Youngsters put athletic, artistic, spiritual gifts into practice during summer camp season at MC

Super Summer is one of many youth camps scheduled during June and July at Mississippi College.

The serene post-Spring Commencement environment at Mississippi College will soon give way to the exciting sounds of youthful laughter, cheers and music as summer camp season takes over the Clinton campus.

From the final day of May through the third week of July, thousands of middle school and high school students and their adult sponsors will visit MC to participate in high-energy activities, from athletics and cheer to Christian leadership and art.

Managing this “beehive of activity” is Ken Gilliam, MC director of continuing education, who works hard to ensure that every camper has a safe, enjoyable and memorable visit to Mississippi College.

“MC is a beautiful campus consisting of state-of-the-art facilities, most of which would be otherwise vacant during the summer term,” Gilliam said. “Camp not only bring thousands of prospective students to our door, but more importantly, they expose these students to Christian teaching.

“The camps also give Mississippi College greater exposure to representatives of more than 200 churches from 17 states and assist in the University’s vision of being an institution committed to the cause of Christ.”

MC hosts a variety of athletics camps, including basketball, soccer, volleyball and cheer, that are led by MC coaches who emphasize the importance of placing God first in the young participants’ lives. Many of the coaches bring in outside speakers and guests who share their real-world experiences with the campers.

Gilliam said Mississippi College is the premier location for Lifeway-sponsored Centri-Fuge and Mission-Fuge. MC was the first site in the nation to host the combination camp, which entertains and instructs about 3,500 campers from throughout the Southeastern U.S. in three weekly sessions.

“Centri-Fuge offers teenagers a week of small-group Bible study, team-building recreation, powerful worship and camp-wide fellowships,” he said. “Mission-Fuge is also geared toward teenagers, but M-Fuge campers travel to off-campus locations to perform community service projects at a variety of local venues.

“The campers enrich not only MC, but the entire metropolitan area: Approximately 1,200 teenagers and their adult sponsors will contribute more than 15,000 hours of volunteer service at more than 30 sites in and around Jackson.”

MC’s single biggest camp is Super Summer. Sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention, the camp attracts about 1,300 youngsters, youth pastors, church leaders and other staff members to an environment that promotes qualitative spiritual growth and helps develop student leaders for Mississippi churches.

For more information about summer camps at Mississippi College, visit www.mc.edu/offices/ce/summer-camps.