I hope this post finds you all well. It has been quite a season here at Emmanuel. Some swinging Easter highs worth celebrating and some painful lows that none of us would choose but I am thankful to God that this family is seeking to stay joined and unified through those moments. In the midst of these emotional times at Emmanuel we have these impending changes we are going through as a church. Some of them are constitutional, some seasonal and many are simply phases we pass through much the way we pass through phases of life. My prayer is ever that we hold firmly onto God’s plans for us and loosely onto our own plans.

One of the changes we are stepping into is our change in identity and increasing affiliation with the Evangelical Covenant Church. I cannot fully share with you all how much joy this brings me but I want to try just a bit. I admit that it is from a biased position that I write about my affection for covenant because it is the denomination that raised me in a sense. I could tell you all about the Godly people, churches and services I’ve been to that were provided by the covenant but here I want to share about a magical place that has had tremendous influence in my life.

Since I was very young, I went to bible camp and it was, without a doubt, the highlight of my summer. It was a beautiful camp with a lake, a huge waterslide, long green lawns and the craziest counselors you can imagine. This camp was in the simple business of helping campers feel pure joy in Christ. I have so many memories of counselors leading bible studies and moments in worship that felt so very pure and God-filled. I always dreamed of growing up and being as cool as those old college kids and being a counselor at Cascades camp.

That dream I was fortunate enough to realize and for three out of my four college summers I would drive to Yelm, Washington to work at Cascades from June until September. There I would make the best friends I could ask for (many of whom I still talk to often) and was stretched beyond myself to teach the hundreds of kids that pass through each summer just a little more about the goodness of God. I would leave each summer feeling more and more alive and like God had transformed the person I was into something new and good.

This covenant camp and the covenant people there I love deeply and I am so grateful for the way they have shown me who God is. I hope we will get to journey to Cascades together sometime soon but until then look at these pictures you’ll get an idea for what a beautiful place it is. http://www.cascadescamp.org/

Like I said, I am very biased but I can’t help but be excited for Emmanuel as we step towards the Evangelical Covenant Church. I am excited because I know the good people who are waiting with open arms and they are my friends as they are friends of God.

– josh phillips