Extreme Faith Camp is a week long Catholic Summer Camp for Middle School Students!

It is open to students who have completed 6th—8th grade by the summer of 2023. Together we will rockclimb, canoe, tie-dye shirts, and play games.  Add in Mass, adoration, a reconciliation night, small groups and topics for teens and it becomes a week not to be missed!  The camp will be led by the Extreme Team which is formed of adult and senior high youth leaders from participating parishes.

Because of how much this program is growing, the diocese is pleased to announce a ANOTHER week of Extreme Faith Camp this year!I t will be held in addition to the other 3 weeks. This added week will take place at Crescent Lake Bible Camp in Rhinelander from June 18-23.
 

Extreme Faith Camp

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Which Week Does My Parish Attend?

All participants at Extreme Faith Camp attend with their parishes. Please see the following chart to know which week your parish is attending. 

CW = CrossWoods location, CL = Crescent Lake location

 

Pre-Registration Process 

Complete your Pre-registration Form and return to your parish. 

Parish leaders: Please submit the Parish Registration Form  by January 4th. 

Online registration can be found on this page after the January 4th deadline has passed.

What To Expect

 

Become a Prayer Team or Extreme Team Member!

High school leaders and adult leaders (Extreme Team) are required to attend additional training to prepare for Extreme Faith Camp.  All leaders must attend the training day on Sunday, May 5th and arrive at camp a day early for on site training. High School leaders must also attend one of the high school leadership weekends offered by the diocese.

All new high school leaders serve on our prayer team. The prayer team does behind the scenes service and receives an incredibly powerful week of training and formation that equips them to be spiritual leaders at camp in the future and in their parishes back home.  Prayer team members are strongly encouraged to attend leadership weekends as well.

Questions about Extreme Team training?  Contact Jen Metzger at 715-234-5044 or jmetzger@catholicdos.org.
 

What is Extreme Faith Camp?

History: Extreme Faith Camp (EFC) was founded in 2001 by a group of youth ministers in Minnesota and was brought to the Diocese of Superior in 2011. Since 2011 EFC has been held on the west side of the diocese at CrossWoods in Mason, WI, located between Hayward and Ashland. In 2015, a second location was added at Crescent Lake Bible Camp in Rhinelander on the east side of the diocese. In 2021, a second week was added at the CrossWoods location. Last summer, we added a second week at the Crescent Lake Bible Camp location! We now have FOUR weeks of EFC in our diocese! Camp started small but now fills up very quickly!

Please note: Youth are required to be at camp the entire week. This helps to foster a sense of community and an atmosphere of continity. All aspects of our camp experiance are a vital part of the week, we don't want you to miss a second! Please no late drop-offs or early pick-ups. 

Mission: The mission of EFC is to provide a positive, engaging, authentic, and Catholic experience in which middle school teens can encounter Christ in the sacraments – especially the Eucharist – and in His Body the Church; and to give High School Leaders and chaperones opportunities to lay down their lives and grow in radical discipleship.

Vision: We will do this by constantly refining the experience and working extensively with our leaders beforehand to make sure they are ready to play their all-important roles. We will work together with parish leaders to help them integrate camp into a context of intentional discipleship formation in their local churches.

Sample Day (Tuesday @ CrossWoods)

7:00 am     Polar Bear Plunge
7:30 am     Leadership Meeting
8:00 am     Breakfast
8:30 am     Theme for the Day/Announcements 
8:45 am     Morning Prayer, Personal Prayer & Benediction 
9:30 am     Morning Camp Rotation                
12:30 pm   Lunch
1:30pm    Afternoon Camp Rotation
3:30 pm     Free Time
5:00 pm     Evening Program
5:25 pm     Small Groups
5:45 pm     Supper 
6:30 pm     Reconciliation Skit 
6:40 pm     Reconciliation Talk, Examination of Conscience
7:00 pm     Teen Testimony
7:05 pm     Reconciliation with several priests available
8:00 pm     Mass 
9:00 pm     Night Game                        
10:15 pm   Cabin Time 

Leadership

Camp Director: Chris Hurtubise, Loree Nauertz, Tyler Kircher

Chaplains:  We are always so blessed to have plenty of priests and deacons at camp!

Musician: Quality worship music is a key part of camp. We hire experienced and talented worship leaders to lead us at Mass, in Adoration and in a number of other settings.

Camp Staff: Both facilities employ well trained, summer-long staff to run the adventures.

Chaperones: These folks fill a wide range of responsibilities from sacristans to photographers and security detail at night to small group mentors. Most importantly, they are active participants in every aspect of camp: doing shoulder-to-shoulder relational ministry with the high school leaders and junior high campers.

Extreme Team high schoolers: High school leaders are the most important leaders at camp. They set the tone for the campers and mentor them in investing in the camp experience. They are with the campers around the clock, building relationships, guiding, teaching and leading by example.

Prayer Team high schoolers: First-time high school leaders spend a week doing behind-the-scenes service and receiving intensive training in discipleship and peer leadership. To be an Extreme Team leader, high schoolers must first spend a summer on the Prayer Team.

Timeline for Participating Parishes

Fall: Advertise, advertise, advertise! Always in the context of your broader youth minister/faith formation programming – how does EFC fit? What role does it play? Do general fundraising for camp (you’ll want to pay for your chaperones to go). Start very actively recruiting chaperones now!!! Be sure to explain clearly to new high school leaders, what their role is – especially if they’ll be on the prayer team.

October/November: Collect individual pre-registrations and deposits. Give families fundraising opportunities at this point (wreath sales, etc.). Make sure all the training dates – including at least one High School Leadership weekend – are on leaders/chaperones calendars. Make it clear that these are firm requirements.
 
November/December: Turn in parish registration form and deposits to the Diocese.

February/March: Collect final paperwork, send final payments for the Diocese.

Spring: Build youth ministry momentum toward camp. Keep the parish tuned-in to camp, build excitement within parish community.

May: Required training day for all high school leaders and chaperones.

Summer: Camp! Find ways to harness the camp energy the rest of the summer – funnel it into Totus Tuus or VBS, youth group nights, outings, Summer Stretch, Steubenville, etc. Maintain and grow the relationships forged at camp.

Important Dates

• Deposits and Parish Registration Form due to Diocese January 4.
• All online registrations and final payments due to Diocese April 1.
• Substitution deadline June 1.