and kayaking in mangrove swamps.
Strong River Camp & Farm, Pinola
The focus is on life skills over sports skills at Strong River Camp & Farm. “We actively teach campers how to be a friend, which is more important to us than having friends,” says camp director Sarah Dabney Gillespie. “We encourage curiosity and trying hard things. And we want campers to learn how to make good choices.”
Gillespie’s mother, Tay, started Strong River in 1973 in order to give children quality time outdoors and away from competition. “She understood the power of a good camp experience,” says Gillespie, who now runs the camp along with one of its earliest campers, Steve Clements, and Tay’s granddaughter Caroline.
Gillespie says that experience includes giving campers the power to choose their own activities, their own schedule, and even their own meals—which are prepared using fruits and vegetables that are grown at the farm and that campers can pick themselves. Among the many possible adventures campers can explore are horseback riding, ultimate Frisbee, banana boats, cricket, fishing, and a ropes adventure course.
“I love Strong River because I see the difference that it makes in people’s lives,” Gillespie says. “It does more than provide happy childhood memories. Camp gives children a feeling of belonging.”
Camp of the Rising Son, French Camp
Going to sleep to the sound of crickets and waking up to the sound of birds is all part of the excitement at Camp of the Rising Son, where campers sleep in open-air cabins and even help cook the camp stew over a fire one night each week. The exposure to nature is a vital aspect of the camp’s mission to “share the life-changing love of Christ through creation, relationship, and fun.”
A ministry of French Camp Academy, the camp lets kids select daily activities from a menu of more than 20 options including kayaking, a rock wall, and arts and crafts. Carrie Browning, the camp’s chief operating officer, has been involved with CRS since her days as a camper in 1984, four years after the camp got its start. “CRS is a place away from the rush of everyday life where the work of God and his voice can be seen and heard more clearly,” says Browning, whose own daughters attended camp and are now also part of the staff.
The camp’s Bible study theme for 2024 is “REJOICE!”, with an emphasis on learning to have joy in all circumstances through Christ. Fun weekly themes—from solving a Clue mystery to heading to outer space—will make each camp session unique.
Lake Forest Ranch, Macon
Individual campers ages 7 to 18, along with groups of campers from churches around the region, are welcome to get into the summer camp spirit at Lake Forest Ranch, whose mission is focused on “building relationships for eternal impact.” The interdenominational camp, which began in 1950, welcomes adult leaders from churches along with the campers from their congregations to experience the wonders of God’s world in its serene pine forest setting. Counselors hear from group leaders about each camper’s needs and then “pass the baton” back at the end of each camp session. “Our hope is that by coming alongside these church leaders in ministry to their kids and teens, we can exponentially influence campers for Christ long after they leave LFR,” says executive director Nick Hall.
New for 2024, Lake Forest Ranch is revved up to offer go-kart guided trail rides through the loblolly forest. Beach volleyball, tennis, archery, tubing, paddle boating, and ziplining are among the many popular returning activities this year.
Twin Lakes Camp and Conference Center, Florence
If stepping into scenes from a Bible story or a book like Pilgrim’s Progress isn’t what you would expect to do at a summer camp, then you haven’t been to Twin Lakes, a ministry of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson. The summer camp program began in 1970 and today offers day camp sessions for children ages 5 to 8 as well as overnight camp sessions for kids 6 to 12. Teens and young adults are also an important part of the Christ-centered fellowship, as 13- to 15-year-old Leaders in Training or summer staff members ranging in age from 16 to 24.
Twin Lakes summer camp director Lizzy Rhett’s own experience with the camp began in 2013 when she served as a counselor. “After living that summer in Christian community where I was accepted, valued, challenged, and heard, I was changed forever,” Rhett says. “Twin Lakes binds people together through the Gospel and shared experiences.”
In addition to the story-focused adventures that happen each week at camp, Rhett says some of the most unique camp activities include climbing a fire tower to throw cantaloupes off the top platform and getting “blobbed” in the lake. There’s also a challenge course complete with a 600-foot zipline. New for 2024 is a special Adventure Week with unique activities and themed days.
Live Oak Camp, Wiggins
Multiple times each summer, motorcoaches full of children make the less-than-two-hour drive from New Orleans to Wiggins, bringing diverse groups of Crescent City kids to experience a singular experience: sleep-away camp. It’s all part of an effort to connect young people from different backgrounds to form bonds that can last a lifetime.
Live Oak Camp, founded in 2014, offers these kids a host of signature summer camp activities including arts and crafts, sports, and fun on the lake. All campers and staff members are from New Orleans, a model that is designed to allow the camp to invest more deeply into the future leaders of the city. But the fun doesn’t stop after summer is over. Live Oak Camp offers year-round opportunities for its participants ranging from wilderness backpacking trips to leadership training sessions.
The close friendships forged during camp sessions are enhanced by what Live Oak does not allow. “With technology more and more present in our daily lives,” says camp founder and CEO Jack Carey, “I love that my own two kids, and our hundreds of other campers, spend their summers away from technology and instead connecting with one another face to face, in ways that can feel strangely antiquated.”
Camp Bratton-Green, Canton
Campers from all faith traditions are welcome at Camp Bratton-Green, a Christian camp ministry supported by the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi that began in 1947. The camp’s inclusive nature also means it welcomes campers of all races, ethnic origins, and gender expressions. Two camp sessions are held each year for individuals with special needs.
“I appreciate the traditions of Camp Bratton-Green and the skill level and experience of our volunteer staff,” says executive director Chip Davis. “Each session is directed by a lay person and a member of the clergy. Program areas are all staffed by a paid staff who can serve for two years.” These staff members are typically longtime members of the camp community, which makes for a seamless continuity of beloved camp traditions each year.
For the first time this summer, Camp Bratton-Green will host a session for mixed age groups ranging from 8 to 14 years old. Davis notes that camp leaders are also excited to give campers the opportunity to attend more than one camp session. No matter which week they choose, campers will find an engaging mix of worship and small group discussions along with games, faith-themed skits, and team-building exercises. Also on the schedule are traditional camp activities including kayaking and canoeing in the 30-acre lake, swimming, music, arts and crafts, and exploring nature.
