Q 'n' A at Twin Lakes

1.  When was the camp founded?

1956

2.  Why was the location chosen?

It was a central location for the Evangelical Covenant and Brethren churches in Iowa, who founded the camp.

3.  Why was the Swede Bend building moved to camp?

I believe I forgot to ask this one. 

My guess is that since it is the first Covenant church and holds a particular history for the denomination, the camp was a better place for people to see it, rather than south of Stratford where it originally was.

4.  Can you give me a brief history of the Evangelical Covenant Church?

It was originally Swedish, and was the same as the Evangelical Free Church, but they split over a few small things, like infant baptism.  Another difference is that they allow the ordination of women.  In recent years, the Covenant Seminary in Chicago has gone liberal and is cranking out liberal pastors as a result.  This has caused the conservative churches of the denomination to either leave, go liberal, or die.  It is a sad thing to see.  The camp, however, is still quite conservative.

5.  What is a particular strength of Twin Lakes?

The waterfront.

I witnessed this strength while we were there.  They have a huge chunk of waterfront as part of the lake community.  The lake is surrounded with houses and the camp works well within the community.  They are able to do sweet boating, wakeboarding, and kiting with the use of the lake.  Kiting was a particularly intriguing thing about the camp.  Our tour guide, Joe, showed us how he uses his kites.  They are large enough that a good wind will drag the one flying the kite across the frozen lake, especially with skis or a snowboard.