Registration Now Open For Camp Osiris
Camp Osiris is a retreat experience for queer and/or trans* people and allies who want a safe space to discuss their faith and their identities.
Camp Osiris was founded in 2010 by myself and Caidin Riley. We wanted to create a space that was about more than just healing from religious hurt. We wanted a space that really helped folks to reclaim their Christianity, as well as empowered and equipped them to work to change their home communities.
Our intended audience is adults (ages 18 and up) who want to talk about the intersections between their sexuality and/or gender identity and their Christianity. We also have an ally track (best for clergy and other helping professions but open to all) to educate and equip folks to be better allies.
Our retreats are a three day weekend. We’ll spend time together playing games, having discussions about queer theology, and worshipping together. We’ll also ask folks to identity the changes they want to see in their communities and work on equipping them to make those changes happen.
Retreats are a mix of fun and deep conversation and a wonderful way to build community with other queer and/or trans* Christians.
We also keep in touch with people who come to Camp Osiris year round; we help to connect them to people locally, work to provide the resources they need to help them meet their goals, and provide a listening ear should they ever need support. Many queer Christians feel isolated and we are working to decrease that sense of isolation.
We need faith communities to support this work both financially and by promoting it to the people they are in contact with. We’re also hoping to provide a service to churches by educating allied clergy on how to be better allies. We help them to understand queer theology and the ways in which they can use that theology in their liturgy to make their churches not only more welcoming, but also to increase the depth of the experience for all people.
We believe that queer theology is a gift, not just to queer and/or trans* people, but to straight people as well.
We would also love to see churches step up to provide scholarships for people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to come and/or to put Camp Osiris in their mission budget to fund our work. We offer more than just the weekend retreat. We also offer workshops at churches and community organizations on queer theology, trans* issues, and the needs of queer youth. Our hope is that someday we will have the funding to be able to offer more than one retreat a year.
I’m involved in this because I want to see conversations about queer spirituality move past the 101 level. I want to be in a place where the goodness of queerness is a given and where we can instead talk about the ways in which our queer and/or trans* identities have deepened our faith. Much of queer theology has remained inaccessible to people (either because of cost or lack of publicity) and that’s a shame because it can have such a powerful impact on people. We’re trying to get that theology out into the world on a much broader scale.
Our hope for 2013 is to have a vibrant retreat experience and to draw as many people as possible from all over the country.
Register today to attend the May 2013 camp in Minnesota: Beyond 101. Or apply to serve on the volunteer staff. The deadline for registrations is April 30, and the deadline for staff applications is May 1. Help us spread the word!
Photo courtesy of Camp Osiris