Warm Beach Christian camp still singing after 50 years

They’ve been singing for 50 years.

It began with hymns: the strong, doctrine-heavy stanzas treasured among Methodist congregations since this country’s earliest years.

Two decades later, there were short, pithy choruses favored by the Jesus People Movement and other answers to the free-wheeling spirit of the 1970s.

Since then, the music has settled into a modern mix of old and new as groups from all over use the camp facilities.

And the people at Warm Beach Christian Camp plan to keep singing for 50 years more — at least.

The Free Methodist Church bought acreage for a camp that could support all its needs in 1956. Construction began in 1957 and, by 1958, Christians were crowding into the dormitories and halls to worship together. In 1995, the camp became an independent, nonprofit organization, but its influence continues to spread beyond its borders, making Warm Beach something of a Christian enclave.

Now, nearly 50,000 people visit the camp each December for the annual “Lights of Christmas” show. Big names in the Christian world have made appearances, including Eugene Peterson, who wrote “The Message,” a Bible paraphrase; author Brendon Manning and others.

Author Philip Yancey is scheduled to speak in May, and author and pastor Tony Campolo is expected early next year.

Between visits by celebrities of the Christian pulpit-to-bookstore world, public school students visit for a host of classic summer camp-style games. The Washington state Parks Department has been known to choose the Warm Beach camp for its annual retreat.

But whether or not the visitors are churchgoers, staffers at Warm Beach Christian Camp will be there.

And chances are, they’ll be singing.