Twenty young people and a handful of leaders from Skåne and Blekinge in southern Sweden spent a week at Olsängsgården camp in Blekinge, concluding the regional KonfaS confirmation programme and Xtend follow-up camp. The gathering brought together youth from small congregations across the region, offering teaching, fellowship, and space to explore what it means to live as a Christian in everyday life. Coordinated by Joakim Stenmo, the camp is part of Equmeniakyrkan's Region Syd strategy to pool resources when local parish youth groups are too small to sustain their own programmes.
The camp model addresses a persistent challenge for Sweden's free churches: confirmation classes that may have only one or two participants in a single congregation. By gathering youth regionally for weekends and a summer camp, the KonfaS programme allows young people to study in their home congregations while also building a broader peer network. More than half of those confirmed continue into Xtend, a three-year follow-up programme that Stenmo described as deeply rewarding: leaders walk alongside youth from eighth grade through upper secondary school, a period when "so tremendously much happens in their lives."
This year's teaching centred on Acts 1:8 and explored discipleship in daily life at home and at school. Elin Weman, Equmeniakyrkan's coordinator for Africa, visited the camp to speak about global mission, broadening participants' vision of the church beyond Sweden's borders. The week also included teaching on the Holy Spirit and Bible-discovery conversations in small groups. Stenmo noted that some participants were the only teenager in their home congregation and "survived as Christians" because a regional friend group existed. The region plans to hold camp again next summer, with a solid group of new confirmands expected.
(Originally published in Swedish. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Equmeniakyrkan / Sändaren — sandaren.se
