Picking the summer theme for camp is no small task. Our summer theme dominates our marketing for the full year leading up to camp, influences the direction of our spiritual curriculum, and drastically affects my wardrobe choices for the entire summer. Sam and I spend hours staring at a computer screen bouncing ideas (some great, others more silly) around hoping for one to stick out. For 2026, that theme was Outlaws – Western.

We really wanted to do a character study this summer. My hope is that in studying different people in the Bible, campers will be able to see real and flawed people who did amazing things for Jesus. People who they can hopefully relate to their own lives. By studying how Moses felt that he was an inadequate speaker, a middle school girl can go home with confidence that God will give her courage when sharing her faith with her friends. In talking about how Peter and John were uneducated and ordinary men, a camper who struggles to read will be given confidence in their current knowledge of Jesus Christ. No one is perfect, everyone is flawed. And that is what makes all of us outlaws and unusual suspects in the eyes of the world. And yet, God desires relationship with us anyway. What a beautiful gift and message!

Emmarie “Coach” Moon

Director of Discipleship and Recruiting