I could not even begin to guess how many times I’ve turned off Way Road and into Camp Bratton-Green for a week at camp. At different times in my life, the frequency of this holy turn has increased or decreased, but the anticipation of what the next week holds has always remained the same. Each week spent at Camp Bratton-Green brings new faces, new ideas, and new chances to experience something holy. Winter Solstice, the winter session between Christmas and New Year’s Day for 9th–12th graders, is no exception. While you might notice a few “classic camp” activities like the zip line, nature hikes around the lake, and even a dip in the pool, Solstice puts a twist on the familiar. The incredible minds and hands of the Solstice staff transform the dining hall into the “Fireplace Lounge.” Lined with couches and comfy carpet, draped in more Christmas lights than are probably safe to plug in, the Fireplace Lounge hosts small group discussions, rowdy board games, jam circles, Compline, and Coffeehouse performances throughout the week.
Our theme this year was The Winter Solstice Infinite Playlist, and our skits followed a group of new friends who embark on a one-night ultimate adventure to find their favorite band, Where’s Fluffy?, on New Year’s Eve in 2007. Equipped with mix CDs, flip phones, and a trail of sheep-shaped clues, the friends faced the challenges that come with making new connections and being in fellowship with one another. Over and over, they had to choose: friends or Fluffy? I hate to spoil the ending for you, but… they found Where’s Fluffy? by loving one another, repairing relationships when they were broken, and working together as one.
Every night during Compline, the entire camp gathered to pray, sing, and reflect on the day in the Chapel. Each night, we wondered together: Where was God today? Where did you see God in a new friend? In someone else’s gifts? In the land that we gather on? Every year, a new theme serves as a vehicle for us to recognize where God is at work in our lives. With so many variables in our lives—campers and staff alike—Solstice gives us a chance to come together and notice God’s presence among us.
Here are some of the answers that came to my mind when we asked ourselves, “Where was God today?”
I saw God in…
- The face of every staff member who showed up the day after Christmas ready to rearrange tables, practice skits, and prepare camp to welcome campers the next day.
- The questions asked over breakfast that led to a 2.5-hour conversation about God, faith, and scripture in the Fireplace Lounge with 20+ campers and Rev. Chris Robinson.
- The safety and comfort we experienced amidst scary weather and in the staff who were responsible and responsive when the winds picked up.
- The new friends I made.
- The new camp song written by campers and staff and performed at Coffeehouse (Yes, I cried).
- Stella’s baptism on Dec. 28!
We wrapped up our week together with a Eucharist, followed by a New Year’s Eve dance with fireworks, sparklers, and, of course—Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Our final reflection can be summed up like this: When we come together in love and experience one another as God created us to be, we aren’t missing out. The world would like to tell us that there is an item or experience that will solve our problems and give us the right answers, but God’s desire is for us to experience Him through relationship and community.
We aren’t missing “it”—this IS it!
A CBG Homecoming
by Forrest Philpot
In a sort of long-winded whim of kismet, I found myself back at Camp Bratton-Green for the first time in 15 years, as part of the music staff. While it had been some time, I’ve always felt intimately tied to camp because of how much time I spent there as a staff brat, and later as a camper. There’s nothing like seeing someone you know from back then, and there’s really nothing like finding out a new or old friend also has ties to camp. This is precisely what brought me back there for 2024’s Winter Solstice Infinite Playlist. To explain it as briefly as humanly possible, I began dating someone a year ago whose roommates grew up at camp, and who still goes back to staff when they can. The instant kinship with those people and finding out they’re close with Gabbie Munn, our Director at Solstice and an old friend of mine (quite possibly my longest friendship!), made me realize how badly I wanted to go back to that old place. I quickly joined in on my partner’s and her friends’ plan to staff Solstice that winter. The message of Winter Solstice this year was “You’re not missing it: this IS it.” As a newly-thirty Mississippi boy who just moved to New York City, it’s hard to fully emphasize the weight of this reflection; moreover, the “this is it” of being at Camp, singing songs I hadn’t heard in 15 years, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones, matched that weight so evenly that I found myself stopping each day to take it all in, breathe that moment, and tell someone, anyone, how good it felt to be back. Another staff member, Sauny Sewell, said at one point, “Welcome to the beginning of your adult life at camp.” From the never-ending rounds of aerial 4-square to the Polar Plunge; from the community of mealtimes to the quiet stillness of Compline, I felt the love of friends and the love of the Lord so closely and so fully, no matter what was going on. The relief and the release, the clarity and the calm, the Being There has been an amazing thing to carry into the new year. Knowing I’ll go back feels huge.