New Camp Cross cabins bring accessibility to century-old retreat
New winterized cabins and a retreat center, dedicated Sept. 5, aim to welcome campers of all ages and abilities to the 110-acre Lake Coeur d’Alene camp.
By Gen Heywood | FāVS News Photographer
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The dedication of 12 new cabins and a retreat center at Camp Cross on Sept. 5 marks the latest chapter in a story that stretches back more than a century.
In 1923, Bishop Herman Page bought property on McDonald Point, on the west side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, to support clergy and lay leaders of the Episcopal Mission District of Spokane. Page later sold the property to Bishop Cross, for whom the camp is named. Cross then sold it to what is now the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane.
Over the years, buildings were added bearing the names of the bishops who widened the camp’s vision across its 110 acres. What began as a retreat for church leaders has grown into a camp for youth and adults, and the Sept. 5 dedication marks another expansion of that welcome — the new buildings are designed to serve people and families of all types, abilities and ages.
Dedication day
About 80 people attended the blessing and dedication service. They parked in a church lot five minutes from the boat launch at Loff’s Bay, took a shuttle driven by Camp Director Alex Flanagan, and boarded the Saints-A-Cross pontoon boat for the ride to camp, made in four trips. Because the camp sits on a hill, visitors also caught a ride up in a Kawasaki Mule utility vehicle.
Bishop Gretchen Rehberg said the dream behind the improvements dates to the 1990s, when Wallace Hall was built. The idea sat dormant until Rehberg noticed fewer adults were coming to camp. Weighing what adults, families and youth needed, organizers built winterized cabins with in-cabin bathrooms and a new retreat center with two bedrooms and bathrooms, all designed to welcome people with a range of physical abilities.
Rehberg said the camp’s geography means it can never be fully ADA accessible, but organizers have adapted it to host a camp for children who have lost limbs.
“And they come every year,” Rehberg said. “So, it’s not that it’s impossible for those of whom mobility issues to be here, but it can be a challenge. I think that’s important to know.”
Asked what’s most important to highlight about Camp Cross, Rehberg said, “We want this to be a place where it doesn’t matter if you’re Episcopalian or Christian, but we are unapologetically Christian, Episcopalian.”
For Rehberg, that means those who come to Camp Cross must live in community with everyone who gathers there — showing respect for all people and treating others well.
Rehberg described it as a retreat where people can “experience God through the beauty of nature, through hospitality, through welcome, where truly everyone is welcomed. We’re one of the few camps, for instance, that offer queer camp, where we’re unapologetic about full inclusion of all God’s children. And we believe that means every human being. And not only every human being, but people believe God is present, too, in creation itself. And we want a place where people can experience that.”
Generations of campers
Cassie Gortner, one of this summer’s camp counselors, has watched the buildings come together from what looked like scaffolding into fully usable spaces.
“It’s also just amazing that we have these new cabins, because it means that we might actually be able to have a longer season out here,” Gortner said.
Many at the dedication had years of history with Camp Cross. For David and Sylvia Horton, it’s been 43 years. They remember when campers had to use the “Green Houses” for bathrooms and showers — a hardship that gets harder with age.
Before seeing the new cabins with handicap-accessible bathrooms, Sylvia Horton said, “We were thinking we were probably too old to come to camp anymore, but it sounds like maybe we need to reconsider.”
David Horton recalled what keeps them coming back: “It’s a wonderful place to come and enjoy serenity and camaraderie.”
The Hortons have brought all five of their children to camp over the years, building relationships through games and shared meals.
Alex Flanagan, the camp’s director, invited anyone interested in Camp Cross to reach out to him at alexf@spokanediocese.org. His work centers on building relationships with others. In his three years at the camp, he was the newcomer — but with the addition of the new buildings, he said, “I’m standing on even playing field now with the other directors who’ve come before me.”
The camp will stay open this year until the end of October. In future years, Flanagan said, it may open earlier in the spring and stay open later in the fall.
“The only limiting factor for us is the lake,” he said. “The lake drops in the winter, and it gets difficult to get people across.”
Possibly the oldest person at the dedication was Margaret Rehberg, 91, the mother of Bishop Rehberg. She has been coming to Camp Cross for at least 50 years and knows the time is coming when she won’t be able to make the trip anymore. For now, her memories of the camp’s past and her hopes for its future remain bright.
“We are so grateful to have this camp and to have these new cabins,” she said. “So you know, it will help us older people come because we’ve got the bathrooms, and that’s really important. We are blessed.”
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