- It’s not a bad idea to take ten days every summer to be remind people that by the grace of God they can “be holy” as God is holy.
I received a call several months ago from a guy asking if I could speak at a holiness camp meeting. “Where you at?” I asked. “Waynesboro, Mississippi,” he said. The name of the place is Frost Bridge Camp Meeting.
Never heard of it. Holiness camp meetings are kind of a thing in my religious tradition. Heard about them my whole adult life. Preached at quite a few. Never say no when invited. But…Frost Bridge?
That’s where I’ve been all week, sweating up a storm while vociferously preaching the Word of God to a 100+ men, women, boys, and girls. Be assured, whatever the “Frost” of “Frost Bridge” means, it doesn’t have a thing to do with the temperature in the open-air tabernacle.
Still, hearts are warm.
Camp meetings are an American religious phenomenon. Historian Timothy Smith contends that “the camp meeting was the most effective institution for evangelism and spiritual renewal in the early American republic.” Quite popular during the Second Great Awakening, they continued to flourish at the beginning of the 20th century. Alas, they have slowly been replaced in modern America by more comfortable vacation plans. Still, there are quite a few locations where people still assemble in the summer for 10 or so days at a stretch to enjoy preaching, Bible studies, youth and children’s programs, fellowship, and good food. Inexplicably, they often throw in a few other activities that might surprise – for instance, with a real-feel high of 109 degrees, someone thought a late-night bonfire was a good idea! Weirdly, it worked (s’mores – chocolate, roasted marshmallows and graham crackers – can redeem even unbearable humidity).
In the 1800s, a settler named Frost erected a covered bridge that eventually morphed into a truss bridge, then a cement bridge which has given way to the one that is just now being newly constructed. Richard Roach, president of the camp, explains that for the early settlers, the bridge over the Buckatunna Creek was necessary to navigate the area is not hard to draw spiritual parallels. “At the beginning of humanity,” he says, “a bridge from sinful man to holy God was needed and One was provided in Jesus Christ.” And that, fundamentally is the message of the camp. “It provides a means for God and people to connect.”
Outside the heat of the tabernacle (which is, to be fair, amply outfitted with fans that circulate the air and provide a degree of relief), the camp has a lot to offer — just like most every other camp I have ever attended). Good preaching, superb music, a missionary telling stories of overseas outreach, fantastic youth and children’s programs, and Christian colleges represented by student ambassadors who present mini-concerts. The folks at Frost Bridge camp know how to have fun along with a strong biblical emphasis: lots of youth activities, swimming and splashing in the creek, crafts, slip and slides, and other water games.
Mississippi has a handful of similar camp meetings, and several across the Deep South are equally impressive, committed to showing people that by the grace of God they can “be holy” as God is holy. It’s not a bad idea to take ten days every summer to be reminded of that truth.
J.B. Chapman of the Church of the Nazarene said, “Holiness camp meetings have been the birthplace of saints, the workshop of preachers, and the proving ground of Christian character.”
As I prepare for my next sermon I can only say — may it be so even today.
