Summer Camps are definitely in full swing, but, they’re on a whole other level in America. In this book we explore the billion dollar industry of week long sleepaway Christian camps. The author immerses us in the seven day emotional journey of repentance, tears, breakthroughs and the all important conversions.

Cara comes to terms with scripts she recited, the plays she re-enacted and the pleas she made for the “Gods” above so they can reach their convertible conversions. She saw her LGBTQIA+ friends asked not to return once they came out of the closet and how others struggle in the mainstream world in a world without camps.

Cara no longer works in summer camps or a practicing Evangelist, but that in no way undermines this book, as in parts I was confused on her current perspective or stance of the camps and or her faith.
I really found this an interesting read and was concerned initially it would either feature a sexual scandal or fall under the extreme military style disciplinary camps we’ve come to know, but thankfully neither applied. My rating may seem a bit unfair but I guess I felt the book was only getting started and there was much more to be explored in terms of the industry, the matters of race, sexuality and who is really running these camps, but that may need a whole other book to tackle!

As someone who has grown up in church (and still attends) I was definitely drawn to this book. I’ve been in leadership at churches/volunteered and have seen many things good, bad, and otherwise.
This book is full of raw emotion, growth, and understanding. It really peels back the cover of some churches mindsets and shows how they too are just people who can get in their own way.

This book is thought provoking and it can make you a little uncomfortable at times, but all in all it was a good read and helped me to analyze my own perspective.

Cara's writing continues to be a balm for the disillusioned and a flashlight for the spiritually curious. She pinpoints both the joys and griefs of institutionalised child evangelism while also investigating the ethics of such.

Even though I never went to that kind of church camp (my church was too small and too independent), I still felt every inch of this. The culture, the pressure, the quiet harm tucked beneath the worship music and emotional altar calls? All painfully familiar.

Cara Meredith blends memoir with cultural critique in a way that feels grounded and deeply personal. She doesn’t sensationalize it, but she does name the harm clearly: how manipulation was passed off as ministry, how emotions were manufactured and spiritualized, and how so many young people were shaped to doubt themselves in the name of faith.

Some chapters were stronger than others, and the pacing wasn’t perfect—but the heart of this book is solid. It captures the tension of grief and clarity that comes from looking back at a faith that shaped you, then failed you.

This is a powerful read for anyone unpacking the emotional and spiritual fallout of growing up evangelical—even if you never made it to the altar at cry night.

If you’ve ever experienced anything like it, church camp, or a camp which is named something else so that we don’t directly associate it with the church but is still totally church camp, a lot of strong feelings will be triggered.

Hopefully a lot of those memories are fond and great. Maybe some of them, unfortunately, are not as great.

In Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, & How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation, Cara Meredith, someone who used to be quite active in the White Evangelical church camp world, reflects on her experiences and how she has come to re-consider much of what it was and what was going on.

That subheading is going to trigger you one way or another. It’s ultimately accurate, but I will say the author is much more conflicted within the text than the subheading might suggest.

The author cleverly frames her work in terms of the White Evangelical camp experience she, at the time, thoroughly enjoyed, and continued to perpetuate in young adulthood. One is led through the manufactured emotional highs and lows which attend to a White Evangelical church camp, all with a view to get as many campers as possible to “make a decision for Christ” as a way to justify the endeavor and the effort. In the process, the author interrogates the history and reasons which have led to the church camp experience as it is currently constituted. She appropriately contextualizes it within greater White Evangelicalism, and how camps embody and reflect its particular emphases, anxieties, and concerns.

She reflects on what the experience might have been like for people who were not like her: those who were not white; those whose identities, for whatever reasons, did not conform to the expected standards. She also considered what the impetus was for the creation of the church camp experience, and why it seems to work quite well for predominantly White Christian communities, and less so for others.

And, of course, a lot of (well deserved) critique is offered for the kinds of emotional manipulation and the impetus to make it all about a numbers game of conversions/ “commitments for Christ.”

In all of this, the author never approaches or discusses the deeply unfortunate issue of sexual assault and abuse in church camp contexts; that adds another lamentable dimension to what goes on in some of these contexts, exemplifying a lot of the same trends about the nature of White Evangelical church culture.

From this work I gained appreciation for the non-church church camps with which I have had some association for not making it so much about conversion as much as to provide opportunities for young Christians to come together and share in association for a week. But her many thoughts on camp as the “best week of the year,” and how that might be true of many, but it is not for all, remain haunting. Camp should not, and does not have to, serve as a betrayal of any generation; but we do well to consider many of the witnesses in this work and others to gain insight as to how to truly provide a fully welcoming environment at camp for young people to get to know one another and jointly participate in glorifying and honoring the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a lot to unpack in this...I'm not trying to criticize everything written.

A good question we all need to consider is "What is the gospel?" And by this, I mean, what is the gospel according to the Bible - the full canon of scripture. Then, we need to ask what does that mean for us today? In some of her own wrestling with this question, the author indicts many camp speakers (rightfully) who give a very shallow version of what the gospel is - but then, in her analysis/deconstruction, never fully arrives at an answer to the question - and therefore, is still stuck in deconstruction.

For what it's worth, some of her interviewees acknowledged that she asked very pointed questions to support her conclusions. It doesn't mean the experiences of these people is invalidated or not true, but this is an echo chamber more than an honest discussion - and I think it drifts more anecdotal than an honest assessment of how we have missed the message of the gospel and applied it to our discipleship tactics.

I was attracted to the concept of this book as someone who lived through similar experiences that are described in this text. As such, please note that my review is colored with this bias but also supported with a firsthand understanding of what’s being described.

The author does a good job of providing a basic understanding of some of the elements of Christian religious history in the United States (specifically early evangelical development in the United States). Although, as we move closer to more recent history, the author could be providing more clarity since some of the readers who will pick up this book may not have a deep understanding of Christian religious history in the United States. Because of this, further explanation of the changes that happened instead of merely referring to the fact they occurred would’ve been helpful. For instance, when talking about culture wars (specifically rising from the evangelical communities) that happened in the late 20th century and early 21st century, the author could have explained in slightly more detail or with more specific examples in order to introduce readers unfamiliar with that information into a better understanding of the context in order to help the reader understand the author’s following assumptions and concluded ideas based these moments in time and on the experts she references. This specifically created some confusion as the author attempted to define “white American evangelicalism.” I’m fairly well-versed in academic documents and theory and similarly in American Christian history, and I struggled at times to understand exactly what she was trying to express merely because it could’ve been a bit clearer or with more context. That being said, I find her conclusions very interesting, and I truly appreciate how often she cites and quotes sources to support her argument and her conclusions.
I would say that this text is best suited for people who have a connection with the evangelical church. I would not say it is suited for someone outside of that experience as it would be difficult to relate to.

Church Camp by Cara Meredith
5⭐️/5⭐️

You spent a week every summer there, climbing a spiritual mountain with the dearest of friends and experiencing the beauty and wonder of God in the forest...

For many, it's filled with treasured memories, laughing with cabinmates late into the night, seeking God, and promising to follow Jesus forever. But, for others, it is a place of deep hurts, wounds, questions, and doubt. This place is church camp! And now, especially for those of us who come from white American evangelicalism, it's time to deconstruct church camp.

In this book, Cara gudies us through a typical week at camp. Although I didn't attend a Young Life church camp, I did find my experiences from Old Faithful Christian Ranch mirrored in this book. I had to examine my experiences from camp, and see them in a new light. I had to confront difficult theological questions, and dissect how so much of my faith came from a very specific recipe of salvation that is baked from the ingredients of straight, wealthy, and white evangelicalism.

After reading this book, I'm left honoring the moments of camp where I saw the goodness of God which laid a foundation for a life of faith and following Jesus. But, I also must reconcile these beautiful experiences with the fact that church camp is manufactured and formulaic...its a business, an echo chamber of white conformity and penal substitutionary atonement, and transactional.

If you attended church camp even one summer of your youth, I recommend this book. It might not be easy on your heart. But at the end of this book, I think you will come away healed from wounds you may not have known you had from a week at church camp.

Thank you Broadleaf Books for the digital copy to read and review.

#bookstagram #christianbookstagram #christianbookreview #nonfiction #churchcamp #deconstructing #thenewevangelicals #exvangelical #bookreview

I did not go to church camp. Not even close. But I thought that camp culture is camp culture so I was interested in this book. I enjoyed knowing more about the experience that some of the currently scary folks have had.

As a former church camp attendee, so many stories resonated with me - the campfire songs, cry night, wearing us out with activities during the day so we'd be more emotional and "receptive" at night, etc. While none of the information in the book was surprising, it did help to see that others had the same experience, and religious trauma, that went with it. If I had a dollar for every time I got "saved" or "rededicated my life"...

This book isn't for everyone, but for those of use who attended camps, conferences, and the like, the messages here will hit home.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Broadleaf Books for the ARC!

Cara Meredith’s "Church Camp" presents its titular location as a microcosm of evangelical culture, but—like a week at camp—it simultaneous feels overstuffed and underbaked.

I’m not really sure who "Church Camp" is for—it’s superficially analytical, anecdotally reflective, and apologetically preachy. It’s a problem that plagues many books of its ilk, even if the author proudly suggests that it’s meant to be a little of everything. As a sociological interrogation, it’s too shallow to offer much to readers without camp experience. As a memoir of a changing faith, it’s too familiar for evangelical or exvangelical readers to get much out of it. Finally, as a theological argument, it never reaches more than a tentative link between camp and broader evangelicalism.

Each of the book’s chapters is cleverly modeled after a day at camp, but with all of the competing goals noted above, the reading experience often feels just as exhausting and and sweatily didactic as a skit in the middle of summer. Because it’s hard to believe that a week-long event can be such a formative part of someone’s identity, Meredith’s interviews don’t feel particularly revelatory. When she presents stories of queer campers or staffers being rejected, she treats it as a life-defining shock, eschewing analysis in favor of performative surprise.

This approach also precludes the author’s interrogation of her own complicity in evangelical subculture. Every gesture toward reflection is cut short by an affirmation of liberation theology, antiracism, or queer Christianity, and while these might all be good things, Meredith’s presentation of them often sounds like obligatory self-preservation—"Hey everyone, just so you know, I don’t think of Jesus as a white man. I'm not that kind of Christian," she seems to say.

There’s not a hint of irony when Meredith suggests that her critique of camp culture mirrors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s critiques of America. Similarly, when she suggests that Susan Sontag’s “Notes on ‘Camp’” reflects Sontag’s view of summer camps, it feels egregiously inaccurate and embarrassing, the kind of slice-and-dice quote usage one finds in a college freshman’s essay. Having read much of the other writing that Meredith references, from Christena Cleveland’s "God is a Black Woman" to Kristin Kobes du Mez’s "Jesus and John Wayne" to Thich Nhat Thanh’s work, I have to say that this is a recurrent issue—most of the outside voices here are meaningless or misconstrued.

Even so, it feels like there could have been a solid version of the book. Its central premise is resonant—what does one do with spaces that help us as much as they harm us? Unfortunately, it’s a question better addressed in the comfort of one’s own home than in Cara Meredith's "Church Camp."

Skip this one.

Illuminating, depressing, and terrifying. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this one ahead of publication.

I did not experience church camp growing up, so found this to be an eye-opening read! I am sure it is validating for those who went through a similar experience

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I was eager to read Church Camp because I am also a "survivor" of 6 summers at church camp. I broke with the Baptist church at the age of 16 after seeing abuse and hypocrisy at the hands of church leaders and members. Cara Meredith's exploration of several church camps across several denominations leads to the uncovering of the business model and the psychological model used at the camps to ensure that a majority of campers are brought to Jesus. That is how the success is measured and, in turn, the church and the camps become financially successful through more funding. My experience in the Independent Baptist church and summer camps had be committing my life to Jesus at the age of SIX. When I think back to the pressure and scare tactics that would cause a six year old to commit her life to anything, I am appalled and I'm appalled that these abuse and pressures continue throughout the religious "industry." The manipulation of young mnds should concern any parent who wishes for his or her child to live a mentally healthy life as an adult The fact that Ms. Meredith was able to keep her faith in God and not lose it completely like I did in my teens is a miracle in itself.

As someone who attended church camp from 4th grade until the year before college, Church Camp was instantly recognizable—the songs, the push of conversions and "witnessing", the...whiteness of it all. My church attended Falls Creek, a notorious Southern Baptist-run camp in Oklahoma. Every year, we would load up the old blue and white church bus with no A/C, drive for hours, and spend 5-6 days living in a large cabin at the top of the mountain. We had the best view of the camp, and while it was all innocent for me, the rumors of sex, sexual abuse and other 'sins' were spoken aloud, not whispered.

Cara Meredith delves deeper into these camps and the negative effects they have had on attendees. The push towards 'purity', the push to convert non-believers, the lack of acceptance of anyone a little bit outside of the norm.

I don't know that this book is for everyone. It does ramble a bit and not have a REAL continuous thread. It does seem that Meredith has an axe to grind and that's totally fine! I do too, but this could have been a longform article and said the same things.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great read for anyone who has had uncomfortable experiences or vibes from evangelical Christian churches. I was impressed with the structure of the book and also the research that went into it.

This was a struggle for me, because this is a book written to people who have moved from evangelical Christianity to progressive Christianity. I wanted deconstruction, and while this did write a lot about the issues with the way Church camp works, it did still talk in a very Christian way. I realized over halfway through that this was not written for me.

Thank you to Broadleaf Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a non-Christian person who grew up in a very Christian area, this book was a very interesting peak into the lives of many of my peers growing up. I am very interested in the way that Cara discusses how church camps were used as a tool not just to build community for kids, but also to connect to an individualized view of Christianity. Very interesting!

This book explores a really fascinating topic, but its audience is extremely niche. I was initially interested because I also attended church camp growing up, but even I couldn't relate strongly to a lot of the content since my experiences didn't fully match those of the author and her interviewees. I enjoyed learning about the rationale behind some of the thematic elements of church camp ("cry night" etc), but found myself bored by much of the lyrical prose attempting to reconciliate with a more "woke" version of Christianity. It reads like a very well done thesis, but not a widely marketable book.

I am a bit young for Cara’s demographic as a “zillennial” but I am easily a part of the generation that was failed by “White Evangelical church camp”. I didn’t spend a week away at a traditional summer camp, but I experienced the cry nights, the emotional highs and lows that came along with grueling labor, games, and then a sermon each night. I was subjected to slightly different forms of emotional manipulation, but the effect was still the same.

When I read the description of Cara’s book, I had this sickly feeling wash over me. Church camp specifically was an area that I had not dug too deeply into. Partially because I think I have blocked a lot of those memories out, but also because I am still not quite ready to confront the damages that those weeks did to me as a teenager.

Church camp taught me about love bombing, work ethic, judgement, class systems, cliques, hatred, and manual labor. I don’t want to make it all sound bad, but it did leave its mark on me, and not entirely in a way that I would deem “good.”

Cara explains church camp in a way that makes my experience feel validated. My experience was very similar to the summers that she described. And honestly, it was refreshing to see someone acknowledge that these environments can be damaging.

Cara’s experience on the other side was fascinating to read. Whenever I have thought about the speakers that I had listened to at camp, honestly, there was a significant amount of mistrust. I always wondered what their intentions actually were—were they intentionally trying to manipulate me? To read what they are being taught to teach as speakers was both frustrating and disheartening, but it also allowed me to see the humanity side of it. Cara wasn’t intentionally trying to manipulate her students, her goal was ultimately to get them to see Jesus. But she wasn’t going to do that by toying with the people who were learning from her.

Cara has a way of showing where she was wrong when she was younger, what she thinks about it now that she has grown, and what she thinks Christians as a whole should do differently when it relates to church camp.

In a sea of mistrust and frustration towards the church, Cara has a way of seeing both sides and blending it to be a teaching moment. Something that I imagine was difficult to do because so much of her identity was intertwined with church camp.