Earlier this summer, I was blessed to attend a portion of Extreme Faith Camp (EFC) at Trinity Woods in Trego, Wisconsin.
The camp combines traditional opportunities like boating, hiking and ziplines with vital aspects of our Catholic faith like holy Mass, Eucharistic adoration and confessions. The camp consists of junior high campers (often 250-300 campers), high school prayer leaders, adult leaders and priests.
I was there for half of a weeklong camp, presiding at Masses, preaching and hearing confessions. At 57, it’s hard for me to keep up with all the adventurous opportunities the kids love at the camp. But you might be surprised by what they often experience as their favorites. When the youth are asked at the end of the week what they enjoyed the most, the most common answers received are adoration of the Eucharist and confession. Not only is Extreme Faith Camp doing something right –– they are doing a lot of things right.
The EFC opportunity is not new for youth in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It’s been going on since before I was a priest. In fact, this was the third camp site that I’ve visited since I first attended EFC back in 2006. What is new is the site. And it’s beautiful.
Thanks to some heroic efforts by Tim and Helen Healy, the archdiocese now has Trinity Woods, which is on a beautiful parcel of land. It’s bigger than previous camps and the accommodations are in great condition. Another great quality of Trinity Woods: the food is amazing.
See the story and photos by Dave Hrbacek for more details, but EFC activities include climbing walls, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, nine-square in the air, basketball and archery tag, just to name a few. I had never heard of archery tag, but I had to try it. Don’t worry, the tip of the “arrow” is very soft –– picture a small nerf ball. I competed in a quick one-on-one battle with Dominic (a young adult volunteer and seminarian from Stillwater). I think Dominic “killed” me three times before I was able to hit him. I’m not as elusive as I used to be.
Joining me that week were probably 15 other priests. Many come and go throughout the week, but some of the dedicated clergy are there for the entire camp, forming both spiritual and sporting bonds with our youth. I am grateful for the young priests of our archdiocese who make it a priority to be with their young parishioners for this week. The kids enjoy the spiritual aspects of the camp and they enjoy the fun competition with their priests. The day after the camp ended, I was delighted to receive a text from a mom and former parishioner. She told me her son “came home so joyful and excited, he had to tell me he got to play ‘Nine-Square in the Air’ with the Bishop, but was bummed that we ran out of time to play basketball together.”
In addition to adoration and confession, the week includes daily Mass, perpetual adoration thanks to the prayer team, walking rosaries (I was able join a group for this as well) and morning prayer. Along with all these marvelous prayer opportunities, the youth participate in small groups, listen to engaging presentations from the gifted youth ministers and faith formation leaders of our archdiocese, and hear powerful testimonies from the high school campers.
If you have a child who is middle school-age, or approaching that age, I cannot recommend EFC at Trinity Woods enough. There are countless exciting activities at this camp, and more importantly, our children consistently come away with a deeper love and appreciation of Jesus Christ and our Church.
