FUGE Camps is a series of Christian summer camps for children, youth, and young adults centered on Bible study, worship, mission work, and recreational activities organized by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. FUGE Camps is the world's largest summer camp, as well as the world's largest Christian camp. FUGE Camps offers five different styles of camp, including Centrifuge (CF), Mission Fuge (MF), Combo Camps, XFuge (XF), and XFuge on Mission (XFM). A Student Leader Apprentice program is also offered for students entering or leaving their senior year of high school. College students and adults may apply to work as a staffer when they turn 19 years of age, and have been out of high school for at least one year.
Video Fuge Camps
Background
Since 1979 FUGE has been the official youth camp of the Southern Baptist Convention. What started out as a few weeks of camp sponsored by the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources) turned into a youth ministry movement.
FUGE camps are unique in that there is not a central camp facility where the program is conducted. Instead, teams of staffers are based at various colleges and retreat centers across the United States. Student-campers are usually housed in college dormitories or convention-style hotel rooms.
Because of this decentralized approach, FUGE staffs--usually about 20-30 college students and recent college graduates--are able to reach students across the United States.
LifeWay Christian Resources states that since the beginning of the ministry, over 1,000,000 people have experienced Centrifuge and its associated camps. Each summer, FUGE Camps hosts almost 60,000 students.
Programming
FUGE Camps are open to students in the 7-12 grade range and college students. They are centered on the youth groups of Christian churches, particularly (though not exclusively) Baptist churches. The camps offer a "staffer who does the work so that your youth staff are free to deepen their relationships with both students and God."
The FUGE experience includes:
- Strong small-group youth Bible study, led by a trained camp staffer (CF, MF, XF, XFM)
- Team-building activity (CF, XF)
- Missions Activities in the local community (MF, XFM)
- Morning and evening worship services (CF, MF, XF, XFM)
- Camp-wide fellowships, like talent shows (also known as Night-Life), Game Shows, and Mega-relays (CF, MF, XF, XFM)
Typical schedule
Though FUGE Camps vary slightly at each location due to differences in personnel and available facilities, a typical day at FUGE would include:
Centrifuge and Xfuge Camp Schedule
Mission Fuge and XFuge on Mission Schedule
Locations
In summer 2017, there were FUGE Camps located at:
- Ridgecrest Conference Center - Ridgecrest, North Carolina
- Glorieta Conference Center - Glorieta, New Mexico
- Union University - Jackson, Tennessee
- Carson-Newman College - Jefferson City, Tennessee
- North Greenville University - Greenville, South Carolina
- Mississippi College - Clinton, Mississippi
- Jenness Park - Cold Springs, California
- Union College - Barbourville, Kentucky
- Shalimar Retreat Center - Panama City Beach, Florida
- Shorter University - Rome, Georgia
- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - Louisville, Kentucky
- University of Mobile - Mobile, Alabama
- Belmont University - Nashville, Tennessee
- Palm Beach Atlantic University - West Palm Beach, Florida
- Charleston Southern University - Charleston, South Carolina
- Mile High Pines - Angelus Oaks, California
- Eastern University - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Houston Baptist University - Houston, Texas
- Liberty University - Lynchburg, Virginia
- Southwest Baptist University - Bolivar, Missouri
- International Palms - Orlando, Florida
- Louisiana College - Pineville, Louisiana
- Shocco Springs Conference Center - Talladega, Alabama
- Hilton Head Island Beach and Tennis Resort - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Maps Fuge Camps
Themes
Mission FUGE
Mission FUGE (MFuge) originally started in 1995 and was the second Centrifuge spin-off. MFuge takes the traditional Centrifuge structure and reorients it toward mission work. Instead of offering track times and recreation during the day like Centrifuge does, those activities are replaced with missions work like building homes for Habitat for Humanity and serving meals at soup kitchens or homeless shelters. Students also have the opportunity to minister by facilitating games and other recreation at local apartment complexes or Boys and Girls Clubs; visiting assisted-living facilities and nursing homes; and doing yard work for the elderly and other needy people. MFuge is open to students in grades 7-12 and college students.
MFuge track availability varies by location, but include:
- Games and Recreation
- Childrens
- Social
- Painting, Construction, and Yardwork (PCY)
- Homeless
- Special Needs
- Evangelism
- Beach Evangelism
- International
- Peer
Crosspoint sports camp
Crosspoint originally started in 1986. It was the first Centrifuge spin off. Crosspoint is designed to combine the structure of Centrifuge with the sports-skills teaching of the traditional sports daycamp. The programming and sports instruction is designed for students in grades 4-8. 2009 was the last year LifeWay ran a kids' camp by the name "Crosspoint." All the sports once included in Crosspoint have now been implemented in LifeWay's CentriKid camp.
XFuge and XFuge on Mission
Begun in 2005, XFuge and XFuge on Mission takes the general template of a normal FUGE Camp and removes many of the traditional "summer camp" aspects, like assemblies and structured track times and reorients the experience toward a Christian retreat: spiritual formation is conducted through worship experiences and optional missions work, but leisure activities, such as swimming or sunbathing on the beach, are more prominent. XFuge and XFuge on mission allows church youth groups to "design" a camp based on their own personal needs.
Notes
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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