Skilled, biblical training in music and worship brought to your church community.
What happens at Mobile Camps?
Classes. Choirs. Chapels.
Biblical Challenge. Musical understanding. Choral training.
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Do your people wish to grow musically?
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Does your congregational singing ever lack participation or enthusiasm?
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Do any of your song leaders need leadership and music training?
Mobile Camps bring music training and opportunities to your own people.
We meet you where you are and take you a step forward by facilitating musical and worship training in local communities at a reasonable cost.
Or consider a MiniCamp. An instructor comes to your church and teaches a class or workshop that’s open for your whole congregation.
Classes
Choirs
Chapel
MiniCamps
Classes
Rudiments (for enrolled students)
Rudiments classes look at how written music works. We offer the following classes:
Rudiments 1: Notation – a study of the elements of basic notation, simple time signatures, note and rest values, and scales.
Rudiments 2: Scales & Keys – a study of accidentals, major scales, major key signatures, and compound time signatures.
Rudiments 3: Intervals – a study of intervals and minor scales.
Sight-Singing (for enrolled students)
Sight-Singing class teaches students to sing music at sight, just by reading it. We offer three levels of Sight-Singing classes for Mobile Camps.
Leading Group Singing (for enrolled students)
This class is an introduction to basic elements of conducting a group and will build foundational skills applicable to classrooms, choirs, and congregations. Participants will conduct hymnbook-level music in class for instructor and peer review. Both men and women are welcome.
Leading Congregational Worship (for enrolled students)
Students will study a biblical framework for the worship and music of the church, and focus on growth as musical, congregational, and worship leaders. Topics include preparation for song and worship leading, textual and musical study of hymns, non-hymnal music, and strengthening congregational singing. As this class specifically trains congregational leaders, it is open only to men.
Congregational Workshops (open to the whole community)
These workshops are built especially for Mobile Camps, and intended to help your congregation learn as a body. The workshops are included in the Mobile Camp model, and they can also serve as standalone classes for a MiniCamp.
These workshops are held in the evenings, so that your congregation or community can participate.
They address things like the basics of notation and sight singing with a strong focus on worship. Your congregation will learn not only how to sing, but why to sing. These workshops will strengthen your congregation’s singing ability while introducing important musical concepts and hymn book skills that will help grow your church singing.
Children's Classes (optional)
If you want to make it possible for parents to enroll their children, you can also offer children’s classes. These can be tailored for different age levels and include Rudiments and Sight Singing elements.
The camp staff or community will need to provide childcare for the times that children are not in class and choir.
Choir
Choir helps to put into practice the things you’re learning in Rudiments and Sight-Singing, as well as teaching you new singing skills. Here are the choirs offered:
Adult Mixed Choirs
These are choirs with men’s and women’s voice parts. Depending on total enrollment, the camp has one or several mixed choirs, and each student will be assigned to one of them.
Children’s Choirs (optional)
Camps that provide children’s classes can have a children’s choir or choirs as well. Choirs are planned for specific age ranges of children.
Mass Choirs
These are choirs where all the adults participate. These can also be opened for others in your community to participate in.
Chapel
Chapel is both a time of worship and a time to strengthen your ability to worship in singing.
In chapel, we reflect on the meaning of worship as it is taught in Scripture and we respond to God in love and obedience. At the same time we practice worshiping God. Chapels help to orient the focus of camp around what really matters: God’s presence and his kingdom.
Chapel is held in the evening and is open for your entire congregation to participate in. In separate sessions, we also work to develop congregational singing skills (see Congregational Workshops).
What’s the schedule?
For Mobile Camps, we offer two options: the Four-Day Intensive Camp and the Full-Week Camp.
Six-Day
Tuesday – Sunday. Includes Rudiments, Sight-Singing, Leading Group Singing, Choir, and evening chapels and congregational workshops.
Four-Day Intensive
Thursday – Sunday. Includes Rudiments, Sight-Singing, Choir(s), and evening chapels and congregational workshops.
What’s involved in hosting?
SCMC works with you and your committee through the entire process of planning your camp.
We provide:
1. instructors
2. application process
3. publicity materials
4. procedures (how to run camp, dress code, etc.)
You come up with:
1. a committee to work on your camp
2. the facilities and necessary equipment
3. meals
4. lodging, if needed
FAQ
How much does a mobile camp cost?
Mobile Camps are considerably less expensive than PermaCamps. The cost per student at a mobile camp is less than half of what it costs for a permanent camp. A mobile camp coming to your home community can cost a total of $3,500-$12,000. Because of the work done by the home community, this usually translates into a per-student cost of $150-$250. (PermaCamps cost students around $650, including tuition and lodging.)
How many students are needed?
Mobile camps are designed for entire churches or communities, young and old. Typical enrollment is 50-200 students.
What time of year can we host a mobile camp?
We do our best to work with your schedule, but camp dates depend largely on when instructors are available to travel to your community.
How soon can I get a mobile camp in my community?
Mobile Camps have a lot of moving parts, so it does take some time to set them up. Often it takes communication with your community, then again with us, and so on. It’s best to be in conversation a year ahead of time, but in a “best case scenario” a mobile camp can be brought to your community in 6-8 months from our first conversation.
I'm interested in more information! What do I do now?
Contact us!
Testimonials
Illinois
“We sensed from people in our local churches a desire and hunger for more teaching and experience in quality, worship-based music. Many people were recognizing room for improvement in their music-making skills.
“The variety of responses has been interesting to observe. The common threads could probably be summed up in the words “stretching” and “a blessing.” Many people admitted they didn’t think they could learn so much in one week. . . . As a result of these experiences, many have been exposed to a broader horizon of their own musical capabilities, as well as greater musical possibilities.”
—Matt Bontrager, Minister
Kansas
“In our community, it’s been exciting for me to see renewed vision for worship in music . . . After our mobile camp, one student said he pulled out his pitch pipe for the first time in many years and enjoyed learning more about songs and how they are sung. Another student said he and his wife enjoyed music camp very much and ‘if they can do it, anybody can!’
“These ‘everyday Anabaptists’ experienced something at our mobile camp that will continue to shape and invigorate the music of our church in the future, and I’m excited about and grateful for that!”
—Shane, Administrator
Taber, Alberta
The Taber community recently introduced singing from a hymnal with notes. They felt a need for some training to get them started. Here’s what they said when asked how their expectations were met:
“We wanted to enhance singing in the church and the teaching of notes and music were key. We didn’t really know what to expect specifically but were very pleased how it was done. Students loved the unity and singing in parts which many were unfamiliar with.”
—Peter Rempel, Program Manager
MiniCamp
Do you want something small-scale? Just like Mobile Camps, MiniCamps are about meeting you where you are and taking you a step forward. But whereas Mobile Camps are essentially PermaCamps come to your community, MiniCamps are far simpler.
A MiniCamp is about the size and intensity of weekend meetings or winter Bible school. It requires less planning and expense than a Mobile Camp.
A MiniCamp is built around one course, lasting through several days. You choose the emphasis between Biblical Worship Study and Singing School.
Besides five class sessions, a MiniCamp includes a worship service to put in practice the principles you learn. Other sessions may be included to round out the learning experience.
Interested?
Contact us! [email protected]