QLC Musical Moments

"Music makes pictures and often tells stories

all of it magic and all of it true

All of the pictures and all of the stories

all of the magic, the music is you..." - John Denver

Singing on the Vespers Hill @ QLC

Right from the very beginning, music was at the center of my life at Quaker Lake Camp.  In 1972, my first summer as a camper, I remember doing group singing with Beth Phillips, who was the guitar player and music leader at the time (and she was about to become one of my youth leaders at New Garden Friends Meeting).  I still love to sing some of the songs we sang that summer- Seek Ye First, Pass It On, Simple Gifts, All My Trials and of course, The George Fox Song.  I also remember sitting and talking to Beth about music, and her encouraging me to learn the play the guitar- especially if I wanted to work at QLC someday.  I loved the music.

That same summer I took a class at camp taught by the camp pastor, whose name was Gene. We memorized a bunch of scriptures by singing them, and I have never forgotten them.  I know Ephesians 4:32, 1 John 4:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:17,  parts of Psalm 119 and others by heart because I learned to sing them almost 40 years ago.  Music invades the heart, the mind and the soul.  Music changes you.

I eventually learned to play the guitar, and QLC played a part in that as well.  People like Darrell McBane, Alan Brown and Martha Ratledge helped me learn to play camp songs- up until then pretty much all I knew was John Denver.  I eventually helped Martha lead music at 2 of the most special times of the day at Quaker Lake- evening vespers and the late night Music & Meditation.  And then after Martha left the staff, I took over.  Many of my memories of camp involve my guitar and singing with and to campers.  I helped write and re-write a number of songs that we used in a variety of ways, both to entertain the campers and to bring added impact to important spiritual moments.  I often sang at the closing campfire circle.  But it was at the late night sing-a-longs where I perfected my style of leading music with youth groups, beginning with wild and crazy stuff before gradually leading them into slower songs and a attitude of worship.  When I would return a few years later as a camp pastor, my song leading skills were still very much in demand.  I didn't realize it, but by 2006 they had become legendary.  But that is a story for another day.

Another place where music invaded camp was my 2nd home, The Crafts Hut.  I would bring my stereo (complete with turn table and 4 speakers!) and records every summer, and music- Paul Simon, The Eagles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Styx, Dan Fogelberg, The Beach Boys, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac (you know-real music!)- would fill the air as kids worked on leather and ceramic crafts.  A number of my albums were ruined in those years by ceramic dust.  I also remember when a fellow staff member named Carla Garrett, who was a few years younger and much "hipper" than I, began to introduce me to brand new groups like Duran Duran, Culture Club, The Police and U2.  Music was and is a huge part of life.


The picture at the top is of myself and Donna Haynes leading music on the Vespers Hill.  Chances are good that we were singing The All Day Song, which at camp in those days we sang so often that we called it "The Everyday Song."  That song is a reminder that no matter how long or how dark a day may seem, God still loves us and will never leave us.  Music has always been a reminder of that truth in my life.  I'd love to know- which songs always bring you back to the love of Jesus in your life?  Have a blessed day, and tomorrow we'll revisit some great moments in my QLC history- the humorous kind!


Because of Jesus,