Full Circle

This reflection comes from Todd Kirkton, former Executive Director of Camp Friedenswald (2002-2007), camper, volunteer, and board member. This blog is shared in celebration of Camp Friedenswald’s 75th anniversary.

Let me preface my reflection by sharing that I’m a math educator by profession and so I’m often looking for patterns and order in the world. I’m also a bit out of practice with writing reflections, so if this is confusing, I apologize in advance. 

I have many distinct memories of Camp Friedenswald that, from my calculations, go back at least 45 years. Some of the dates are a bit fuzzy, but I’ll try to be as accurate as I can. I have countless stories of being a camper and staff member, but I think that when I became the executive director in 2002, my experiences seemed to relate around seeing how Camp was the place where I saw the people of God and the church formalize their calling. I feel that the Holy Spirit works through interpersonal actions and experiences and Camp is by far the most significant place where I felt that spirit. I was able to experience the “full circle” of faith on the grounds of the Peaceful Woods. (I have many hilarious Camp shenanigan stories, too, but those will have to wait–geese, mud, popcorn, teeth…many, many stories)

• 1980 (ish): Maplewood Mennonite church spent a weekend doing voluntary service on the grounds at Camp. My memory is that the kids helped with some mulching and raking, but mostly tried to sneak breaks to the playground where we could jump off the swings without adult supervision. Even though I didn’t do much work, I received the famous blue trucker cap that said, “Volunteer VIP”, and wore it with pride. I think that is when I first learned there was a place for me in the Peaceful Woods. 
• 1982 (ish): This was my second year attending Camp. My counselor was David Moser. Most of you reading this know him. Imagine the stories he told us as campers! We looked forward to going back to our cabins after campfire because he was going to hold us on the edge of our bunks in suspense. That bear was chasing him through the woods and I didn’t realize it was just pulling his leg, like he was pulling ours. 
• 1985 (ish): My dad was on the board of directors at Camp. Occasionally, he would bring us along on his long weekend meetings (they would meet Friday night and nearly all day Saturday). We would wander the grounds or bring our boat motor and attach it to the Camp rowboat and speed around the lake. On one occasion, I remember the board members taking a little break to play some 3-on-3 basketball in the Chapel. They invited me to join and I was thinking this would be easy with these old people. Needless to say, it was a very physical game and my 13-year-old self was not given any mercy, especially by the Executive Director, Curt Bechler (my dad told me he grew up in California and was no stranger to playing pick-up ball). The same Curt Bechler later told me I should work on summer staff after confiscating our squirt guns on a weekend winter retreat. 
• Around this same time, I had decided to go on the junior high bike trip instead of attending the regular summer camp. Harley and Fae Gerber had organized a bike trip connecting several of the Lake Michigan state parks and then the second year we biked from Camp to Cincinnati, Ohio. Both of those trips were challenging for a chubby junior high kid, but what a feeling of accomplishment at the completion! Harley showed great confidence in all of us and helped us feel like we could confidently bike 50-80 miles a day. None of us realized until later, the amount of stress Harley and Fae felt during the trip because they used it as a way to test our faith and resolve. 
• 1993-1994: I wasn’t able to work on summer staff in college because I played football and needed to lift and condition throughout the summer. Doug Luginbill and Tom Harder convinced me to volunteer for a week in 1993. Despite my attempts to avoid them on recruiting visits at Bluffton, they eventually found a way for me to make it work. After getting a taste of being on Camp staff, there was no way I wasn’t working the entire summer the following year when I had finished college. That summer (as you hear from so many) was the best summer of my life. 
• 2001: Fast forward a few years. I had been working as a math teacher and football coach and was on a trajectory of pursuing a career as a head coach. We received news that my wife, Alison (3 year summer staffer), was going to have twins (we already had a one-year old). I started looking for other options and saw the ad for Executive Director in The Mennonite. I considered the idea because both of us had great experiences at Camp, but a math teacher and football coach didn’t have the qualifications to run Camp. I wrote off the idea. In the summer, I was leaving a family gathering in Ohio and ran into Doug Luginbill. He said hello and immediately said, “Did you see the opening at Camp? You should apply.” He left it there–not much more of a sales pitch than that. We left that gathering, talked the whole way home, and eventually I applied and was hired as the director. Doug encouraged my reluctance to take a leadership role in the church. 
• 2002: We arrived at Camp with 1 month old twins and a 2 year old. I had been briefed on the finances and struggles that Camp was facing. I was pretty sure I was in over my head. When I was being introduced to the staff, I realized that David Moser, my favorite counselor, was serving as the program director and interim executive director. Dave and I worked together to renew the relationships with Camp. When we visited churches together, I always had him give the sermon and he held the congregations in suspense with the stories of faith at Camp. I felt so fortunate to have Dave alongside me in that first year–much like I felt so lucky to have him as my counselor. 
• The financial challenges at Camp at that time were significant. One day, I was in the office and Dave brought in someone that he wanted me to meet. To my surprise, in walked Harley Gerber. Harley and I hadn’t talked since the bike trip, but he still exuded the faith and confidence that I remembered from those bike trip days. He started calling me “Coach” whenever I was experiencing doubt in facing the struggles with finances and leadership. “Come on, coach. What are you going to do?” Harley and Fae helped us rebuild relationships and finances from the ground up. They showed up early for Women’s retreat and cleaned the place until it was spotless. Harley connected me with past Camp supporters and shared his confidence in my leadership and helped to right the finances. Additionally, I decided that other junior high campers could benefit from a bike trip and led a few trips while I was director. Frankly, I don’t know how Camp (and me) would have made it during those years without Harley’s support. 
• About this same time, Curt Bechler volunteered to meet with me and help this math teacher figure out decisions that an executive needs to make. I reminded him of his very physical basketball play…he didn’t remember that, but I could tell he wasn’t surprised. I valued his counsel and strategic thinking through some really tough situations. I also hadn’t forgotten that after I made a poor choice on a weekend winter retreat, that he and Doug had used it as an opportunity to try and get me to come on summer staff. 
• 2003: My first year hiring summer staff. Jenna Liechty (now Jenna Liechty Martin) was a student in our youth group at 8th Street Mennonite. She was an easy hire. Jenna was a great leader on the staff and eventually led our summer worship team with Annabeth Roeschley. Those two brought so much hope to me for the church (which at the time was quibbling over theology). I thought we were in good hands. I began to suspect that even though most Camp constituents felt like the mission was the experience offered to youth in the summer, another mission (and maybe even more important) was developing the future leaders of the church. 
• 2013: Jenna Liechty Martin called me. She had just taken a new job, but was considering applying for the open Executive Director job at Camp Friedenswald. I couldn’t think of anyone better to take the job. I thought back to those leaders that had pushed me to consider church leadership roles and decided that I, too, had come full circle and needed to be the nudge of the Holy Spirit to encourage Jenna to apply. Thankfully, she was hired. 
• 2016: I received a call from Jenna, now the director of Camp. A board member was ending their term early and they needed a replacement. I served a couple of terms as a board member. I think that was the point where I really connected that “calling” mission of Camp. Jenna was able to test out her leadership skills as a summer worship leader and then felt called to come back and lead. If you’ve been to Camp in the past 10 plus years, you can see her great leadership and vision for keeping Camp relevant in the future. In my last role as a board member, she and Annabeth worked together on a journey of repair between Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (Annabeth is the executive director) and Camp Friedenswald over a board decision that happened while I was director. It was not an easy meeting and the planning leading up to the meeting was very painful. Both Annabeth and Jenna put relationship and dignity ahead of organizational dogma to begin to the journey towards repair. They were able to test their leadership skills at Camp in their summers on staff and then do significant work for the church and the people of the church today.

I called this blog post “Full Circle.” Camp Friedenswald is a place of fun and faith-building for so many people. I think more importantly though, Camp is a place where people are called to serve and test their call in the church. For many others, Camp provides a place to gain clarity to reflect on their calling in their relationships or career. When I was a young volunteer, the maintenance director could have said, “You are too young to help, but your parents can work.” Harley Gerber could have said, “No way I can bike with junior high kids on the roads all over Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio” or “This new director has NO idea what he is doing, I’m keeping away from this train wreck.” Doug, Tom, and Curt all could have let me be and not asked me to step outside of my comfort zone and be a counselor and leader at Camp. Jenna and Annabeth could have avoided the difficult conversations between BMC and Friedenswald. The thousands of volunteers over the years (many of who have saved Camp during tough times) could have just avoided the call and tended to their daily lives. I consider it a great privilege to be able to see the full circle of faith played out on the grounds of the Peaceful Woods. I can’t wait to see what happens in the future.