Give Thanks to the Lord: Pastor's School

While it is Tuscarora's mission to serve the entirety of the Christian Community we are an affiliate organization of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren. Founded in 1971 with the intention of serving as a retreat center for the denomination - we still host programs specifically designed for the Eastern Region of churches.

Because of this relationship, Tuscarora sees it as an important part of it's ministry to care for the men and women who care for these churches. We are thankful for a week out of every summer where our pastors and their families come to Tuscarora for refreshment and encouragement.

We are thankful that God allows us to minister in this way. Below, Pastor Ryan Nilsen tells the story of his family's experience at Pastor's School.

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Ryan Nilsen

Lead Pastor of Praise Christian Fellowship, a CLB congregation in northwest Connecticut, and Executive Director of Fifth Act Church Planting. He and his wife Kjirsti have five children and have served at Praise for ten years. Ryan has participated in Tuscarora ministries since he was a kid.

One of the things that I am thankful for as a pastor is that my kids actually love being pastors’ kids! My church deserves a lot of credit for not placing unrealistic expectations on my children or treating them differently from other kids, but one of the things that my kids love the most about being a “PK” is the chance to go to Pastors’ School every summer. In fact, they start looking forward to it about a day after the previous one wraps up! My wife Kjirsti and I feel the same way—we look forward to the chance to get away to Pastors’ School each year.

What is Pastors’ School? If you attend a congregation that is part of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren (CLB)—Tuscarora’s “home denomination,” you may have heard about it in passing. Before I attended, I had no idea what it was. It sounded either like a really tedious ordeal or a cover name for a vacation. It isn’t either of those things. It’s become an important part of the well-being of my pastoral ministry, and it is a huge blessing for my entire family. Let me tell you about Pastors’ School—one of Tuscarora’s most high-impact, far-reaching ministries in terms of its investments in the kingdom of God.

For five days every August, Tuscarora hosts Eastern Region CLB pastors and their families for a week of continuing education, rest, recreation, and bonding. While the CLB Eastern Region funds the educational expenses, Tuscarora quietly underwrites the bulk of the cost, providing lodging, meals, and meeting spaces for pastors, their wives, and their children—and at no charge to pastors or their congregations!

Here’s what a typical day at Pastors’ School looks like: Pastors and wives spend the morning in educational sessions together, deepening biblical knowledge or gaining ministry skills. In the afternoons, families spend time together at the pool, canoeing, tubing, playing volleyball, and more. In the evenings, pastors and wives gather together for times of worship and often receive more training. Through the course of each day at Pastors’ School, pastors engage in several renewing experiences that are crucial for resilient, enduring ministry: 1) continuing education, 2) peer support, 3) sabbath, and 4) recreation. Tuscarora provides the setting for these experiences that are not easy for pastors to schedule on their own.

It is vital for pastors to continue to hone their ministry skills through continuing education, yet it can be challenging amidst the daily demands of ministry to find the time to invest in training. Through Pastors’ School, clergy and their wives have opportunities to develop their biblical knowledge and ministry skills so they can return to their congregations better-equipped for their ministry calling.

Pastoral ministry tends to be a high-stress, sedentary vocation that places great demands on pastors and their families. To compound the problem, few pastors have the financial resources to cope with those stresses. Through Pastors’ School, pastors have a chance to find renewal and rest. They can recharge their batteries and along with their spouses enjoy fellowship with other clergy couples who can relate to the challenges and demands of vocational ministry.

“Tuscarora makes it possible for those families to get away from the everyday demands of ministry and experience sabbath rest, the support of their peers, and a chance to relax and have fun with their families—all in a setting where they don’t have to worry about anything! No meal prep and no dishes! No meetings, phone calls or emails!”

Through Pastors’ School, Tuscarora comes alongside every CLB congregation in the Eastern Region to help them care for and develop their pastors. You may already value Tuscarora for its dynamic summer youth camps, weekend retreats, or their Christmas concerts, and now I hope you will appreciate how much Tuscarora does to ensure the health of pastors and their families as they serve congregations along the east coast. Thank you, Tuscarora!

Serve One Another Humbly in Love

Work week is a bi-annual tradition at Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center. In the fall and spring a group of volunteers spend a week on our grounds being the hands and feet of Christ. They don't always know what needs to be done but the impact they make through their willing service is impossible to measure.

Each year, through the generosity of Thrivent Action Teams, we are able to multiply the work of these servants. Thrivent Action Teams is a volunteer program for individuals who are willing to lead a team of people willing to make an impact on a cause or place they are passionate about. They are interested in encouraging their members to use the gifts they have been given to live generously.  This year, $4,250 of money was donated toward Fall Work Week because of their members, and over the last five years we have put $23,000 to use around our grounds and facilities.

We want to use this week's entry to celebrate those individuals who donate their time, talent, and treasure to do work that may go unnoticed by guests throughout the year, and let you see a behind the scenes look at improvements and project that are underway.

As one of the oldest buildings on our grounds, the Mountainview Dorms are the home of dozens of youth retreats throughout the year. As all well loved building tend to do, they've begun to show their age and were in need of some bathroom updates. Guests will be able to use new vanities this fall and winter.

With lots of traffic during the summer, and a large crowd expected to stock up on Christian and Scandinavian themed gifts and goodies for Christmas, a new door was installed between the snack shop and bookstore.

Our Inn rooms, and some of our cottages, received a fresh coat of paint on some of the railings and banisters. This will keep our grounds looking professional and photogenic throughout the winter season.

There's plenty of books, artwork, and attired for sale in the Tuscarora Bookstore. Now, it can all be displayed on a new counter top which was installed this past week.

Each year, there is mending work to be done around the grounds on curtains and bedspreads. Without a team of seamstresses and many donated sewing machines Tuscarora would need to replace them more often, and it's always amazing how much work can get done when people are laughing and having fun!

Amidst the many handy-work projects and repair jobs, there is always cleaning and sprucing up to do. Many of our work week volunteers spend their days cleaning out corners, emptying garbage cans, and dusting unseen surfaces. Their work makes Tuscarora a welcome, clean, and comfortable place for refreshment and relaxation.

The work of these volunteers brings to mind the words of Galatians 5:13, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love." This past week, our brothers and sisters were willing to serve humbly, and Tuscarora is better for it. Join us in thanking them today!

10 Signs You're a Christian Camp Counselor in the "Off Season"

For a place like Tuscarora, volunteer camp counselors make many of our youth camps possible during the summer months. Many of our counselors say the year starts and ends with their weeks at camp. However, counseling is such an intense week that some of the things they learn during that time tends to trickle over into everyday life. Here, we list 10 ways you can identify a Christian Camp Counselor in the off season.

1. You sometimes find them counting their friends

For a lot of camp counselors, it's the first time in their lives they have ever been responsible for another human being, let alone five, or six, or seven! If those campers are small and tend to wander off, counselors find themselves counting kids over, and over, and over again. This is a hard habit to break and you may find them standing in the middle of a mall shouting, "One, two, three, four - where's five?!"

2. They know the value of a full night's sleep

Sometimes at camp there are real reasons you can't get to bed - a homesick camper, hallway prayer, or a late night dance party for example. But more often than not, camp counselors are having so much fun they don't want to put their head down and miss the opportunity to create more memories. You may find them joyfully exclaiming what an AMAZING night's sleep they got and how ready they are to take on the day.

3. You always find them with a coffee cup in hand

Because of all that lost sleep - many people start a pretty serious caffeine addiction while they're at camp. Throughout the rest of the year they suddenly need 3 or 4 cups of coffee just to make it through the day, and will come to camp the next year prepared with an extra large mug and a few tasty flavors of creamer.

4. They still use snail mail

If you're a counselor to small kids - you may not be able to keep in touch with them throughout the year via email or social media. This means pulling out the pen and paper like the days of yore. Everyone likes to get mail and it's a really great way to stay in touch with kids from year to year. Sometimes a camp counselor may get carried away though and start sending letters to every person in their life.

5. They know hand motions to every worship song

You can ALWAYS spot a Christian camp counselor during worship at church. This is because they are inevitably doing hand motions they learned alongside their campers. Once you've waved your hands back and forth, jumped up and down, and spun around to a song it's hard to worship any other way.

6. They complain about a lack of storage space

Every camp counselor has a small collection of themed t-shirts and costumes they've used throughout the years. You can quickly run out of closet space for your other belongings when you have several summers worth of stuff. They could get rid of it - because how many neon colored athletic shorts and bandanas does one person need? But it has too much sentimental value - and they like being the go to person for absurd accessories.

7. They're a kids' entertainment and activity expert

Counselors aren't just responsible for keeping their campers safe - they're also responsible for keeping them entertained. They always have to know a variety of games and activities that would appeal to a wide variety of kids and ages. Because of this - you can always count on an off-season counselor to be the first person at a party to gather their nieces and nephews into a game of Red Rover - or force their friends into four on a couch.

8. Feeling homesick even though they're home

Every counselor knows that their camp is their second home. So in the off season, you may find a counselor wandering around their house wishing they could turn a corner and find a room full of friends just waiting to make memories. It can be lonely, but it also makes their return the next summer even sweeter. They always have that place to welcome them back.

9. Being a walking billboard

It can be hard for an off season counselor to start sentences without using the phrase, "This one time at camp..." They made such great memories, that they want other people to do the same! They tell every parent they know about sending their kids away for summer camp so they can have the best experience of their lives - and maybe one day even be a counselor. You'll catch them posting throwback photos to their days counseling and making sure everyone in their life knows when registration for next summer is posted.

10. Lifetime Long Distance Friendships

Counseling isn't just a fun experience - it's a challenge. When you work hard at something alongside your friends - you build a bond that lasts forever. No matter how far apart they may live they stay connected through group chats and social media, and whenever they're reunited it's like no time has passed at all.

This is especially true of people who counsel at a Christian camp. Not only are they working hard - they're walking side by side to spread the gospel. They have the knowledge that God chose to call them to camp together. They know they were chosen by God to be friends. That's a bond that doesn't weaken over time.