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Comments about St. Dorothy's Rest from Bishop Marc Andrus following a recent visit.
After a long, anticipated wait, I finally got to visit St. Dorothy's Rest, and during a most important part of their yearly rhythm of life. I have to believe that now is the time when I could have and needed to visit and begin to understand this unique, important part of our Diocesan family.
In addition to the church summer camps that St. Dorothy's runs, quite parallel to those at the Bishop's Ranch (it should be noted that both camping programs are fully subscribed), you might say that the heart of St. Dorothy's is the medical camping programs. In one session, children who either have cancer, or have siblings with cancer, are the campers, and in the second, children who have received transplants are the campers.
Everyone involved in these camps is so evidently full of grace: the campers, the counselors, the nursing staff, the camp administrators, cooks and maintenance staff. I was surrounded, enveloped, floored by the compassion and grace that abounded at St. Dorothy's.
Let me simply sum it up by recounting the morning gathering today: Campers and counselors all standing in a circle, holding onto each other, asked by our chaplain, the Rev. Chip Barker-Larrimore, to name one thing for which each of us is grateful. When two tiny boys, at different points in the circle said, "Scientists," my heart was pierced, but when perhaps the smallest child said, simply, "Life," I was not sure I could trust myself to walk, in all truth. To see so clearly, to say it with such simple honesty, at such a young age, tutored by loss and pain, and also by love - I was overwhelmed.
So, I'll try to be as simple as that little boy. I'm grateful for the graceful human beings at St. Dorothy's and for the hospitality they showed me in allowing me to visit. I will be doing all I can to forward the ministry of this sublime place in the future.
Bishop Marc Andrus
St. Dorothy's Rest was founded in 1901 by the Rev. & Mrs. James O. Lincoln as the first free summer camp in California. The Lincolns were active in the Episcopal Church and were adherents of the Arts & Crafts movement, with its emphasis on a simple and artistic life in harmony with nature.
The influence of the Lincolns remains strong at St. Dorothy's over a century later. We are the oldest continuously operating summer camp in California. During non-summer months we host retreats and conferences for churches, non-profit organizations, schools, and those on a spiritual path.
