Camp has always been a place of connections for me. Connecting with friends, connecting with nature, and connecting with God. At the National Camp and Retreat Leaders Gathering we want to give you opportunities for all three of these, and today I want to focus on the third– connecting with God. As a community we will connect with God through worship and Bible study, allowing God's Holy Spirit to move in and amongst us and to refuel us for the vital work that we do. Worship, though, is more than what happens as a collective community and it begins before we even find our seats.
When we gather in Florida, as you begin your day and as you enter the worship space, you are invited to take a personal journey with God through prayer stations. These prayer stations will be set up during the breakfast hour for those early birds who want to take advantage of the peaceful, quiet of the morning to be with God. Walk the labyrinth, sit at a station to lift your prayers to God, experience communion in the chapel, or follow a guided meditation as you look across the glassy lake. 
Then as you enter the worship space each day, interactive prayer stations will be set up incorporating the daily themes. Play dough, mirrors, puzzle pieces, and photo booths will help move you from the world into a place of connection with God as we celebrate our place at God's incredible table. Sit with your Creator and be creative through artistic interactions. Humble yourself before your Healer and empty the worries of your heart to the one who hears you. Engage with your Savior as you experience grace in hands-on ways.
We can't wait for you to arrive at the Life Enrichment Center to experience God's presence and God's grace through all that we do. Are you registered?
Rev. Stacy Dickson is an ordained elder in the California-Pacific Annual Conference and is blessed to be serving as the pastor of the multi-ethnic, multi-generational congregation of First UMC of Torrance and mother to three amazing children. Stacy attributes much of her calling to the years she spent growing up at church camp, where she found a community of love, acceptance and faith during some difficult years growing up. God clearly called her to ministry her senior year of high school while standing on the volleyball court at camp, helping to lead the communion service, changing her life forever. Today she pastors a congregation, but still commits time to helping with conference retreats and summer camps in an effort to help foster the same community that she found at camp, hoping to help change lives the way that she was changed so many years ago. One of her favorite weeks of the year is her week at summer camp, where her mother also serves on staff and her children attend, bringing the family together in a special way that is uniquely blessed and priceless. Pastor Stacy has volunteered as this National Gathering's Worship Chair. We're blessed by her leadership in this key aspect of the event and really excited for our experiential adventure in worship!
