First Presbyterian Church’s pastor, the Rev. Edward Gray, is upfront about the average age of his congregation.

“Like a lot of churches, we skew older. When I got here five years ago, our overall membership had declined significantly,” Gray said. “We tried some different things, and many of them have taken shape. But we still didn’t have young folks.”

To try and remedy that, Gray and church members turned to their long-established relationship with the Pine Springs Camp in Jennerstown. In operation since 1948, Pine Springs has offered a variety of day camps and overnight camps during the summer.

“The great thing about the day camp is that kids could get exposed to it without staying overnight,” Gray said. “But if you didn’t live in the area, you wouldn’t know about it.”

So First Presbyterian officials decided to bring the day camp to Murrysville.

“We have a big, 23-acre campus,” he said. “We have pavilions, space for a campfire, whatever might be needed.”

Through the congregation’s Lenten offerings, they were able to underwrite two staff positions, and Gray is organizing a group of church volunteers to help the camp run smoothly when it kicks off July 25.

“It was something we’ve wanted to do for quite a few years,” said Pine Spring Camp Executive Director Greg Davis. “This year, we felt like we had a better staffing situation, and with the property they have in Murrysville, it provides a really great opportunity for us.”

With the goal of about 50 participants, First Presbyterian congregants also donated to help offset the cost of registration. For $50, campers who’ve completed kindergarten through fifth grade will get five six-hour days packed with activities, Bible study, arts and crafts, nature activities and more.

“We’ll also have campers choose from a group of four electives like sports, music and drama, arts and crafts, and science exploration,” Gray said. “An hour each day will go toward those with a qualified instructor.”

Gray and Davis see the remote day camp as mutually beneficial — it can serve as a feeder system to prepare children for the full Pine Springs summer-camp experience, at the same time bringing a sizable group of young people to First Presbyterian and introducing them to the church.

“It’s getting harder, from my perspective, to recruit campers, especially coming out of covid,” Davis said. “But we’ve been a trusted Christian camping program since 1948, and I think this is a great way to introduce people not just to our day camp but also our overnight summer camp.”

Gray said he hopes it can serve as a model for future remote camps.

“We want to try and build this model, find a few satellite places similar to ours, for example, maybe down in Washington County, and give them a chance to experience what happens in Pine Springs,” he said. “Our intention is to do this every year, and add places as we go along.”

For more information on the day camp, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 25-29, see PineSprings.org/daycamp-mville.

First Presbyterian is at 3202 North Hills Road in Murrysville.

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