WEST GARDINER – Most people make their New Year’s resolutions on Jan. 1.

Kelsea Trefethen uses a different calendar.

“Summer at Pilgrim Lodge is my New Year,” the 15-year-old from Westbrook said last week. “This is where I start over.”

Pilgrim Lodge has been that place for members of the United Church of Christ for more than 50 years. Nestled on the western shore of Lake Cobbosseecontee, the camp is one of more than two dozen religious-affiliated camps in Maine.

The Maine Conference of the UCC owns Pilgrim Lodge, but campers do not have to be members of that denomination or churchgoers to attend.

Many camp staff first stepped foot on the shores of Lake Cobbosseecontee as young campers, the Rev. Bryan Breault, the camp director, said last week. Adults from UCC congregations around the state spend vacation time working as counselors.

One Oakland family’s connection to Pilgrim Lodge spans three generations.

Peter Godfrey’s grandfather helped build the camp cabins in the mid-1950s. Godfrey, 53, attended as a child, and his three daughters also were campers. The father and his middle daughter, Sara, 26, of Westbrook, spent last week at the camp serving as worship leaders.

“As I’ve gotten older,” said Sara Godfrey, who works in the health care field, “I’ve found it’s important to me to be surrounded by people with the same faith and values. I find that here.”

Travis Hall, 19, of Orono, is a lifeguard this summer at Pilgrim Lodge. Hall began attending the camp with his family when he was 5 years old. A member of All Soul’s Congregational Church in Bangor, he has spent some part of nearly every summer there since 1993.

“I love the atmosphere and being outdoors in nature all day,” he said. “It’s wonderful.”

One of the things Hall said that he has learned at the camp and worked to pass on to a new generation is the importance of being their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

“Looking out for your neighbor is an amazing quality to take back into the world,” he said.

Breault, whose official title is director of Outdoor Ministries, has spent 10 years at Pilgrim Lodge. He works full-time for the conference and spends the rest of the year getting ready for the summer.

As he sat down to put together this summer’s camp brochure, Breault thought long and hard about what he had learned over the years about the Pilgrim Lodge experience. He spent several hours honing his thoughts for a new introduction about the camp.

“Pilgrim Lodge must be experienced to be understood,” he wrote. “The natural beauty is beyond words, surrounding and filling the souls who take part in its ministry of connection. … Inspiration is infused into lives through the power of love, nature and God.”

The camp helps campers make those connections by:

. Teaching stories from the Bible and critical thinking.

. Finding creative and fun ways to bring meaning and enjoyment to worship.

. Celebrating and exploring the power of story and metaphor.

. Encouraging and empowering people to listen for God.

Getting kids to unplug is becoming more and more important, Breault said. Electronics such as iPods, cell phones, laptops and portable CD and DVD players are not allowed at Pilgrim Lodge.

“When you unplug young people, there’s an unsettling period they experience that first Sunday they’re here,” he said. “It takes until about Tuesday for them to emerge from it. That’s the moment of grace when the Holy Spirit begins to move in a way that it didn’t before.

“Jesus lived in community with his family as a child and with the disciples and other followers as an adult,” Breault continued. “But he always went off into the wilderness alone to pray. Here, we’re trying to do both.”

During the summer, Breault, his wife, the Rev. Deborah Breault, 49, and their 7-year-old son Eric live at camp. His position is full time and he spends the rest of the year getting ready for the summer. She is the interim pastor at High Street Congregational Church in Auburn and the couple resides in southern Maine most of the year.

Breault earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and theater from Drew University in Madison, N.J., before earning his Master of Divinity from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

Ordained at the age of 27, Breault served churches in his home state and in Washington state, but the call of the outdoors was strong. When the position in Maine opened up, he applied.

Unlike most of the people on his staff, Breault did not attend Pilgrim Lodge as a camper. Raised in Stratford, Conn., his family attended the local United Church of Christ. He spent seven summers working at a UCC church camp in his home state. Camp is where his discernment process that led him to become a minister began.

“At camp, I found I could be myself,” he said. “There, my opinions were challenged, but respected, and matters of faith were taken seriously. It was a safe place for me to explore who I was and what I believed as well as being outdoors.”

Every year, as young people describe their experiences at camp, he hears an echo of his own experience.

“‘At Pilgrim Lodge, I can be myself,’ they say,” Breault said. “I hear that over and over and there’s tremendous gratitude in that statement.

“It’s hard for kids to talk about faith in the secular world,” he added. “At this place, it’s the norm.”

For information about Pilgrim Lodge call 207-724-3200 or e-mail PL@pilgrimlodge.org.

History of Pilgrim Lodge

Late 1800s ? American camping movement begins.

1924 ? Balbrook Lodge is built on 85-acre plot on Lake Cobbosseecontee.

1925 ? Congregational Christian Conference of Maine begins holding church camp weeks at a YMCA camp, then, at other sites for two decades.

1956 ? Conference gives $35,000 to buy property. Congregations, individuals and youth groups raise $95,000 for purchase price and renovation.

1958 ? Pilgrim Lodge purchases two islands in Lake Cobbosseecontee for $600.

1997 ? The Rev. Bryan Breault becomes director of outdoor ministries at Pilgrim Lodge.

1999 ? Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ acquires 15 acres of adjacent property to house camp staff.