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Super Summer Attracts 1400 Teens to Mississippi College


Some 1,400 teens flocked to Mississippi College for Super Summer camps in July. Pictured at Alumni Hall on the Clinton campus are: Green University campers Tucker Welch of Hamilton, Lexie Boyd of First Baptist Church Madison and Garrett Mills of First Baptist Church Hickory.

Scores of Green University teens are camped out at Alumni Gym for worship, fellowship and a little fun at Mississippi College.

Red school and other colors of the rainbow are represented here, too. It’s Super Summer time once again for 1,400 campers from Baptist churches across the Magnolia State.

Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison transported 100 teens to Super Summer for a five-day marathon of programs to build their faith, and strengthen their leadership skills.

Mississippi College graduate Gary Maze is among the founders of Super Summer. He and others got the ball rolling in 1986 after noting the success of Super Summer camps across Texas.

The executive pastor of ministry coaching at Broadmoor Baptist Church, Maze is thrilled to see the exponential growth of Super Summer camps at his alma mater.

The Mississippi Baptist Convention in Jackson is a huge backer of Super Summer programs that bring Baptist teens to the Clinton campus from churches stretching from Southaven to the Delta and down to Gulf Coast.

“This is a great win-win for MC,” Maze said as camp opened July 17.

Each year, hundreds of kids coming to the Baptist-affiliated university are pretty impressed with the Clinton campus, from worship at Swor Auditorium to the sports facilities at the A.E. Wood Coliseum.

“A lot come to MC or consider it as a viable option,” Maze said.

Super Summer isn’t just limited to Mississippi and Texas. Alabama’s Super Summer camps are about ten years old. Louisiana Baptist churches also supported similar camps over the years.

Stoking up their faith, the Highpoint worship band of Tennessee performs daily at Swor Auditorium. Singer Jordan Smith and band supporter Alyssa Meier, both of Memphis, stayed busy in the lobby of Nelson Hall selling band T-shirts with the message: “I Woke Up Like This is Revival.”

Teens from Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison, including Bonnie Hill and Addison Baney, say they are are delighted to return to Super Summer. It’s an opportunity over five days to enjoy the band, see old friends and get refreshed with the love of Jesus.

“I can focus on God,” says Super Summer camper Tucker Welch, 18, of Hamilton, Mississippi.

Whether their friends are from the blue school, yellow, purple, red or green, teens keep revisiting America’s second oldest Baptist college for a super blast of fresh air that always beats the heat.

Blayne Clark of Water Valley First Baptist Church may have summed it up best. “This is the best camp in the world.”

Campers began arriving on the Clinton campus in vans and buses from Baptist churches of all sizes on Monday. The end of the week will close another successful camp season at Mississippi College. In June and July, more than 6,000 young people were booked for camps for sports, music, cheerleading, and faith-building activities that can be life changing.