Bayside Camp

The first few moments at camp in the morning are quiet but as the sun rises over the hill campers begin to hear the Bay Morning Radio Show. As they wake up, the music reminds them they’re at camp and it’s time to get ready for another day filled to the brim with wonder and adventure. There’s no better way to spend a hot summer day than having fun with friends at camp!

For almost 60 years, Bayside Camp has welcomed campers from all walks of life to experience the life-transforming love of Jesus. Earlier this summer, we began a new era of ministry at Bayside. Having moved from our original 13 acre site last winter, we opened a multimillion dollar year round camping and retreat centre in Sambro Head (approximately 30kms outside Halifax). Nestled alongside the shoreline of Third Pond, campers now have 100 acres of adventures to enjoy and experience with friends old and new. Whether they are swimming at the Aqua Park, singing at Worship at the Cove or simply hanging out on the Upper Deck of Rockwood Lodge, campers have had a wonderful time at Bayside this first summer.

Our new year round camping and retreat centre has been designed to accommodate up to 200 campers or guests. Rockwood Lodge has 13,000 square feet of space divided between two wings and joined together by the Lakeside Lounge. One side has the dining hall and commercial kitchen. The other has Maplestone Hall, a large multipurpose room overlooking the lake with its own fireplace and a chapel for times of worship. Spruce Grove Village is the first cluster of cabins built for campers and guests. Spruce Grove is made up of 9 winterized cabins that sleep between 10 and 16 people. Over the next number of years additional villages will be added to allow for continued growth in the ministry.

As much as we are enjoying our new site, it has been even more tremendous to hear so many stories from campers this summer. One camper from a junior high camp shared: “Everywhere I went this year I got made fun of but here at camp everyone was so friendly.” Another camper at Fireside on the last night of camp talked about how she had never been to church or heard about Jesus but learned so much while at camp. And another spoke of her commitment to “make a difference” back home by telling her dad and then her friends how the love of Jesus has changed her life. Imagine the unassuming redemptive potential in a camper returning home, to their friends, school, sports team or job now walking with Jesus!

We have so much to celebrate. Not just at Bayside but throughout our Atlantic Provinces. Whether it be at our new site on Third Pond or at another camp in our region, God is using these ministries to impact individuals young and old. One by one lives are being transformed through the various camping ministries in our region this summer.

-Ben Trites, Camp Director