“Almost Home” Theme Guides Mt. Aetna Summer Camp Toward Christ’s Return

Mt. Aetna Summer Camp in Hagerstown, Maryland, is running its 2026 season under the theme “Almost Home,” drawn from Revelation 22:12, with a rotating schedule of age-specific sessions running from June 28 through August 2.

Shawn Paris directs the camp, which brings in a camp pastor each year to lead the spiritual program. This year’s focus centers on the second coming of Jesus, a doctrine central to Seventh-day Adventist belief and crucial to the faith formation of the conference’s youth.

Marylin Scott, executive secretary of the Chesapeake Conference, visited camp activities on July 2, and she had the opportunity to see the camp in session and the multiple activities conducted this summer. Her visit underscored the conference’s support for the program and its role in the spiritual life of Chesapeake’s young people.

Paris said camp closes a gap that year-round school and church programming can leave open, giving young people space to act on their decision to follow Christ.  All the seeds planted in them during the year, flourishes at this spiritual environment, generating five to six baptisms at camp annually, as a result of that collaboration between camp staff, churches, and schools.

Paris’s own call to ministry took shape at a summer camp, a story he returns to often in describing why the program matters. “About 80 percent of Seventh-day Adventist denominational employees attended a summer camp as young people,” he said.

“And I love what we do here,” Paris said. “This is a very important activity for our church kids.”

Summer camp activities take place on the campus of Mt. Aetna Camp and Retreat Center, originally built in the 1940s and rebuilt in the 1990s. The facilities provide a safe, comfortable setting for the camp experience.

Registration for the 2026 season, including Adventurer, Teen Extreme, Teen, Tween, Volleyball, Junior, S.T.E.M., and Junior 2 camps, is open at www.mtaetnacamp.com.