About

 

Camp St. Sava is sponsored by the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church.  Generally, the camp season takes place during the last three weeks of July each year.  Please consult this website for the exact dates each year and follow the link to register campers and to volunteer as a staff member.



Our summer camp is a gathering place for members of all generations. It is not uncommon to have grandparents in the kitchen, parents as lay directors and children, and even grandchildren of the same families as campers. The campground is our home away from home. Camp counselors are most often former campers who are giving back their time and talent to help today’s campers.

​

The camp program offers a daily schedule of religious services with both matins and vespers, and campers are taught to sing the responses to all services. Once during the week, campers also participate in the Divine Liturgy and receive Holy Communion, having fasted and offered a confession the evening before. In this way, the camp sets a model for campers and the staff in their weekly lives at home.

​

The camp program also addresses the cultural needs of the campers. The children are instructed in kolo dancing, folk singing and lessons regarding the history and culture of the Serbian people. Last year’s program also included a lesson in preparing the prosfora for the Divine Liturgy and decorating a kolach for the family slava.

​

Each season, the main theme of the camp curriculum changes. The Education Committee of the three dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America produces the classroom materials for the catechism classes.  Parish priests from the Western American Diocese volunteer their time each week to teach the campers.  In addition, the older campers are encouraged to participate in community service by working to improve the campgrounds, visit the elderly in Jackson, and to volunteer to help local service organizations.

​

Camp St. Sava remains a place where life-shaping experiences occur and long-lasting friendships are formed. This is also the place where future kumovi are discovered and sometimes where budding marriage relationships are formed.