Confessions of Extremist Parents

With tears streaming down her face my friend’s daughter was incredulous as she exclaimed, “I am in college and you are sending me to camp?”   Another friend sent his son to a Summit Conference with the following admonition, “You are sitting on a fence with a foot in the world and a foot in the church.  Go and make up your mind.  Get on one side of the fence, or other.”  Many homeschooling families have embraced the notion of non-negotiable parental mandates.  We are one such family but, fortunately, my children wanted to attend Summit and, in fact, several returned the following summer, paying their own way.  Most of the students who attend Summit want to be there and are eager to attend.  There are others who have been forced to attend and I can say that in every single case that I personally know about, the students end up thanking their parents a few days after the conference began.  Shortly thereafter they call again, asking for money to buy books!  Dr. Dobson’s son, Ryan, was not given an option, but was told he would be attending.  He is now a speaker at some of the conferences!

Twenty years ago my oldest daughter’s favorite speaker was Jeff Myers.  When she found out that he would be heading up Summit at Bryan College in 1996, she was excited about attending.   When I found out that parents in the area can attend the lectures for free, I was equally excited!  For the past 20 years (off and on) my children have either attended or staffed at Summit Leadership Camps in Tennessee, Colorado and at other locations.   Summit was started by Dr. David Noebel in 1972.  He was the president for almost 50 years, passing the baton to Dr. Jeff Myers who moved to Manitou Springs, leaving his teaching position at Bryan College behind (Bryan’s loss and Summit’s gain).

Summit is a 12 day conference that brings in top-notch speakers from all over the country who speak to the students on a myriad of subjects. Summit programs take place from May through August in Colorado, at Biola in California (one session), and in Tennessee (2 sessions in July) on Bryan College’s campus.    The recommended age for students is 16 – 22, but students as young as 15 have attended the sessions in Tennessee and there have been students as old 70 attend.  Some of the favorite speakers are Jeff Myers, John Stonestreet, Sean McDowell, and Josh McDowell!

Summit’s literature states, “The 12-day program has been shown to have a statistically significant impact on grads’ feelings of closeness to God, understanding of a Christian worldview, understanding of other worldviews, devotional and prayer life, church attendance, and willingness to engage the world with their faith.”

I have homeschooled my nine children for the past 30+ years (one left in high school!) and am now the Homeschool Specialist at Bryan College.   Promoting both Bryan and Summit is very easy to do and it is something I have done for years (even before being employed by the college).  This July Bryan College will host two visitation days so that families can come to Summit and hear a lecture or two, tour the campus, eat in our cafeteria, and find out more about both Bryan College and Summit Ministries!  These visitation days will take place on July 9^th and July 23^rd.  For details, including how to register for one of these events, send me an email:  pat.wesolowski@bryan.edu.