The 2024 Soquel Camp Meeting, which took place July 11-20, had a powerful spiritual impact on those who attended. It was a place where people’s lives were being changed by God, both through the messages given as well as through the impact of the people attending. Those attending were encouraged to reach out to their community and allow God to use them for His purpose, and this was seen during the 10-day event.
Soquel Camp Meeting takes place every summer at the Soquel Campground. This year’s theme, Arise & Go: The Journey Continues, was shared powerfully through the speakers at the camp meeting. These included Justin Kim, editor of Adventist Review; Calvin Rock, former vice president of the General Conference; Roger Hernandez, director of Ministerial and Evangelism for the Southern Conference; and Gary Blanchard, president of the Northern New England Conference. The speakers delved into ideas of how to start and grow in a spiritual journey together.
This was only the second time since the coronavirus that the conference has held a 10-day camp meeting. Most conference camp meetings throughout the North American Division are 3-5-day events, and for many of them attendance has continued to decrease. But the Central California Conference is one of only a few conferences still holding a camp meeting for a full 10 days. Dan Serns, conference president, explains, “10-day camp meetings—and even the 7-day camp meetings—in North America have mostly shut down, and one reason why is they just didn't have things for the younger kids to really learn about Jesus. That's unique about this camp meeting.”
A major emphasis of the Soquel Camp Meeting is the youth and young adults. The youth and young adult leaders have invested their time and energy to make sure God’s message is being shared with this group in meaningful ways, and the impact has been significant. “The young adult group keeps growing, so we had to get them a bigger location this year,” says Serns. “That tells us that there is a new generation growing up not just looking for programs but looking for authentic relationship opportunities to serve, and opportunities to share. That's some good news!”
Through acts of service and the messages given by the speakers, people are being reached through the camp meeting. Those who attended the Soquel Camp Meeting came from all over the conference, and gave of themselves to be part of the event. Some of those who attended are truly in need of food and other basics, yet they go out of their way to attend the event because of its powerful impact on their spiritual lives.
“Some come to camp meeting who have very real needs in terms of housing or food,” continues Serns. “When our leaders saw that, they bought food and 60 blankets from Costco and spread the word.” The young people helped deliver these items to the people in the campground who were in need. “Some people really don't have much, but they didn’t want to miss the camp meeting. So they came here and they got blankets and food. We're ministering to our own people right here as well as in the community.”
Another unique part of this year’s camp meeting was the Shofar horn, or ram’s horn. Three times a day the shofar horn sounded—early in the morning, early afternoon, and in the evening—and when it was heard everyone was encouraged to stop and pray, acknowledging God. This tradition originates from the Old Testament Israelites, who used the shofar horn for many religious ceremonies, including announcing a prayer time.
“People all across the campground would stop whatever they were doing and have a prayer,” says Serns. “We had our leadership team that met in the morning during that time, and while we were discussing things we would hear the shofar. Whoever was talking would just stop and lead us in prayer.”
Learn more about the 2024 Soquel Camp Meeting as well as plans for the 2025 camp meeting at www.cccadventist.org/campmeeting. The Soquel Camp Meeting is also live streamed each year so that more than just the attendees can receive the impact of the messages. You can watch the live streams at the CCCAdventist YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@CCCAdventist.
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