Sunday Snippet: All Are Welcome at WeHaKee!

Since 1923, WeHaKee has always been a place that is accepting and welcoming of all. The Sisters who founded the camp and those that currently own and operate WeHaKee have been insistent that all girls be welcomed into the Camp WeHaKee community. In a camp laden with many traditions, providing a welcoming community is by far the most important element of the WeHaKee experience!

The accepting and welcoming culture of WeHaKee has remained consistent through tumultuous times, including World War 2, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the civil rights movement, and the emerging terroristic threats stemming from the September 11th attacks.  And our accepting and welcoming culture remains as strong as ever today, despite the political waves that threaten to divide us. True to its values, Camp WeHaKee is a steadfast sanctuary of Community, Compassion, Justice, Truth and Peace! All are welcome at WeHaKee and will always be!

A tradition has emerged to sing the Marty Haugen favorite, All Are Welcome (Let Us Build A House) at the beginning of each of our weekly Masses during each summer.  The lyrics wonderfully describe camp life at WeHaKee, where “love can dwell and all can safely live.”  In a sense, we have embraced it as our anthem of what makes WeHaKee such a special and affirming place for girls and young women.

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions.
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
(Lyrics from All Are Welcome, Marty Haugen, 1994, GIA Publications, Inc.)

In an charged atmosphere where some are seeking to have racism, sexism, religious exclusion, and division become the new norms, WeHaKee stands firm against such hatred.  Girls and young women of all colors, faiths and cultures have always been accepted and embraced at our camp. And that will never change!  We will continue to welcome girls from Mexico, Colombia, Guatamala, Chile, Spain, England, Germany, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, France and from throughout our world.  And girls who come from families that follow the religions of  Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Unitarianism, along with the Christian faiths of Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and many others have always thrived in the community of WeHaKee.  We create an environment where we seek to share what we have in common while learning from the uniqueness of our differences through a compassionate and understanding approach.

Worlds Apart Coming Together is painted on our drive for all to see when they enter Camp WeHaKee.  It is there for a reason and will never disappear!  Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!