Dear Pilgrim Lodge Community,
Greetings! My name is Liz Charles McGough and I’m honored to begin my role as the new Director of Pilgrim Lodge. Thank you for the warm welcome that so many of you have already offered me. I look forward to connecting with and welcoming you to Pilgrim Lodge during the season ahead! While camp is the space where we ground ourselves, I also know that Pilgrim Lodge is the community that we create together which exists beyond the boundaries of the spot we share on Lake Cobbosseecontee. I extend my greetings to those of you across the country and around the world who may not make it to camp this season, but who are part of this beloved community.
Having grown up as a camper at Pilgrim Lodge, I have personally experienced the transformative opportunity that camp offers. At this moment, we may still feel the heartache of being isolated from loved ones and as a community over a long period of time. Our children have needed to adapt to the conditions of the pandemic and have missed treasured opportunities. The news headlines continue to create fear and worry, showing us brokenness around the world. Amid all of it, Pilgrim Lodge offers us a sanctuary. We have an opportunity for retreat, prayer and healing, for space to play, sing and laugh. We have an invitation to disconnect from the rapid pace of life and rest in the refuge that time in nature offers us. We are welcomed into community for the opportunity to re-energize, re-create, and engage in exploration of our faith. We can reconnect to dear friends and form new and life-long relationships. I am honored to extend an invitation to you to return and reground at Pilgrim Lodge this season.
Looking toward the summer, I will be working with other members of Pilgrim Lodge leadership to monitor the conditions of the pandemic and the recommended guidelines so as to faithfully create the conditions for a safe return to camp. We will remain committed to communicating to you those decisions as the season approaches. This summer, we will have the opportunity to extend our hospitality to Maine Fiddle Camp and a handful of other groups that will host their programming at Pilgrim Lodge during a number of weeks this summer. At the same time, our treasured Pilgrim Lodge programming will continue as a variety of our age groups will share week-long camps and a number of other camps will utilize the space during weekends. I love to close my eyes and imagine the sounds of music, laughter and loons that we’ll hear along the boardwalk this summer!
Please feel welcome to reach out to me as I have begun my work in earnest! I can be reached at echarles@pilgrimlodge.org and you can check out my video greeting below. I’d love to hear when to look for you at camp this summer!
With joy,
Liz
Elizabeth Charles McGough (she, her)
Director of Pilgrim Lodge