To provide an opportunity for boys and girls to grow as responsible persons in the context of a Christian Community.

As an age appropriate mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, Camp Chanco gives the exciting opportunity for young people to live together in a natural setting while discovering their own individual spirit. Campers find, removed from a materially structured daily life, the rich rewards of shared experiences in a community utilizing personal resources for growth and enrichment. This means that campers are helped to become self-reliant, tolerant, helpful, and compassionate; and that the effort is made to relate these values as learned in the Chanco experience to home and the world at large.

We felt this article best fit under our mission and we thank the authors, Steve Raybold and Talley Sale Banezek very much for its submission.

“Where is Jesus at Chanco?”By Steve Raybould & Talley Sale BanazekEpiscopal Church of the Redeemer, Midlothian

            There have been questions as to the nature of Christian education, spirituality, faith, and its presence in Chanco programs.  For those of us who are alumni, there is no question, no mistaking the presence of God at Chanco.  We know that He resides in the laps of water of the James River and we see Him in the sunlight shining through the trees.  We feel His presence as we sit outside in the covered Pavilion with rain beating down all around us.  We hear Him in the songs we sing.  We witness His acts of love and kindness through the counselors.  We feel Him in every fiber of our being through every activity at Chanco.  Yes, He is experienced in more of an “every day” way than in a “learning bible verses” way.  But, He is present nonetheless.  Chanco is working to have a full time Chaplain for the residential sessions this summer.  Rick Mason, Interim Youth Missioner, is working to develop a chapel class as part of Chanco summer programming.  Eucharist will continue to be held, as always, on Sundays during camp sessions and during Indian Night at the end of every session.  But the answer to “Where is Jesus at Chanco?” is best answered by alumni Steve Raybould, below. 

 Growing up in the Episcopal religion, I spent a lot of time in Sunday school learning about "The Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Even when I was six, I had a fairly good idea of what God looked like (there was a picture of him on a ceiling in some church) and I knew what Jesus looked like (there were lots of pictures of him in my bible). But no one could ever tell me what the Holy Spirit looked like, what he really did, and where he sat. This seems silly now, but when I was six, I always wanted to know if the Holy Spirit sat on the left hand of God. I had some good teachers in church and even my minister tried to explain it to me when I was seven. He told me that in the creed we worshiped God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I looked it up, and sure enough, there it was. The Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son…" That means He came first, but I thought God was first and really, if God is the Father and Jesus is the Son, is the Holy Spirit a cousin? This was very troubling for me because no one could answer these questions in a way that my seven year old brain could understand. Then I went to Chanco.Well, that is not entirely true. I had already been at Chanco for a number of years. I was what was known as a "Blessed Event." This means that my parents worked at Chanco and I was babysat during the summer. But when I was eight, I really went to Chanco. It was the first time I went and my parents didn't. This was going to be a great summer! I was going to sleep in the tents in a real campsite, not in the staff tent with a babysitter. I was going to get to climb Cardiac Hill all by myself, not come up the back way being carried by the babysitter. I was going to be able to swim all the way to the first raft (but not the second, because that was just for staff). This was what I thought camp was going to be. I was an expert. Greg and Danny were my first counselors, but I was a Chanco expert. I knew it all. I knew all the secret paths; I could walk from the barn to Revelation blindfolded without tripping over a single vine. I knew all the songs by heart because I had been singing them for years.                 It wasn't until Greg and Danny played guitar that I finally started listening to the words of the songs… "If you've ever stood at the ocean, with the white foam at your feet, heard the endless thundering motion, then I say, you've seen Jesus my lord." Could this be? Was the answer right in front of me and I had missed it? "I'll shout it from the mountain top, ‘Praise God!’ I want my world to know, the Lord of Love, had come to me, I want to pass it on." There it was again. "Happiness runs in a circular motion. All of our souls are deeper than you've ever seen. You can have anything if you let yourself be." I finally understood what the Holy Spirit was. It wasn't me and it wasn't the guy sitting next to me. God was there because we were together. He was on the ropes course when I was too scared to jump and the person way below had a hold of the other end of the rope.  When I was hundreds of feet underground in some cave in West Virginia, the Holy Spirit talked to me in the darkness. When my canoe capsized, the Holy Spirit was there to tell me it was going to be all right. And when I saw the sunset from my bike on Tangier Island, with the white foam at my feet, I felt that motion and could swear I could see Him. This whole time, I had been learning about me and my faith and didn't even know it.Then it was time for the Sunday service during my Camp Session. O.K, this I could do. I was an expert. I was an acolyte at church; I knew all of the words to Eucharistic Prayers A, B, and C from memory. I knew what to expect. Wait, church is going to be outside? On the bluff? With some old logs as an altar? Where were the candles? Where was the choir? Where was the bulletin so I knew what hymns were being sung? Where was the organ? This wasn't church. This was a picnic. Then the Rev. Dave Davenport spoke.  He didn't give a sermon. He just talked to us. Sure, we did things like the Nicene Creed and said some other words that I had said many times before in church, but what I really listened to was Dave. He wasn't wearing robes and I don't remember if he was wearing a collar, but that didn't matter. He told me all about things that suddenly seemed all important - things like faith, and fellowship, and spirit. Danny and Greg played guitar and we sang about the "Lord of the Dance." We didn't have wafers and wine from a silver chalice. We had rolls and wine from a carved cup. We didn't form a line to receive communion, we truly passed the Spirit from one person to the next. Even at the young age of eight, I knew this is what God had truly meant when he said "break bread together on your knees." At the end of camp, we had our bonfire and Indian Night. We talked about a boy named Chanco and the spirits of the people on whose land we were sitting. We painted our faces and celebrated life around that campfire. I got my simple black and white feather. Billy and Dave had huge headdresses with yellow, red and blue feathers and I knew they had earned every one. I couldn't wait until next year when I could get another feather. As we sat around holding hands and swaying in the moonlight, kept warm by the fire on the outside, I knew that I was warm inside because I had the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Chanco, moving through me.                Since that summer so many decades ago, I have changed churches, moved several times, earned degrees, started a family, and started a business. Through it all, I have always known that it would be o.k. because I know now where the Spirit sits. He sits right next to me.  I learned this at Chanco. And one day, I know my daughters will learn it as well. I will pass the Spirit of Chanco on to them.                Thank you to Steve Raybould for sharing these experiences that echo the sentiments of many Chanco alumni who first leaned the true meaning of God’s presence in our lives at Chanco.  One song of many that describes God’s presence at Chanco to me is, “Have you seen Jesus my Lord?  He’s here in plain view.  Take a look, open your eyes; He’ll show it to you...Have you ever stood in the family with the Lord there in your midst, Seen the face of Christ on your brother? Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.”  After attending First session at Chanco last summer, my eight year old daughter was asked “What was your favorite thing about camp?”  She answered, “The zip line.”  When asked “What was the most important thing about camp?” She answered, “Living together like a family.”  She was undoubtedly living in a family at Chanco with the Lord there in her midst.                  Registration for summer camp at Chanco is still open.  Don’t delay!  Register TODAY to have your child experience the fun-filled, faith-filled experience of a lifetime.  Visit Chanco’s website at www.chanco.org or call 1-888-7CHANCO for more information or to register.  God bless you all!