1993, while informally helping nurture a new generation and perhaps a new kind of Baptist minister. One unintentional byproduct of Passport s two-decade journey conducting Christian summer camps is an army of 600 former camp staffers many of whom became creative, energetic men and women now serving in church leadership positions. It s an impressive list almost 100 men and women who have worked in Passport camps are now in church ministry positions in progressive Baptist life, while others are scattered among various denominations, parachurch organizations and Christian ministries. Even more serve in a variety of vocations unrelated to Christian ministry, but they carry the same conviction that the call to ministry is for all Christians, whether or not they ever get a paycheck from a church. Creating a proving ground for ministers a venue that has become increasingly rare in the post-denominational era was not part of the original vision for Passport. But neither is it surprising to co-founders David and Colleen Burroughs of Birmingham. It was originally a modest vision provide a summer camp experience to Baptist youth who didn t fit in to the conservative-dominated Southern Baptist summer programs. Include a missions project, involve women in leadership and embrace the tough questions that roll around in teenagers heads. Now, 22 summers later, the Baptist-led organization has hosted 85,000 campers from 800 congregations representing 12 denominations, including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church USA, United Methodist Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Campers have performed 840,000 hours of mission service and donated or raised $1.8 million for global mission projects. We didn t know Passport would be a 20-year story, says David Burroughs, who, fresh out of seminary, created the first summer camp at the urging of the CBF of Florida. This summer, Passport will conduct 33 weeks of camp in 12 locations, employing 63 summer staffers most college and seminary students and more than half women. As we ve grown, we ve become passionate about giving the next generation of leaders a platform, As we ve grown, we ve become passionate about giving the next generation of leaders a platform, not just to preach and lead [but] to learn leadership skills like administration, budget management and worship planning. David Burroughs not just to preach and lead [but] to learn leadership skills like administration, budget management and worship planning, says David, 49, Passport president. Staffers learn a lot more too, says Colleen, 48, executive vice president. On a team of 20 [camp staffers], only one person is the preacher. That varied experience, along with counseling and encouragement in a spiritually charged climate, helps those staff members discern their calling, Colleen says. It s transformative for a staff member to see the light come on for a teen who s under his or her care. Elizabeth Mangham Lott was already headed for a ministerial career when she graduated high school in 1995 and attended Passport as a camper. But preaching was not on my radar at that age, she recalls. Colleen Burroughs was camp pastor that summer and she was the first woman I ever heard preach, says Lott, senior pastor at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. She opened up a space in my imagination to consider my voice and my story in that capacity. Stephanie Vance says working at Passport camps exposed her to places of poverty and decay forgotten places, and eventually led to her current job as national manager for Together for Hope, the CBF s rural poverty initiative. I felt called to mission work for many years but had a very narrow view of what that would mean. It seems that taking a person out of his or her comfort zone can be the jump start that God provides on the journey toward discernment of one s calling. By now the Burroughses have learned to 9 Herald May-June 2014 29
9 spot the future Christian ministers within the summer staff. We can predict who will end up at seminary, Colleen says. It s more surprising to them than it is to us. About 30 to 40 percent of summer staffers We can predict who will end up at seminary. It s more surprising to them than it is to us. Colleen Burroughs go on to seminary. There was no way to anticipate the scope of our former staffers, David recalls, until we started adding up the numbers to prepare to celebrate our 20th anniversary. What they found was stunning. More than 600 men and women have served on Passport summer staffs in 22 years. Of those, Passport is aware of 95 who currently serve in Christian ministry in churches, denominations and parachurch organizations, and on the mission field. At least 14 of the 95 serve as pastors of churches related to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and true to one original goal six of the pastors are female. The diaspora of Passport alums includes every conceivable church-ministry role associate pastor, minister of music, education or spiritual formation, youth, children or families minister, community or missions minister, church planter and on and on. Several are campus ministers or hospital chaplains. At least two are professors at Christian colleges; another is a school teacher. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Passport s 22-year journey is the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, whose congregations send more youth groups to Passport than any other body of churches. At least two missionaries and nearly a dozen CBF staffers, regional coordinators or associates, and members of CBF governing bodies are Passport veterans. We are one of the main pipelines bringing More than 600 men and women have served on Passport summer staffs in 22 years. Of those, almost 100 are currently serving in vocational ministry. youth and young adults to awareness of CBF, David adds. Our campers routinely learn about the work of CBF field personnel serving all over the globe. David, a native of Abilene, Texas, also spearheaded creation of the CBF s Young Leaders Network, now called Current. And Colleen recently served as national moderator for CBF. From Passport s inception in 1993, the prominence and affirmation of women in ministry has set it apart in the summer-camp market with consequences both good and bad. We have learned that our voice, and where we have chosen to stand on the issue of women as pastors, limits our broad acceptance, David says. There are a large number of churches that choose not to participate with us because they don t believe a woman should preach. Passport s first customers were moderate Baptist churches and youth ministers who welcomed the mainstream theological approach that shunned coercive evangelism in favor of an intellectual integrity that is open to the questioning of youth. The Burroughses have cultivated Passport s unique voice over the years, which now permeates all its products and events. That voice is a thoughtful theology that isn t afraid to ask and discuss larger or more complicated issues of faith, David explains. Teenagers today want to know about other religions and how Christianity fits in. They hear mixed messages about the issue of samesex marriage and want to know if their faith is accepting of their friends who have alternative lifestyles. Our voice reads the Bible as the story of redemption and grace, not of condemnation and legalism. Our voice is about a mission strategy that expects to meet the face of Christ in those we come to serve. Convinced the spiritual growth of youth is too important to be confined to summer camp, Passport started a devotional website for youth and young adults in 2001 to encourage spiritual reflection during Advent and Lent. It later expanded to daily online devotionals, called d365.org, which attracts 5,000 visitors a day and 1.8 million a year. In some ways, I think Passport has evolved as our network of churches has evolved, David reasons. And because we are small and nimble, we are able to alter plans to meet a need, and we are able to try things without fear. Creativity, flexibility and responsiveness are in the organization s DNA, he says, and what 9 30 May-June 2014 Herald
600 strong and growing After 22 years of conducting summer camps, Passport boasts an army of 600 former camp staffers. Many say the camp experience helped them define their future ministry, they tell freelance writer Greg Warner. Passport has had a profound effect on my vocational development from the first days of attending as a camper, to serving on camp staff, to working in the national office for two years before seminary, says Emily Holladay, communications associate at the CBF main office in Decatur, Ga. At camp, I heard a woman preach for the first time, and I learned about communities around the world that needed my love not just my evangelism, Holladay says. Going to Passport and serving on camp staff transformed the way I viewed ministry and how I could minister. I was not the typical Passport staffer calm rather than bubbly and energetic. I wasn t sure how God could use my gifts at camp, but I wanted so badly to be the best Bible study leader I could be. When David came to camp, he affirmed this in me and reminded me that there is a place here for introverts too. Holladay later worked two years full-time in Passport headquarters, during a time when she was weighing her decision to go to seminary. David and Colleen helped me see that there was more out there for me and my life, and encouraged me in ways that I m only just discovering. For Stephanie Vance, working at Passport exposed her to some places of poverty and decay forgotten places, which eventually led to her current job as manager for Together for Hope, the CBF s rural poverty initiative. I felt called to mission work for many years but had a very narrow view of what that would mean. It seems that taking a person out of his or her comfort zone can be the jump start that God provides on the journey toward discernment of one s calling. Elizabeth Mangham Lott was already headed for a ministerial career when she graduated high school in 1995 and attended Passport as a camper. But preaching was not on my radar at that age. Colleen Burroughs was camp pastor that summer and she was the first woman I heard preach, says Lott, senior pastor at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. She opened up a space in my imagination to consider my voice and my story in that capacity. I am grateful that David and Colleen are steady in their intention to create space for young people to consider all kinds of possibilities personal, theological, vocational. I first imagined I could preach because they held that space open for me almost 20 years ago. For that, I am grateful. Rachel Gunter Shapard, associated coordinator for CBF of Florida, served as camp worship coordinator for Passport in 1999. I had never before been given the opportunity to plan and lead worship at that scale outside of the safety of my home church. We were entrusted with the spiritual formation of teenagers, when some of us weren t that far removed from being teenagers ourselves quite a daunting task. Rob Fox, field coordinator for the CBF of Virginia, said he experienced a moment of great calling and clarity in 1998 while serving as a summer camp director and traveling across the country with David Burroughs. David and I sat on a hillside on the campus of William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and he asked me a simple question: Rob, do you realize your potential? I hadn t until that point, and Passport camp staffers like these at a training session say their Passport experience helped define their future ministry. (PHOTO/Courtesy of Passport Inc.) there was something about David asking me that question in that moment that solidified my ministry calling. David s question was one all our young people need to hear, and I ve dedicated my life to asking others, Do you realize your potential? n Herald May-June 2014 31