Community Is Where Leaders Are Formed

There are certain weeks that leave you physically exhausted but spiritually renewed.

This was one of those weeks.

I came home from Quaker Ridge Camp tired. Really tired.

Somewhere beneath the lack of sleep, camp food, dusty shoes, and a week spent chasing students around the mountains of Colorado was a deep sense of gratitude and hope.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on exactly what moved me the most.

Yes, it was watching students surrender their lives to Christ.

Yes, it was seeing middle school and high school students gather late into the evening to pray, worship, confess, and encourage one another.

Yes, it was hearing fourth and fifth graders ask thoughtful questions about Scripture and respond to the Gospel with surprising maturity.

All of that was beautiful.

But if I’m honest...

What gave me the greatest hope was watching the leaders.

Community Wasn’t Our Idea

Over the past several weeks at Neighborhood Friends Church, we’ve been exploring a simple but profound truth:

Community wasn’t our idea. It was God’s.

Before there was creation...

Before there were mountains...

Before there was Quaker Ridge...

Before there was the Church...

There was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit living together in perfect love and perfect community.

Everything God creates flows out of that relationship.

And this week, I watched that reality unfold before my eyes.

Community wasn’t just something we talked about.

It was something we experienced.

Students weren’t simply attending camp.

They were living life together.

They worshiped together.

They opened God’s Word together.

They prayed for one another.

They encouraged one another.

They laughed.

They cried.

They confessed.

They forgave.

They served.

They grew.

They experienced what Christian community is meant to be.

Genesis 2:18 reminds us,

“It is not good for the man to be alone.”

That verse tells us something much bigger than simply the beginning of marriage.

It tells us that we were never designed to follow Jesus alone.

Camp reminded me just how true that is.

Camp Mama

One of my favorite moments happened early in the week.

Two young girls were struggling with homesickness.

Someone asked how they were doing.

One of them smiled and said,

Autumn Keith has earned the nickname “Camp Mama.”

You can’t manufacture that kind of trust.

You earn it through presence.

Through compassion.

Through consistency.

Through simply showing up again and again with the love of Christ.

Hope for the Future

I watched Bart and Ali Jacks quietly lead with wisdom beyond their years.

With the seasoned veteran leadership help of Drew Holcombe, there is a calm confidence about them.

They don’t lead by demanding attention.

They lead by creating environments where others flourish.

As I watched them care for students, counselors, schedules, problems, and people, I found myself thinking,

Jordan and Grace Dennison directed middle school camp for the first time.

If you didn’t know it was their first year, you never would have guessed.

Jordan has a shepherd’s heart.

Camp was foundational in his own walk with Christ, and now he longs to see students experience that same life-changing encounter with God.

Keith and Tawnee Reeser directed our junior campers with incredible joy.

By Thursday everyone was tired.

Counselors were exhausted.

Students were running on excitement and sugar.

Yet somehow Keith and Tawnee continued smiling, encouraging, laughing, and loving every child entrusted to them.

Joy like that isn’t manufactured.

It’s cultivated over years of faithfully following Jesus.

Halee Savery was also an unbelievable leader that seemed to be doing anything needed to make the Junior Camp experience a place where God was visible and everything else was taken care of.

The Hidden Heroes

I wish everyone could have seen what happened behind the scenes.

Counselors started their days around 7:00 each morning.

Most nights they didn’t crawl into bed until midnight or later.

They listened.

They counseled.

They prayed.

They played games.

They settled homesickness.

They cleaned cabins.

They led small groups.

They worshiped.

They laughed.

They served.

By the end of the week, exhaustion was written across their faces.

But their love for students never faded.

That kind of ministry rarely gets noticed.

But heaven notices.

Karen Burgi continues to amaze me.

Most people never see the spreadsheets.

The budgets.

The registrations.

The countless details that make camp possible.

Karen reminds us that administration isn’t secondary to ministry.

It is ministry and it is her spiritual gift.

Teaching the Word

Shawn Penrose was our speaker for junior camp.

I’ve known Shawn for years through Mid-America Yearly Meeting, and it was a joy to watch him teach again.

More than once I caught myself thinking,

“This feels like adult-level teaching...”

Then I’d look around.

Fourth and fifth graders were completely engaged.

Kids have a remarkable ability to rise to the level of expectation when someone believes they can.

Shawn believed they could.

And they did.

Alongside Shawn was an outstanding worship team from Friends University.

They brought an energy and joy that immediately connected with our junior campers. They didn’t simply lead songs—they invited children into worship. It was a beautiful reminder that worship doesn’t have to wait until we’re adults.

Outfitted

Our theme this year came from 2 Timothy 3:16–17.

Outfitted.

Ben and Riley Stewart returned to speak for our middle school and high school campers.

Once again, they faithfully opened God’s Word with depth, honesty, and grace.

Using the life of Joseph, they reminded students that following Jesus doesn’t promise an easier life.

It promises a faithful Savior.

Night after night, students lingered after the sessions.

Prayer circles formed.

Conversations continued.

Tears flowed.

Students recommitted their lives to Christ.

Others placed their faith in Jesus for the very first time.

The Holy Spirit was unmistakably at work.

One of the greatest blessings of the week was watching my own Neighborhood Friends worship team lead worship for the middle school and high school campers.

They came prepared.

They rehearsed.

They served with excellence.

They led with humility.

Long before students entered the room, they were praying, practicing, and preparing—not to put on a performance, but to remove distractions so students could focus on Jesus.

As their pastor, I couldn’t have been more grateful.

Watching our own church invest in the next generation reminded me that worship leadership is far more than music.

It is discipleship.

It is shepherding.

It is creating space for people to encounter the living God.

A Place Set Apart

Jason and Jessica VanMeter and the entire QRC Camp Staff continue to steward something incredibly special at Quaker Ridge.

God meets people everywhere.

But throughout Scripture, He often met people in places intentionally set apart for Him.

Quaker Ridge has become one of those places.

Many years ago, on that mountain, God began stirring a call to ministry in my own life.

This week I couldn’t help but wonder...

Whose story is just beginning?

Who will someday look back at this week as the place where God redirected the trajectory of their life?

A pastor?

A missionary?

A teacher?

A business leader?

A faithful husband or wife?

A mom or dad who raises children to know and love Jesus?

Only God knows.

But I know He is still calling people.

The Trailhead

Equipped by God’s Word.

Equipped through worship.

Equipped by friendships.

Equipped through mentors.

Equipped by counselors.

Equipped by the Holy Spirit.

Camp isn’t the finish line.

It’s the trailhead.

The work God begins on the mountain continues in homes...

In local churches...

In youth groups...

In conversations over coffee...

In ordinary moments of faithful obedience.

Community doesn’t simply celebrate spiritual moments.

Community helps one another keep saying “yes” to Jesus.

One Church. Many Locations.

As I drove home from Quaker Ridge, one thought continued to settle into my heart.

It wasn’t about one speaker.

It wasn’t about one worship team.

It wasn’t even about one camp.

It was about the Body of Christ.

Friends University.

Hutchinson Friends Church.

Denver Friends Church.

First Friends Church in Colorado Springs.

Neighborhood Friends Church.

Paonia Friends.

Quaker Ridge Camp & Conference Center.

Each brought something unique.

Each served faithfully.

Each invested in the next generation.

Together, we witnessed a beautiful picture of the Church at its best—many people with different gifts, united by one mission and empowered by one Spirit.

That’s the beauty of Christian community.

Hope

As Superintendent of Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting, I returned home with more hope than I’ve had in a long time.

Not because our future depends on talented young leaders.

Our future depends on Jesus.

But Jesus has always chosen to work through ordinary people who are willing to say “yes.”

This week I saw dozens of them.

Students.

Counselors.

Young leaders.

Pastors.

Administrators.

Parents.

Volunteers.

People quietly saying “yes” to whatever God asked of them.

Community really is where God shapes us.

And if what I witnessed this week is any indication...

One student.

One leader.

One act of faithfulness.

One community at a time.