Chaplain’s Blog – Day Nine

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The moon hides behind the clouds above Subcamp Delta Two

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Nine

July 27, 2026

by John Partridge

Today did not go according to plan.

But doesn’t that hold true for much of our lives?

As a chaplain at the Jamboree, it is common for me to hold my plans loosely. Other than the big stage events and my hospital shifts, plans often change during the course of the day. When the day started, I anticipated that I would meet with the young woman who was struggling with homesickness and take her to the archery range, because that is an activity in which she had expressed an interest. I found her after breakfast, but was called away briefly to talk to a scout leader from the troop that had scouts with disabilities. Some of our subcamp leaders had noticed that after the better part of a week, some of their leaders were starting to fray around the edges and so we offered to find ways that we could give them a break or make some tasks easier. In any case, when I returned, my young friend had disappeared and I didn’t see her again until the end of the day.

A Divine Appointment

However, when I was walking to the far end of our subcamp to talk to the scout leader (noted above), I stopped to pick up some trash, turned around, and was met by a leader from a different troop who had tears streaming down their face. I was immediately identified as a chaplain, and asked to pray for them. They said, “I am nine days sober and struggling.” And so, we prayed, talked, and I offered a hug, which was accepted. I also offered to make a connection to a friend who counsels people in recovery, and we connected on social media in case they choose for me to make a connection to my friend. I really was at the right place at the right time all because I was asked to carry a message.

Not much else happened for the rest of the day…until this evening when a Scoutmaster asked for “someone” to talk to a scout that had a difficult experience with another leader on the other side of the camp and was a bit shaken from the experience. And so, once again, I walked with this leader to his camp and we chatted about his experience, discussed what was likely to happen next (if anything), and what our staff would do to support him.

During the day, I also received a bag full of the Chaplain’s Aide patches to pass out as the scouts serving their troops as chaplain’s aides turn in the completed requirements. I also read the messages on the communication app that is being used by our chaplains and watched as my colleagues dealt with scouts that had broken bones riding (crashing) mountain bikes, a scout whose friend had been killed by a falling tree in a freak accident at scout camp, another whose friend had been killed in an automobile accident, another with a parent in the hospital, and another scout who had been taken from our subcamp to Delta Medical (out MASH hospital) overnight. Out chaplains really do have to be flexible and adapt because every day is different, and like much of life, things rarely go according to plan but it all looks like ministry.

Let’s meet back here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Morning Fog over Subcamp Delta

Chaplain’s Blog – Supplemental

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Chaplain’s Blog – Supplemental

“I have absolutely no idea where I fit in.”

July 27, 2026

by John Partridge

This is not today’s regular recap of my activities. Instead, I had one more thing that I wanted to share yesterday and ran out of time before I called it quits and went to bed. At worship yesterday (just one of many opportunities for scouts, scouters, and staff), I so appreciated the opening remarks that I approached the young woman, Amanda, afterward and asked her for a copy of her words. I expected an offer of an email, but she immediately pulled her own paper copy from her clipboard and handed it to me.

I wanted to share this because, while not everything will translate to church on Sunday morning, these are words that we should all remember, and say out loud, in our congregations. Also, if any of you know Amanda, or if she sees this herself, please let me know so I can add her last name and give credit where credit is due.

The 120-Second Welcome: “The Open Well”

Hey everyone, welcome! Take a deep breath. Look around.

If you are standing here right now because you looked at the schedule, saw all the different structured services, and thought, ‘I have absolutely no idea where I fit in.’ let me tell you: you are in the exact right place.

Whether you came here with your entire troop, or you wandered in solo – welcome home.

“My name is Amanda, and I’ll let you in on a secret: my own spiritual journey has been anything but a straight line. I’m a Millennial, and throughout my life, I’ve had seasons of deep faith, and I’ve had seasons of big, messy doubts.

But what I’ve discovered by exploring the world is that asking the hard questions, doubting, and being authentically you… isn’t the opposite of faith. It’s actually how we grow. It’s how we make belief our own, rather than just copying someone else’s homework.”

In Scouting, we talk a lot about Duty to God. But what does that actually mean when we all come from different backgrounds – or no religious background at all?

Think of the Scout Oath and Law as building a well. It’s sturdy, it’s reliable, and it’s built by our shared values. But a well is meant to hold water. Today, ‘Duty to God’ is about how we fill that well.

This Open Faith Service is exactly that: an open well. We aren’t here to hand you a bucket of pre-packaged answers or fit you into strict theological box. We are here to create space.

“So, if you have a vibrant faith tradition, we celebrate that with you. If you are questioning, hurting, doubting, or just figuring it out day by day, we celebrate you, too.

There are no requirements here today. No expectations. Just a simple reminder: you are welcome here.

Let’s take a moment to reflect, listen to some music, and explore what Duty to God means on our own unique journeys. Thank you for being here, and let’s fill the well together!”

Good stuff. Thanks Amanda.

As always, I will attempt to post my daily recap this evening.

Until then…

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Eight

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Eight

July 26, 2026

by John Partridge

Well, today was an easy day… sort of. I was up, as usual, a bit after 6:00 am, showered, shaved, and headed to breakfast. After that, I put on my dress uniform, waited for a while, and then left for church around 9:30 am. I arrived a bit early because even though I wasn’t personally involved in anything up front, I correctly guessed that they would ask the Methodist pastors to participate in serving the communion elements at the end. In preparation for that, I had also asked a couple of the Chaplain’s Aides from our subcamp to be ready to assist as well.

The worship service was nice and the message was good. Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett from the West Virginia Annual Conference presided over communion and I spoke with her briefly both before and afterwards. I was assisted in serving communion by one of the scouts with Down’s Syndrome and he was not only thrilled to help, but did a great job as well. During my conversation with his leaders I found that he had accidentally lost the small form we had passed out at the Chaplain’s Aide meeting a few days prior, and he needed a new copy so that he could earn the special Jamboree Chaplain’s Aide patch. So, later that day, I stopped by their troop campsite and dropped off a new copy for him and a spare for his leaders.

Several conversations happened throughout the day with both our subcamp leadership and with the young woman that I mentioned had been struggling. At least one of those conversations seems to have made a difference and we seem to be moving in a positive direction. I have some plans for tomorrow or the next day that, I hope, will also move us in a positive direction.

Finally, our day concluded with a doozy of a fireworks display that lasted *much* longer than I expected, particularly when they have already notified us that the *big* fireworks display will be after the closing ceremony on Thursday.

In any case, let’s meet here again tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Seven

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Seven

July 25, 2026

by John Partridge

When I woke up this morning, I really didn’t have a plan of what I intended to do and, as it often does, life filled in the vacuum. I thought that maybe I would take the time on a sunny unstructured Saturday to visit some of the booths and displays, especially those in the Faith and Beliefs area. But it was not to be. While I was at breakfast, I was greeted by one of the Catholic chaplains with whom I shared a tent at the 2019 World Jamboree and he asked that I take the time to speak with him when I was done eating. I did so, and the core of that discussion was that he had been having a conversation with a young man who was raised Brethren, was currently Methodist, and was exploring a call to ministry. The difficult wrinkle was that he was engaged to a Catholic girl and was wrestling with the possibility of becoming Catholic, though he understood that would mean that, being married, he could not consider a call to ministry.

My friend had advised him that he should never consider becoming Catholic if his motivation was to please his future wife or her family, but only if he was fully convinced of the truths held by that faith. In any case, we agreed to meet later that morning with another staff member, a Methodist lay person, who had also been counseling the same young person. Upon my return to camp, I met one of the folks from Mental Health who was working to assist one of our scouts with Autism so that he could be accommodated at the fishing merit badge area but that also meant that transportation would have to be arranged (and that can be difficult). After a visit with the young man and his father, and more discussions with Sam, our chief subcamp Commissioner, I headed back up the hill to my meeting outside the dining hall, both with my friend Bill (the priest) and the Methodist lay person, but I also ended up joining their ecumenical chaplain’s meeting (I think). With those conversations concluded, I returned to have lunch, after following up and finding that all had been arranged and coordinated for the trip to and from the fishing merit badge area.

After all that, I thought maybe I would still be able to head over to the other side of the lake to explore, but by then I was informed of a staff meeting that was being scheduled before dinner, but early enough to make a trip to Faith and Beliefs difficult. So, I took a short nap, read a little in my book, and waited for the meeting. But… while I was doing that, I was able to persuade one of our young adult staff to have a conversation with me. This young lady has been struggling (though I won’t say more than that here) and I have been trying to gain her trust. Our conversation was ultimately cut short so that we could attend the staff meeting, and after that we headed for dinner.

After dinner, several of us Chaplains (and Chaplain’s Assistants) met a new chaplain that arrived today for the second half of Jamboree (while we had earlier said goodby to one who had only been able to attend the first half). We held an impromptu commissioning service, laid on hands, and prayed over him before we all headed back to our own subcamps.

While more things happened “in the background” regarding several of the above items, not much else really happened this evening other than making plans to attend worship tomorrow, and me camping out and working on this blog while many of the scouts played music outside, traded patches, and generally had a good time.

I hope to see you all again here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Six

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Inside the Delta medical MASH hospital

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Six

July 24, 2026

by John Partridge

Today was mostly pretty slow, though I still managed to walk at least double what I usually do at home. I was up by 6 am and headed to breakfast shortly after that, but on the way back to camp I stopped at the campsite of the young men that we had helped last night. Both of them were doing well, as was their friend who had visited the hospital the previous evening, and who had returned to their site around midnight. We also discussed some issues that they were having with transportation, since some of the scouts with disabilities could not walk the long distances that are normally expected of able-bodied troops. That conversation led to a discussion with some of our subcamp Commissioners and another trip to their campsite, but everything seems to be sorted out at present.

I made a trip up the hill past our dining hall for a group picture with our Delta 2 subcamp staff, but other than that I mostly just had a ministry of presence, meaning that I sat in a place where folks could see me. I did give a few folks directions and answered a few questions, but really not a lot else. The most significant conversation was with a Scoutmaster who is aware that a scout at home, who is in the same troop as one of the scouts that is here, was in and accident and is not expected to live. We discussed how the scout that is here might deal with grief or other big emotions and how we might be able to support him when the news settles. Nothing has happened yet, but we are preparing a path in case it does.

This evening, I am currently sitting in the Delta Medical MASH hospital provided by the North Carolina and West Virginia National Guard (and supported by other National Guard troops from around the country). I am working the late shift from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm supporting both the staff and patients in whatever way I can. Once again, often I am just a visible presence so that they know I am available if they need anything. I have spoken to several patients and check on the staff at various locations periodically. Soon I will say goodnight until I return for another shift later in the Jamboree.

Once again, let’s plan to meet back here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Five

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Five

July 23, 2026

by John Partridge

With all of our units in camp, the morning was more relaxed than the busyness of arrival day. I was once again up and moving by 6:30 am and headed for breakfast not long afterward. After breakfast we picked up our lunch selections and headed back to camp where didn’t do much other than being visible, present, and available for an hour or so. At that point, I took advantage of most troops being out of camp to take a shower. After that, Josh, my Chaplain’s Assistant and I walked over to the MASH hospital to have a chat with the the mental health team and make arrangements for a member of their team, Hannah, to meet us after an early dinner (at 4:00 pm) and escort them around our subcamp to meet all of our Scoutmasters.

At the Stage Show

Almost as soon as we had finished crisscrossing our camp and had met with nearly all of the troops and said goodbye to Hannah, we changed into our dress uniforms and headed for the main stage and the opening ceremony and concert. I walked over with our other chaplain’s assistant, Terry, and we chatted as we sat on the grass. But, after several sets of opening remarks, presentations, and a speech by the West Virginia Governor, Terry informed me that he was no longer able to sit on the ground, and we decided to head back to camp.

Once here, I once again thought my day was over, got out my laptop to type this blog entry, but once again, things did not go according to plan. Instead, I was interrupted by our Chief of Chaplains. At some point, one of our scouts with disabilities had a medical emergency and two of his friends, along with an adult aide, needed to return to camp but, being in a strange place, and unaccustomed to being out after dark, they were a bit panicked, and were unable to find their way back to their campsite. So, since our team was well aware of the needs of our disabled scouts, I enlisted the help of Sam, our head Commissioner, and the two of us escorted the two scouts and their adult leader back to their camp.

It doesn’t sound like I did all that much, but while my GPS watch says that I walked about ten and a half miles yesterday during arrival day, I still managed to walk nearly nine miles today.

Once again, let’s try to meet back here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Stage Show Crowd Panorama
Light Show over our campsite

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Four

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Four

July 22, 2026

by John Partridge

Day Four dawned about the same as other days, but when I climbed out of my cot at 6:30 am I felt like I had overslept. I had not planned to sleep that late on such an important day. The camp was alive with activity because today was arrival day. Before the end of our day, forty seven scout units would arrive, unload their buses, set up their tents and their campsites, attend meetings, and get a lot of things organized before bed.

Our whiteboard counting down the arriving units.

Though it doesn’t always happen that way, this year, at first, the arrivals came slowly and I began to worry that we would, eventually, get slammed with many arriving at the same time. Later, while we did get very busy, sometimes with six or more buses unloading at the same time, we still managed. Our subcamp is not small, but even so, I lost track of how many times I walked back and forth escorting Scoutmasters to registration or troops to their campsites. I did take a short break to hop onto a Zoom meeting for a conference committee on which I serve, but since my presence wasn’t strictly required, and we were quite busy at the time, I didn’t stay in the meeting for very long. By dinner time we only had four or five units that had not arrived so I was told that it was safe for me to leave camp to eat.

At 8:00 pm I prayed before a planned meeting with all of the Scoutmasters, Senior Patrol Leaders, and our subcamp chiefs. As chaplains, we had asked that they bring their troop Chaplain’s Aide with them to this meeting as well and, after the opening prayer, we split them off and had our own meeting outlining some of the upcoming religious activities, a special Jamboree Chaplain’s Aide patch that they could earn, information about the Faith and Beliefs tents in the Jamboree activity area, and other religious information that we asked them to communicate to their troops. At the conclusion of our meeting we passed out Klondike bars and Bomb Pop popsicles.

Once that was done, I thought my day was pretty much over, until two scouts came into our office and told us that the youth female toilets weren’t flushing. And, since we always send two adults, I was asked to walk with one of our Commissioners to check it out. When we arrived, we asked one of the young ladies exiting the bathroom to clip of the chain showing that it was closed, and then we waited for everyone else to finish showering and doing what they needed to do. But, while we were waiting, the Adult women’s toilets stopped working, and then the Youth male toilets as well. There was much scrambling to accommodate everyone appropriately, and in the morning I learned that they had ultimately gotten a plumber out of bed to get everything fixed overnight well after I had gone to bed sometime after 11:00 pm.

After dinner I took some photos of our camp. As you can see if you compare the photos I took a day earlier, much has changed now that tents for two thousand people fill our camp.

Hopefully, we will meet back here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Three

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Three

July 20, 2026

by John Partridge

At the Trading Post

Once again, today was not really that exciting, but it included a number of things that just needed to be done. I was up and moving by 6:30 am and at breakfast by 7:00. Not much really happened before lunch other than helping out in the subcamp office and wherever other light work was needed but since there wasn’t anything pressing going on, four of us made the trip to the other side of the camp to the Trading Post to buy a new necessities and souvenirs for ourselves and anyone that might need a thing or two.

After lunch, there was a chaplaincy meeting in which all of us were commissioned into our two weeks of mission and received several informational briefings. Following that meeting, we gathered for a group photo and then went to the dining hall for a larger meeting that included chaplains, mental health, and the Listening Ear folks (who are essentially lay counselors). By the time we left for our first meeting it was raining, and by the time we returned to camp folks were tying everything down in preparation for predicted thunderstorms and high winds (and currently a tornado watch).

Below is a panorama of our subcamp, taken from just in front of the dining hall. My tent is just below the tower that you see in the center right. Tomorrow is Arrival Day when 2000 scouts and leaders will be processed into our camp, set up tents, and populate our camp for their time at the jamboree. If the weather allows, tomorrow or the next day I will post this same view after their arrival. This may help you imagine what I mean when I say that we walk to the dining hall twice a day for breakfast and dinner (and pick up items for lunch after breakfast).

Delta Two Subcamp panorama before Arrival Day

As I write this evening, currently after 8:30pm, we are in our roofed pavilion waiting to see if the weather will become as bad as some of the forecasts and warnings have suggested that they might be. While none of us minds if it rains while we are in our tents, no one wants to have to scramble for shelter in their pajamas if the weather turns violent.

As always, let’s plan to meet here again tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Pastor John

Chaplain’s Blog – Day Two

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day Two

July 20, 2026

by John Partridge

Day Two, Monday started about 6:30 am with breakfast by 7:00 and a subcamp staff meeting by 8:00 am. After that, with no designated chaplain type duties for the day, all of us pitched in to clean our twelve shower houses. Some rough cleaning had been done before our arrival, but all of them had to be swept out, hosed out, trash cans and trash bags put in, some scrubbing was still required, and plastic fence (kind of like snow fence or poultry fence) put around the perimeter so that scouts would not be tempted to shove a camera under the open bottom of the shower house. My role in this was to help put up shower curtains. Unlike previous jamboree’s, the bathroom and shower stalls now have individual steel doors. Unfortunately, as shown in the attached photo, some of those doors fall well short of closing the gaps, so we put up shower curtains to close the gap.

Mind the gap!

Even though most of that work was well in hand before lunch, by that time we had already started sweating through our shirts. We had, however, in a short time completed much of the work that was planned for the entire day. A few other tasks were scattered throughout the day, but the biggest challenge for the remainder of the day was to stay sufficiently hydrated and not get some kind of heat injury. It might not have been “Texas Hot’ but we spent a good part of the day under red or black flag conditions (over 90 degrees and high humidity). It was a relief when it finally started to cool down after dinner, and the air conditioning at the dining hall was fabulous for the short time we were there. We finished the day with another subcamp staff meeting covering what had been accomplished as well as introductions (since all of us are finally on site) and tasks that will need done tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will work to complete our preparations for the arrival of our scouts on Wednesday both in the subcamp and as chaplains. Chaplains will meet tomorrow as a group, and then with the medical and mental health staff.

Again, not a terribly eventful day, but we are one step closer to being ready for scouts on arrival day.

Hopefully, we will meet here again tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Chaplain’s Blog – Day One (ish)

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Chaplain’s Blog – Day One

July 19, 2026

by John Partridge

I have decided to make an attempt at posting daily, or as close as possible, updates to what I actually do as a chaplain at the National Scout Jamboree. Clearly, as a play on the Star Trek phrase “Captain’s Log” I am shamelessly naming this series, “Chaplain’s Blog.” In any case, today is my first official day at the Bechtel Summit in Glen Jean, West Virginia serving on the chaplain’s staff. Even so, my preparations started months ago in certifying or re-certifying a number of required trainings such as inclement weather, child protection, mental health, and a few others. For the last few days, I was retrieving camping supplies, cameras, flashlight, and other things that get put away around the house and at work when I am not at scout camp. Yesterday, I even spent an hour or two in the driveway replacing the electric drive on a rear window of my pickup truck and then cleaning out all the stuff that normally resides in the back seat but which I won’t need here.

So, this morning, although I had set my alarm for six, I was awake and moving by five-thirty. I did the usual Sunday things, shower, shave, etc., but then finished my final packing of my shaving kit and all of the chargers for my electronic devices (like phones and my cochlear implant). I had breakfast, picked up a soda, and loaded the truck by 8:30, and was joined by Josh (age 21) from our church’s Troop 50 who will serve as a Chaplain’s Assistant. We departed and headed for the Jamboree some time after 9:00, stopped at Subway for lunch south of Charleston, WV, and arrived here shortly before 2:00 pm. Then we waited in line for an hour or so at the Welcome Center to get our jamboree credentials and a few other things. The drive from registration to our subcamp (Delta Two) took us through the New River Gorge National Park but we were here in 20 minutes or so (it’s a *really* big camp).

We got our tent assignments, unloaded the truck, and then I drove to the far side of the camp to my assigned parking lot. Since I was one of the first to arrive at the distant overflow lot, it took a bit to figure out where we were supposed to be, but we got that sorted and then I hiked two or three miles back to my tent. But, just as I arrived (now it’s around 6:00 pm), the rest of the staff was leaving for dinner, so I hiked up the hill (another half mile or so) to the dining hall. By the time we were done eating, it was time to head over to the next subcamp over (Charlie Two) for the first of two offered Protestant worship services (there were also two offered Catholic services). Once that was over, we walked back to our tents and finally just sat, hydrated, and caught up on messages and social media.

So, now it’s after 10:00 pm and Day One is over.

I realize that this series isn’t likely be terribly exciting (but you never know), but I’m hoping that this will offer some insight as to what I do, and by extension what chaplains generally might do when we volunteer and sleep in tents for two weeks serving at the the National Jamboree. Hopefully, we will meet back here tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor John

PS. The photo above is my place of residence for the next two weeks.