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Sometimes we yearn for routine, an ordinary rhythm to our day or week.
The simple fact is that life is busy, yet there is value in slowing down, taking a breath, and being fully present with the people around you. We find ourselves seeking places and spaces that offer rest, connection, and renewal. Ordinary Time, a faith-centered rhythm at Camp House provides this and so much more. Each day you’ll encounter opportunities for learning, creating, playing, and being. Devotions and worship are woven with times of conversation, education and artistic classes, reading on the beach, canoeing around Lake George, or exploring sights along the North Shore. Camp House will be on Ordinary Time for five weeks this summer. Pastors, musicians, artists, and educators will inspire participants' spiritual and creative sides, guiding all those present into an intentional Christian community. Camp House staff will offer opportunities to take part in the uniqueness of this beautiful site - daily saunas, games on the ball field, pizza in the brick oven, and evening fellowship in the lodge. Ordinary Time is about a community of people being together to reconnect with the Creator, creation, and perhaps even our creative sides. This program is for YOU! It’s also for your book club, men’s group, youth group, family, extended family, family of choice, friends, etc. |
whoYou! Anyone! Whoever yearns for a routine and an ordinary rhythm is welcome! Come on your own or with your family, friends, or youth group. |
whenYou pick when to come and how long you stay -one night, a few days, a full week, or longer. Camp House will be on Ordinary Time from June 14-July 18 and August 14-17! |
whereCamp House sits on beautiful Lake George in Minnesota's Northwoods. This rustic camp is in Brimson, MN, about 1 hour north of Duluth. |
camp House 100th Anniversary August 14-17th
reconnect with rhythms of faith
In between the extraordinary moments in Jesus’ life - feeding, healing, giving life, excising demons - Jesus made time for the ordinary - sleeping, eating, praying. Ordinary, everyday, natural, normal, familiar, routine, habitual activities. Our faith should be the same - familiar, natural, everyday. The normal walk with God, the routine of prayer, devotions, worship, the everyday moments where you reflect Christ to someone else. We can't live on the mountain. We need the ordinary to make room for us to feed and nurture our faith.
camp house is on ordinary time
june 14 - july 18 and August 14-17, 2025
You pick when to come and how long you stay - a few days, a full week, or perhaps for the whole month! Though each week (Saturday to Friday) will have a team of program leaders, participants in Ordinary Time are welcome to select the days and dates that best fit your schedule.
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SCHEDULEEach day will include opportunities for learning, worship, music, conversation, traditional camp activities, and fellowship around the meal table. Enjoy a morning sauna or yoga and a devotional time before breakfast, moments of rest throughout the day, evening community games, and perhaps an evening paddle on Lake George. Our staff will also happily provide suggestions for places to see and explore along Minnesota’s north shore for those seeking a day of off-site adventure. Check in each day is at 3:00 p.m. followed by a welcome orientation at 4:00. Check out is at 11:00 a.m. Participants are welcome to stay into the afternoon if they choose, however they will be asked to move out of their housing so we can prepare it for the next guest.
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Rev. Christian Muellerleile
Christian is a Lutheran pastor who serves as Food+Faith+Farm Manager at Good Courage Farm—an Agrarian Ministry affiliated with the Episcopal Church near Hutchinson Minnesota. He loves experiencing God in creation while farming, mountain biking, canoeing, fishing, practicing archery, and hanging out with his family. Christian lives in Litchfield, Minnesota with his spouse Kateri and his teenage kids, Augustin and Antonia. |
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Julia & Nathan Bloom
Cabin of Love is Julia and Nathan Bloom, a married folk/pop duo from Saint Paul, Minnesota, who’ve been writing songs and making music together for over 25 years. The Blooms help lead music at Humble Walk Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, and also enjoy performing at local venues. |
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Meg Erke
Meg is a 2D mixed-media artist living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the author and illustrator of Minnealphabet: An Outdoorsy Homage to Minneapolis and the illustrator of “Outdoorsy: A Coloring Book Celebrating Our Connection to the Natural World”. She is the Co-creator of the award-winning River to River Greenway Mural in West St. Paul and the recipient of a 2023 individual artist Residency at the Tofte Lake Center. Meg’s work is inspired by the natural world (most often the woods, water, and trees of the Midwest). She looks for and finds ways to connect with students and collectors through art and nature. She believes that art connects us. It is a powerful tool that helps us articulate our stories when words can’t convey the magic and beauty of a moment or a scene. Meg is working to document that magic and help others do the same. |
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Rev. Scott Kershner
Scott Kershner is an ELCA pastor whose journey has included parish ministry in Brooklyn, NY, serving as pastor at Holden Village in the North Cascades of Washington state, to serving for eleven years as chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA. In January, Scott began a new call as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter, MN. In addition to his varied and eclectic interests, Scott enjoys sunsets and long walks on the beach. Scott is married to Lori, and they have two kidlets, Soren and Sienna. |
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Libbie and Todd Anderson
Hi! We’re Libbie and Todd Anderson. We’ve been playing and writing music together for over 20 years, and believe in the power of music to spark joy, awaken hearts, spread creativity and build community. We hail from the rural town of New London, MN, where we play in several local bands of varying styles and lead worship at Faith Lutheran Church in Spicer. https://www.facebook.com/faith.lutheranchurch.12/ |
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Lori Kershner
Lori Hayes Kershner is a recent transplant to MN, though her father grew up in Stillwater, her husband grew up in Fergus Falls, and their family now lives in St. Peter. Lori received her bachelor of art and art history from Princeton University. She studied art at Massachusetts College of Art and Brandeis University and received her MFA from Burren College of Art in Ireland. Over the past thirty years, she has taught art to high school students in Massachusetts, taught art to Palestinian children in Jerusalem, assisted college art students in Massachusetts and Ireland, served as Village Artist at Holden Village in Washington State and taught Foundations of Art and Drawing as an adjunct professor at Susquehanna University. Lori loves to paint and draw as a way to be in and to interpret this world. |
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Pastor Ann Rosendale
Pastor Ann is a lifelong camp fanatic! She grew up attending Green Lake Bible Camp and served on summer staff for three years. Now in her 12th year on the GLLM Board of Directors, Ann delights in seeing the way that camp shares the life-changing love of Jesus. Tie-dying, singing, swimming, and the smell of campfire are just a few of Ann's camp loves. When not playing camp games or shopping at the canteen, you'll find Ann in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she lives with her spouse and two children and serves as campus pastor at Augustana University, encouraging every college student she meets to work at camp! |
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Carol Meier
Carol is a musician and composer who loves taking part in the songs we sing together as God’s children. She graduated from Luther College with a degree in music education, spending her college summers in camping ministry. In addition to teaching in a variety of settings, Carol has spent many years in church music, currently serving as the music director at Eagle Lake Lutheran Church (Willmar, MN). More recently, Carol studied liturgical music and composition from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. She is passionate about writing songs for the church that give new expression to the expansive love of God. In 2023, Carol and pastor/poet Meta Herrick Carlson co-created The Prairie Liturgies, commissioned and inspired by Shalom Hill Farm (Windom, MN). You can learn more about Carol and her music at carolmeiermusic.com. Some of Carol’s favorite things include long walks, good talks, campfires, and making music with people of all ages and abilities…all things she looks forward to doing at Camp House! |
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Rev. Steve Thomason
Steve is an associate professor of Spiritual Formation and Discipleship at Luther Seminary, a post-Evangelical, missional, neo-Lutheran theologian, rostered in the ELCA, and an artist. Steve’s passion and calling is a fusion of art and theology. He is the author of A Cartoonist’s Guide to the Bible, which is an online resource for visual learners to explore, teach, and preach the scripture using creative visual illustration and animation. Explore the resource at cartoonistbible.com. You can find all his work at artpastor.com. The fusion of art and theology is evident in Steve's history. He began his career as an Art major and a caricature artist for a large art business in Las Vegas, NV. His call to ministry began at an Evangelical Mega Church in Las Vegas where he was ordained and became the Director of Adult Ministries while earning his M.Div. from Bethel Seminary. In 2002 he stepped out of the mega and into the micro by experimenting with house church ministry for 5 years. He and his family moved to Minnesota in 2007, and in 2010 God led him into the ELCA where he transferred his ordination and enrolled in the PhD program in Congregational Mission and Leadership at Luther Seminary. He served as an associate pastor at two suburban ELCA congregations in the Twin Cities prior to joining the faculty at Luther. His art has infused his preaching, teaching, and spirituality at every step of the way. |
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Pr. John Rohde Schwehn
Rev. John Rohde Schwehn serves as one of the University Pastors at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, where he supports a diverse community of students through habits of prayer, care, study, service, and play. In his college and post-college days, John served as a camp counselor at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Montana and a Lead Cook at Holden Village, a remote ecumenical Christian community located in the Cascade wilderness of Washington. He delights in nature and novels, and he obsesses over making and eating pizza, especially when joined by his spouse and two incredibly sweet, inquisitive daughters. His whole family is so excited to experience Ordinary Time with GLLM! |
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Pastor Martha Bardwell
Pastor Martha Schwehn Bardwell (she/her) is the Lead Pastor at Our Savior's Lutheran in Minneapolis. Pastor Martha brings great energy and imagination to her ministry and loves cultivating intergenerational, inclusive, participatory community with others. She has been known to sing, dance and do spoken word in her sermons and children’s messages in a way that draws others into the drama of God-with-us. Martha holds an MDiv from Luther Seminary, an Executive Leadership Certificate from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Before that, she worked as a staff member at a drop-in center for people experiencing housing insecurity, as a recruiter for a social justice-focused volunteer program (Lutheran Volunteer Corps), and as a summer lead cook at Holden Village. In her free time, she likes to read, tend her fermentation experiments, garden, play guitar, and sing. |
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Jennifer Popp
Jennifer is an artist and art teacher from St. Paul, MN. Her passion is creating- whether it involves painting, weaving, knitting, crocheting, or dabbling in something new. As an art teacher of 24 years, she also enjoys leading others in the creative process, both in the classroom and through community murals. Jennifer's art is heavily influenced by experiences, memories, travels with family, her home state of Minnesota, and herfaith. She strives to focus on the beauty and peace in nature and special places and adds her own twist. This usually entails adding brighter, bolder colors. She loves the joy and peace she finds when creating. Jennifer uses these same bold and bright colors when creating murals and liturgical art installations. She loves digging into text, thoughts and ideas and bringing these visual representations to life. She also loves seeing congregations or different groups of people come together, building community, while creating a masterpiece. Having 3-year-olds painting next to 93-year-olds is amazing! |
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Rev. Elise and Andy Pokel
Pastor Elise Pokel serves as Lead Pastor at Transfiguration Lutheran Church in Bloomington, MN. Andy Pokel serves as Music & Creative Director at Spirit Garage in Minneapolis, MN. Together, they write and record original music and liturgies as Foundry Hymnal. The foundry is a great biblical image for God as a Creator who uses Spirit and fire to form us and to burn off anything that keeps us from experiencing freedom and joy. Pr. Elise and Andy are the proud parents of two mischievous, musical children. You can find their music on streaming platforms or at andypokel.bandcamp.com. |
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Erin DeBoer-Moran
Erin DeBoer-Moran makes things. The things she makes range from books to prints, paintings to tote bags, and handicrafts. She likes making things, a lot. She studied studio art at The University of Minnesota, where her course of study emphasized in artists, books and painting. Currently, she’s the Community Artist in Residence at Humble Walk Lutheran Church in St. Paul, the Director of Music and Worship Arts at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, and the Director of Music for Chapel at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. In the future, she hopes to spend a lot more time creating prints from linoleum blocks. Her linoleum prints and commissions so far have ended up as album art, beer coasters, worship imagery, and fine art prints. Erin lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband, 14yo son, 8yo daughter and three cats. |
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Rev. Kim Suhr
Kim is a pastor who serves Trinity Lutheran Church in Brainerd MN. Kim has spent many years in outdoor ministry as a camper, counselor and program director, including a summer at Camp House. She loves getting families to camp to experience Christ in this life changing setting and connecting it back to the congregation and community. She is crafty, creative, loves all things FRIENDS (as in the TV show), being outside, hiking, kayaking, biking and has a special affinity for bunnies! She lives in Brainerd with her husband Roger, and middle schoolers Elijah and Emilyn. |
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Nate Crary
Nate is a church musician in the Twin Cities, currently serving as Director of Worship with Christ the King Lutheran (New Brighton, MN) and as a musician with Lutheran Campus Ministry - Twin Cities. Nate is a lifelong musician, beginning violin at the age of four, and has always found a way to use his gifts of music and art in the church. Since graduating Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) in 2007 with degrees in music and art, Nate has led worship in a variety of settings from Juarez, Mexico to Denver, Colorado to Spicer, Minnesota to Bethlehem, Palestine. Along the way, he has helped people find their voice when singing their prayers to God. |
housingThough our cabins are rustic, they do all have electricity. Our beds are comfortable, with handmade quilts on each one. In addition to shared bath house facilities, we also have an outhouse for those who would love to join “team latrine”. We also have limited camper pads and plenty of space for tenting.
You are welcome to tell us who you would like to room with, especially if you are coming with friends or family. Families will be housed as a unit unless you indicate differently. Individuals joining us as for a personal experience will be assigned housing with one other individual. All housing is multiple occupancy; there is no single occupancy housing. |
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MealsLingering around a meal table or over a cup of coffee provides space for deeper conversation and connection. Our schedule invites this rhythm, and we hope you will experience it. Camp House meals are simple yet filling, and made with great care and love. Fresh ingredients and a homemade touch are core to your meal experience. Those exploring the area will be able to request a pack out lunch, and twice a week we’ll fire up our brick oven for a wood-fired pizza experience. Meals are included in the program cost.
We also take our coffee seriously, just like the Finnish who settled in this area. Bring your favorite travel mug to enjoy “Khavi” times throughout the day. |
cost
Adults $100/night | Youth (age 4-12) $70/night | Children 3 & under - free
Deposit amount $50 per reservation. No discounts apply to Ordinary Time.
Deposit amount $50 per reservation. No discounts apply to Ordinary Time.
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We invite you to share this opportunity with your congregation. Whether it’s a small group from your church, a gathering of friends, or an individual seeking spiritual renewal, Ordinary Time is open to all. Your church is an essential part of making this happen. We know that when congregations encourage participation, people are far more likely to take the step to retreat, reset, and be filled. Find more information here to help spread the word.
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