Bishop Ihloff's Convention Address 2004

Bishops Meet with "Network" Parishes

Impact 2004- A huge Success

News From The Claggett CenterClaggett Groundbreaking- Can you Dig It?

Message from the Executive Director

Why send your child to a session of Claggett summer camp? Seems like a reasonable question.
Certainly, when I was growing up, church summer camp and weekend retreats were not high on my list. I preferred Boy Scout Camp and, if football or baseball camps had been readily available in those days, that’s where I would have spent my summers.

But my opinion of religious camps and retreats began to change as my children came along and entered into their lifelong Christian formation process. By then, God had transformed my heart. I had a new love in my life, Jesus Christ, and new priorities. I saw academics, sports, theater, dance, and the myriad of other activities that my children were choosing to pursue as important, but all secondary to their relationship with God. So, Donna and I encouraged our children to attend church, participate in church youth groups, and enroll in Claggett camps and retreats. Our youngest daughter became deeply involved in church and Claggett, receiving the gift of faith and many friendships that continue to this day.

To me Christian summer camp offers a wonderful opportunity for our children and youth to continue in their life-long Christian formation process in a community of their peers while pursuing activities they enjoy and having lots of fun. At Claggett, we emphasize a balanced approach to developing ourselves, our Christian community, and our relationship with God. Led by a terrific corps of chaplains, senior counselors, and a loving intergenerational volunteer staff, participants experience new forms of worship, explore the scriptures and share their stories in small discussion groups, and live for a week in a community where the unconditional love of Jesus is held as the standard for how we treat one another. They also get to choose from a variety of outdoor activities that are designed to build community, teach new skills and have lots of fun. Older campers get to canoe or kayak, bike, hike, swim, play sports, and spend a day on our new state-of-the-art low/high ropes challenge course. For younger campers, the canoeing, kayaking, and biking are replaced by games and other age appropriate activities.

When campers depart Claggett at the end of each week, I like to equate their look to the appearance of Moses when he came down from Mt. Sinai after communing with God. He had to wear a veil because his face shined so brightly. That’s how our youth appear as they emerge from the closing chapel of the week: full of promise and optimism, with faces and hearts aglow.

Respectfully,
Joe Kerner

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Summer Weekend at Claggett for Adults

CREATOR GOD:ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
June 25 - 27, 2004
Friday 6:30 p.m. – Sunday 11:00 a.m.
Limited space is still available for the FAITH & ARTS Retreat Weekend!! Participants will look at inspiration for art as an expression of the artist’s faith and seek ways that God creates through individuals. Participants will reflect and experience Drawing & Painting, Dance & Movement and Literature. YOU are invited for art, fellowship and activities in a beautiful summer setting. Cost: $165 (includes $35 non-refundable deposit; $110 for Communters.)

Third Annual Music Retreat Planned for the fall
MUSIC MINISTRIES RETREAT
September 24 - 25, 2004
Friday 5:00 p.m. – Saturday 4:00 p.m.
“A Repertoire of Music”

In September, music leaders will gather for a weekend featuring a full repertoire of music including anthems with instrumentation, choral anthems, hymns and short liturgical pieces. Wayne Wold, composer, hymn collector and author, will present the keynote address on Friday night speaking on “Preaching to the Choir – The Care & Nurture of the Church Choir. Mr.Wold is Assistant Professor of Music, College Organist, and Acting Chair of the Music Department at Hood College.

This retreat is coordinated by the Diocesan Committee on Liturgy & Music and will include workshops, leadership and worship by: Henry Lowe: Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore
Henry Chen: St James, Monkton
Rosemary Beakes: St.Mark’s, Highland
Ken Brown: Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore
Letitia Weise: Memorial Episcopal, Baltimore
Rev. Ben Smith: Cathedral of the Incarnation

Come for fellowship, speakers, workshops, worship and Music! Music! Music!
Cost: Full Retreat: $125 (all inclusive)
Full Communter: $90 (Everything except lodging)
Saturday Communter: $75 (Saturday only, with lunch)
($35 non-refundable deposit)

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Building on Faith

Jeanie Zseltvay and Lisa Mallary from St. James Lothian at the Women’s Weekend in January.

“Claggett has been a part of my spiritual life since I was a young girl. We used to go there for a day of picnic, fun and God every year. As soon as I turn into the driveway to Claggett I feel the Holy Spirit around me. I will always have a special place in my heart and life for Claggett.“
- Jeanie Zseltvay

Claggett, in the peacefulness of its beautiful location, is where the freshness and vitality of the Holy Spirit is so alive for me, always filling me with renewed faith and energy.
- Lisa Mallary

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Mark Your Calendars!
Parish Administrator’s Day at Claggett
Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Each summer, youth stay in historic Powell Hall dorms and participate in adventurous activities including hiking, canoeing, kayaking, biking and the Ropes Course. Campers also enjoy crafts, campfires, basketball, games, sports, skit night, nature exploration and outreach projects. Sharing in small groups, lively worship, and living in a supportive Christian community are important aspects of all Claggett programs.
At ADVENTURE CAMPS a small group of youth and staff sleep in tents and take daily adventures to canoe, kayak, bike, hike, climb ropes and MORE! Participants must be able and willing to participate in strenuous physical activities.
HIGH SCHOOL WEEK will include new leadership training opportunities!!

Canoeing on the Potomac	Programs at Claggett Feature OUTREACH When people from the diocese gather at Claggett, they open their hearts not only to God but also to God’s people. For each Claggett program, intentional plans are made for outreach opportunities. Over the years, youth have sent letters to military personnel, prayed for specific boys in a detention center, made bird feeders, and planted trees. Participants attending the Women’s and Men’s Weekends created and donated to a scholarship fund for adult programs at Claggett. A favorite outreach for camps is the ministry to people living in the health unit and assisted living at Buckingham’s Choice. The residents, counselors and youth of all ages look forward to sing-a-longs, talent shows, wheel chair walks, craft sessions and games twice a week in the summer. At one Kids Kaleidoscope January Weekend, over 30 youth walked over the bridge to Buckingham’s Choice in assorted costumes depicting the words to the hymn “All Things Bright & Beautiful.” Youth and adult participants have contributed locally by donating food to shelters, money to Heartly House for battered women, and children’s books to Advocates for the Homeless. Global projects have included collecting socks, shoes and school supplies for Honduras, 4000 toothbrushes for Guatemala, and toiletries with $400 for Haiti. High School Week will be collecting toothbrushes for the Frederick Region’s mission trip to Panama in summer of 2004. Claggett Groundbreaking in September - Can You Dig It?!! Campers in Claggett’s current dining hall Sunday, September 19, 2004 is the date set for a groundbreaking celebration at the Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown,Maryland. Scheduled from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the celebration will feature family entertainment, a celebration of Diocesan choirs, music by the Federal Jazz Commission— a Dixieland quartet, and great picnic fare. Ground will be broken for the new dining hall and meeting center building on the Claggett campus.This beautiful new building is the centerpiece of the Building on Faith for the Future Campaign, the Diocese’s capital campaign to renew and expand the Bishop Claggett Center and to plant new congregations in growing communities where there are no Episcopal churches. Located at the south edge of the campus, the building will feature stone and glass architecture that will take advantage of the scenic view from the top of the hill looking over the Monocracy River.The Bishop Claggett Center is a popular site for vestry retreats, youth activities, and diocesan gatherings.The new space will make it possible for greater numbers to experience spiritual reflection and rejuvenation in this pastoral setting.The new building will accommodate 200 people for meetings and dining. The event is free to all, so we hope to see the whole Diocese in attendance. ________________________________________________________________ BISHOP CLAGGETT CENTER REGISTRATION FORM Please print the information on this form and mail it with your non-refundable deposit to: Bishop Claggett Center, P.O. Box 40, Buckeystown, Md. 21717 EVENT: ____________________________________________ DATE OF EVENT:____________________________________ NAME:_____________________________________________ ADDRESS:__________________________________________ (street) (city) (state) (zip) PHONE NUMBERS:___________________________________ (Home Phone) (Work Phone) (Cell Phone) E-MAIL ADDRESS:___________________________________ NAME OF CHURCH/LOCATION:_______________________ DENOMINATION:____________________________________ GENDER (Male or Female)___________ Roommate preference__________________________________ First overnight at Claggett: Yes____ No____ Youth Registrations:______________________________________ BIRTHDATE: GRADE:___________________________________ PARENTS’ E-MAIL ADDRESS:___________________________ ___________________________________________________________ SIGNATURE OF PARENT/GUARDIAN: DATE  [Return to Top of Page]
Youth from 5 parishes said blessings over 100 pairs of shoes at Mid Combo
Worship Service at Music Retreat 2003
New Pool Ready to be poured
Bringing gifts on a visit to Buckingham’s Choice

(c) 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
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