National Scout Jamboree

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.