Beyond the Camp High: The Contribution of Christian Summer Camps to the Development of Owned Personal Faith.

This study examines the distinct faith-formation outcomes of repeated evangelical Christian summer camp experiences during adolescence, focusing on camps in Wisconsin and Michigan. Using qualitative interviews with 29 former multi-year campers, the research found that Christian summer camps facilitate the transition to "owned faith," where adolescents develop personal convictions and engage in faith practices independently of their families. Additionally, camps broaden participants’ faith horizons by exposing them to diverse Christian expressions and foster affiliation with the wider body of Christ, supporting adolescents’ identity formation within a faith community. The study highlights camps as accelerants of faith development, sources of personal encounters with God, and influences on vocational choices, while noting limitations related to sample diversity and geographic scope. These findings suggest that Christian summer camps play a significant role in adolescent faith formation and merit greater consideration by church leaders and youth ministry practitioners.