The 165th Methodist Camp Meeting hosted annually by members of the Bend United Methodist Church is set for June 1-4. The theme for this year’s revival is: Seeking Shalom.
Services will be held at the historic Methodist Campground, located near Chappel Community at 1082 CR 432 in San Saba County.
A complimentary meal will be served each week night of the services, Thursday through Saturday night. Meals will be served at 6 p.m. with the service to follow at 7 p.m. The camp meeting will end with the Sunday morning worship service. Sunday school will be at 10 a.m., with worship following at 11 a.m.
A covered dish meal will be offered at noon on June 4, after the morning worship service.
The evangelist for this year’s meeting is the Rev. Cynthia Engstrom. She is currently serving as senior past for Travis Park UMC in San Antonio. A native of Iowa, Rev. Engstrom came to Texas as a teenager. After 20 years of being employed in the private sector, she answered a persistent call to ministry. She attended and received a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, then followed that with a Master of Arts in Religion at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest. She is currently in the final stages of a Doctor of Ministry Degree with a concentration in Christian Spirituality. She wears many hats in the Rio Texas Conference as well.
Rev. Engstrom has served several churches in Texas. She began her ministry in Bastrop, then served in Bracketville, followed by Universal City. Currently, she serves as lead pastor for Travis Park UMC in San Antonio.
Her Camp Meeting sermon series will focus on the Biblical directive to seek shalom for the well-being of the community. As she says, “We find ourselves now in a world and a nation that seem stuck in divisive discourse. The good news is, there is a pathway toward healing at every level of church and society. It is a campaign of hearts and minds, rather than winning any particular argument, and we discover it anew as we allow ourselves to be made one in Christ—not the same—one. This is our witness. This is our hope.”
The sermon for June 1 will be “A Spirituality of Listening.” The June 2 sermon is titled “The Bethlehem Initiative.” June 3 sermon is titled “Face to Face.” The Sunday morning worship service is titled “Here I Am!” Members of the Bend United Methodist Church encourage everyone who is able to be a part of this year’s camp meeting, share a meal with us, and hear inspiring messages.