Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2012 Issue | Page 27

The Shouting Prayer
For many of the staff and campers who
have been part of the camp community, the
Shouting Prayer is an articulation of their
experience and formation on the mountain.
It’s a prayer that you can hear shouted from
the mountaintops all summer long:
God loves the world. God loves us.
God loves you. I love you. God loves me.
I love me. Thanks be to God. Amen.

On July 15, Shrine Mont will dedicate
a marker with the text of the “Shouting
Prayer” in the Cathedral Shrine of the
Transfiguration as part of the celebration
of 50 years of camps at Shrine Mont. The
plaque is a gift of the Shrine Mont Board
of Directors in memory of the prayer’s
author, the Rev. Churchill J. Gibson Jr.

“Every now and then we meet
persons who have a certain aura. They
radiate an atmosphere which leaves us
singularly free from pressure. They are
glad to express their opinions, but we
feel no compulsion to agree. We feel
emancipated and refreshed. And these
people are not cold or aloof. It is simply
that they have such emotional solidity
that they want nothing from us but that
which we can freely give. An almosttherapeutic atmosphere is set up in which
others feel safe, can be themselves,
can flourish and grow. These fortunate
individuals have the power to convey a
most extraordinary gift.”

That little piece was taped inside
my prayer book even before the summer I
stepped into the chaplaincy at Shrine Mont,
which was the summer after Churchill
“retired.” I don’t know its origins; but I do
know that it always reminded me of my
predecessor on that mountain. Doing that
one act, like Churchill did it, summed up
what ministry at camps meant. 

Friends, sometimes we say our
prayers, but sometimes we shout them!
And our echo would bounce back from the
valley or from the mountain; and we would
know that we had shouted The Truth. 
Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. 
Amen. Amen.
The Rev. Roger Bowen, Camp Chaplain, 1980s

camps to venture out into the Shrine
Mont woods were Choir Camp (the
predecessor of Music and Drama
Camp) and St. George’s Camp, which
was founded by the Rev. Jim Lincoln,
then rector of Emmanuel Church,
Harrisonburg. Since those early days,
camps at Shrine Mont have continued
to grow and expand uninterrupted
through a deceptively simple mission:
the mission to feed. Almost everyone
who has been part of camp knows that
being fed is an inextricable part of the
experience. Of course, feeding and
being fed are at the heart of what it
means to be part of the Body of Christ,

and this simple exchange is why we
come to the Lord’s Table on Sundays.
Yet, the act of being fed at camp takes
on new dimensions which cannot be
replicated in a pew.

Being fed as a camper at Shrine
Mont means eating hot pancakes
and cold, creamy ice cream; straining
under the weight of a hiking pack
until your legs burn; singing all day
long; painting just about everything in
sight; and throwing an arm around a
person you didn’t even know existed
a couple of days before because you
continued on page 26

Photo: Diocesan Archives

The Rev. Churchill Gibson Jr., back row, stands
with St. George’s Camp counselors in 1973.

50 YEARS
OF CAMPS AT
SHRINE MONT
July 14 – Start the morning with a
This year’s Bishop’s
5K Run, followed by the Family Fun
Jubilee at Shrine
Fest, ultimate Frisbee and barbecue Mont will also mark
lunch. This year’s festival will feature an opportunity to
music by Morwenna Lasko & Jay
come together as a
Pun, Jackass Flats and the Morning
camp community and
After, followed by Hoss.
celebrate 50 years of
July 15 – A special program, fried
diocesan camps.
chicken lunch and a service with the
bishop will close the celebration.
Visit shrinemont.com for more information and tickets..

Spring 2012 / VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN

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