A former junior counsellor at a Christian summer camp says parents of LGBTQ children should be aware of the Crofton-based camp’s stance on sexuality before sending their kids there.
Oliver Kadach decided to speak out after recent stories in the media about several Vancouver Island school districts cutting ties with Camp Qwanoes because it requires staff to sign an agreement that refers to “homosexual behaviour” as a “sexual sin.”
The school districts had been sending students to the Christian camp, which was founded in 1966 and is owned and operated by a group of churches, as an end-of-year outing.
Kadach, who uses he/she/they pronouns interchangeably, attended the camp as a camper for several years, and was excited to take on a volunteer leadership position there.
“I was raised Christian, so when I first started going there, I was obsessed with it,” said Kadach, who thought of the camp as a place to help kids “find Jesus.” “I really wanted to be a part of their mission.”
That all changed when Kadach was outed at the camp as bisexual in 2017.
“I started noticing that I wasn’t being accepted and loved for who I was.”
Still, Kadach wanted to return as a counsellor the next summer. But camp officials told Kadach they could work in maintenance or in the kitchen, but not with campers.
“They were scared I was going to spread ‘my agenda’ to the kids,” Kadach said.
The experience of being outed as a teenager and ostracized by people they thought of as family took a toll on Kadach’s mental health, and they no longer identify as a Christian.
Scott Bayley, the camp’s executive director, confirmed Kadach was in a leadership program at the camp but said in an email he is not able to discuss the specific history of volunteers or staff. Bayley did not address Kadach’s allegations in his email.
“We seek staff who share our beliefs, including that we look to the Bible as our basis for truth,” he wrote.
“As a Christian camp, when a question related to values comes up, our staff seek to respond with love, respect and humility, pointing the person to the Bible so they can see what it has to say.”
Bayley said campers and guests are treated as equals and everyone is accepted at the camp, adding that people with different beliefs can get along and enjoy a great time together.
The camp welcomed more than 4,100 children and youth this past summer, he said.
“This past summer we heard over and over from campers of all backgrounds that they were made to feel welcomed, accepted and safe — some even saying they had never felt so welcomed anywhere else.”
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