ADDaM Camp
Eureka, Illinois, July 1997

Two youth from Decatur's Central Christian Church participated in the 1997 ADDaM camp which featured art, drama and music actitivies. Rob Miller had the lead part in "Godspell" and Arik Brooks played the part of Judas.

A talented member of Central, Mike Bryant, served as an art teacher and counselor at the camp.

Several of Central's parents, ministers and members took a caravan to the concluding program at ADDaM camp. Visit the ADDam Camp web site for more information (warning: this web site is loaded with special effects and may crash out your connection). The following is a news report about the camp, published in the Peoria newspaper, the Pantagraph.

Campers Combine Musical Arts, Religion

By ARLENE FRANKS, Pantagraph correspondent

EUREKA -- The arts belong in the local church, 28 high school students across Illinois are discovering this week at a special camp at Eureka Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Sponsored by the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin, ADDaM Camp, which began Sunday, is giving students entering grades eight through 12 the opportunity to explore their talents in art, drama, dance and music in a religious setting.

The campers will present portions of the musical "Godspell" at the church's parish hall at 7 tonight. The public is invited to the performance, which also will feature the campers' projects in visual art, dance and instrumental music as well as the camp choir.

Students room at Eureka College, but attend worship, meals, workshops and rehearsals at the church. "We could have gone to the college and used all the lights and the sounds and the do-dads," according to co-director the Rev. Clint Ibele, associate minister of First Christian Church in Canton.

However, the directors wanted to show the students, "You can do this kind of project with minimal kinds of props and equipment," said Ibele.

Eureka was chosen because it was a centralized location for the region and because of the proximity to the college, which is affiliated with the denomination, said Ibele.

Campers indicated on their application forms their interest area -- instrumental music, acting and singing, dance or visual arts. In addition to classes in these areas and daily worship services, the campers attend small group discussions and special interest groups, including applying stage make-up, cartooning, script writing based on Biblical stories and video production.

The goal is for the campers to "experience God through the fine arts," said Ibele. He added the camp is the first of its kind in Illinois.

In fact, with the exception of Ibele, none of the other eight counselors had heard of such a production. He was part of a similar camp offered by the Indiana Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) several years ago.

He and co-director Michael Fitch of Macomb had similar -- but separate -- visions of holding a camp in Illinois that blends the arts with the sacred. When each described his ideas to regional staff, they were asked to get together and organize the camp, said Ibele.

Once word got out in the region, potential counselors "more or less came to us," he said. Ministers, along with teachers, college students and other lay people volunteered to share their talents with the campers, said Ibele.

"I hope we'll be setting a new tradition here and this will be a camp for many years," said Ibele, encouraged by the high number of younger students enrolled in the camp this year. "That means we have a basis to build on for the coming years."

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Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
(217) 428-4336

email the webmaster at gbarron@cccdisciples.org