Statement of Faith:

 We believe the Biblical scriptures to be verbally inspired in the original  manuscripts, without error, the complete revelation of God and of His will for the salvation of man, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith, doctrine and life.

This belief presupposes that there is indeed one eternal God who inspired the Scriptures to reveal His existence, character, actions, and purpose.

We believe that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and that He was buried and was raised to life on the third day.  All those who believe in Him receive forgiveness and eternal life.

We believe that all should accept, strongly hold, and practice everything taught in the Bible, but do not insist that all respond uniformly to any specific teaching; believing that to so insist is at best redundant and has strong potential to be divisive. 

Ministry Philosophy:

Often, organizations have a stated philosophy, which does not necessarily provide the entire picture. Here we have listed some of our beliefs that underlie our mission statement:

  1. Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp is situated in the midst of a wonderful natural environment. Since the environment is so different from that of the city, we believe that it offers children an opportunity to participate in unique kinds of activities. Therefore, instead of focusing on sports, etc. we have attempted to develop a selection of "non-regular" activities (e.g., mountain climbing, canoeing, archery, hiking, wide games, etc.)
  2. Our location also offers easy access to wilderness areas of the Rocky Mountains. The wilderness is a very powerful facilitator in showing the presence and power of God. We have attempted to use this resource to our benefit by developing an outtripping and backpacking program, which is operated as part of all our camping sessions.
  3. Although camp is for the campers, we believe that the experience of working with children and co-operating as a unit should benefit the staff. The camp experience operates as a training ground for staff as they learn to live with each other and their campers in a close community. We call this discipleship. It is a process of pursuing Christ’s likeness in each of us. It involves more than just following rules. It involves “living beyond the rules” and allowing our attitudes and behaviours to be affected. Because training is an on-going process, we encourage our volunteers and permanent staff to maintain an attitude of learning therefore, being open to feedback on attitudes and behaviour.
  4. Crowsnest primarily operates on a "partially de-centralized" basis. As a result, in most camp sessions, There will be a program director overseeing the program, but the cabin leaders will tend to be highly involved in the running of the program (both input and implementation). We believe that the cabin leaders are the ones who have the greatest interaction with the campers, and therefore the greatest impact. The cabin leaders are able to determine the needs of the campers as the program progresses. Therefore, the program should strive to maximize the impact of the cabin leaders on the campers by increasing the contact between them while at the same time allowing the program director to maintain general control and contact with the group as a whole.
  5. We believe that every child should have the opportunity to attend camp (recognizing the obvious space limitations) regardless of the financial status of the family. Therefore, all camps are offered on a “fee-free” basis to the campers. This also allows us to demonstrate the grace of God as He offers so much to us as a free gift.
  6. While it is important for programs to be challenging and fun, a primary consideration must always be safety. We believe that it is possible to offer challenging and stimulating programs while, at the same time, maintaining a solid safety consciousness.
  7. We are strongly evangelical – we do believe the Lord calls us to join Him in the ministry of reconciliation. We also believe that working with children carries a great responsibility to be sensitive to the issues of free choice. Children are easily influenced by those they respect. This is natural and appropriate. We need to be careful that we guide campers into decisions in the spiritual area of life, that are their own, not ours imposed on them. We don’t want campers to think that they will gain our love and acceptance by “praying a prayer”. We as a camp want to work sensitively with what the Spirit wants to do – He is the One who calls people to Himself.
  8. While we acknowledge that many children are not saved and need to recognize their need of the Saviour, we also believe that we have a responsibility to encourage and disciple those who are His children, that they might grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. This applies to both campers and staff. We demonstrate this in our commitment to training programs and an overall commitment to discipleship.