By Glenn Rolfe

MILLSBORO — On an early August evening, little children played with trucks in the sand while their families sat in camp chairs chatting as they waited for the close of Bible School.

Weathered cabins with open fronts circled a large  tabernacle where Youth Leader Ethan Reichold was set to give the sermon. 

That’s a scene that has played out almost every year for decades at Carey’s Camp, a nationally recognized piece of Sussex County history that rests between Gumboro, Laurel and Millsboro.

Born as a Methodist meeting place, the camp remains an annual summertime destination for locals and some travelers for 12 days and nights of worship, fellowship and “great gospel music.”

“This is a cultural event that is embedded in the psyche of the people that live in this area. It has an amazing effect of people growing up here, with Bible school. The Bible school, I think, ends up being one of the tremendously important aspects of the camp, maybe more so than ever. A lot (of) these kids don’t see each other from year to year. One will be in Milton, one in Laurel. They meet out here,” said Don Ward, a member of one of the camp’s multigenerational families.

The camp, on about 10 acres along Carey’s Camp Road, is based next to Carey’s Church, founded in 1888.

“Before the church started, there was a group that had come together in what they called ‘bush meetings,’” said Mr. Ward. “They’d gather together on someone’s farm. Because of the difficulty of transportation, they would stay a few days in the most makeshift conditions you could imagine: sheets over sticks, sleeping under wagons.

“After the church started, the decision was made to move those meetings here under a grove of oaks. We just had one die. I had a forester date it … 180 to 200 years old.”

Carey’s Camp, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, has outlived virtually all other Methodist camp meetings in the region and, by all accounts, is the most active.

“I don’t think there is anything of this magnitude or this scale,” said Mr. Ward, whose booklet, “Hope and History,” authored several years ago, shares “everything you’d want to know about Carey’s Camp and Carey’s Church.”

Gathering at the hub

Throughout its history, Carey’s Camp has been comprised of 47 tents that encircle the tabernacle — the beehive for worship, singing and concerts of local groups, as well as those from afar, such as the Dixie Melody Boys from North Carolina.

The somewhat primitive tents  -- they have electricity, but not running water -- are also known as cabins. And curious minds from city and urban areas have referred to them as cottages.

“Then, when we tell them there is no running water, there is no air conditioning allowed, and they are backing off,” said Berta Smith, Mr. Ward’s sister, who has been staying at the camp for 74 years.

“As a very small child, I remember staying upstairs in that tent and sleeping in a featherbed. The nights were really chilly then, and the only things out were our faces. It was good sleeping. We live right across the field, and we feel like we have got to be out here.”

A new open-frame tabernacle was built several years ago. Though recent, it does not look modern, so it fits with the rest of the camp’s ambiance.

“We had discussion. We wanted it (to) look like the old one. It does,” said Mr. Ward, noting its somewhat unique architectural feature. “It is a work of art how the trusses are interlocked together, and there are no supporting posts in that whole tabernacle.”

Several hundred old auditorium-style chairs from the Sussex County Courthouse comprise the seating.

Customary summer activity

Traditionally, Carey’s Camp runs for 12 days each summer, starting the last Wednesday of July. “It was 10 days when I was growing up, but they extended that a long time ago,” Mr. Ward said.

The camp includes vacation Bible school for all ages. There also is an open-air junior tabernacle on the grounds.

The facility — which includes a closed-off boarding tent that was used for large groups of visitors, a food truck and a confectionary stand — has been expanded with an area to accommodate RVs.

The birth of Carey’s Camp, Mr. Ward said, can be traced to a place called Mudford.

“I remember when I was a boy talking to a lady that attended these services at Mudford. She was in her 80s, and I was 10. She told me that when the camp started, it started in Mudford. Now, Mudford is like a general area on this road, maybe 1½ miles down this road. Since it is just an area, there is no place that anybody can go and say this is Mudford. Nobody knows where that first camp meeting was held.”

All in the family

Mr. Ward’s father, Elmer Ward, who passed away in June 1974, was instrumental in the camp’s operation for many years.

“My father had been the treasurer of the camp so long they couldn’t remember, and they didn’t have good records when he started being the treasurer,” said Mr. Ward. “I was born Aug. 23, 1943. I am told I was in the womb here that year. I literally grew up out here. My dad was out here all the time. He was not only the treasurer, but he was the handyman. He made sure everything was in order. My grandfather, who died in 1951, he remembered certainly the early days of the camp.

“I can remember back into the late ’40s as a little kid, as they’d pass a collection around the tents and in the tabernacle, in those days the ‘coin’ of contribution was not paper. These ushers would come into our tent. … As a little kid, I can remember helping to sort the money — the pennies, nickels and dimes,” Mr. Ward said. “Dad would have them dump it in bags. That evening, he’d try to get all that money wrapped and sorted, so he could put it in the bank the next morning because the tents are not securable. … So he had somebody else’s money beside his bed. That made him uncomfortable.”

The Dukes family from the Laurel area is another with longstanding Carey’s Camp ties.

“I’m 81, … and I’ve been going there probably since I was about 5 or 6,” said Dale Dukes. “There are a lot of members. I’ve been leading the camp for about the last eight or 10 years. I’m not exactly sure how long I’ve been doing it but quite a while.”

One of Mr. Dukes’ sons, Rep. Tim Dukes, R-Laurel, senior pastor at Central Worship Center in Laurel, grew up as a camper and has had the privilege of participating as a speaker.

“My dad has been leading the singing there and kind of coordinating, leading the service. I have been speaking for 30-plus years. I know my grandfather and my great-uncle, they were both involved,” Rep. Dukes said. “When I was like 22 or 23 maybe, I got asked to speak. … So I grew up going to Carey’s Camp, and my dad, he sang Southern gospel music for over 40 years. The group he led was Epworth Quartet. They sang for many years out there.

“When I got asked to speak, I was really honored to be asked to speak,” he said. “I have spoken every year since then, except for COVID last year.”

Tent ownership

Tents are owned by families or individuals, Ms. Smith said. Most have been handed down from generation to generation, and there’s a long waiting list for those that aren’t.

“Most of them, you can go back and trace it back to the original or close to the original,” Mr. Ward said. “All the tents were built on-site except one.”

Ms. Smith and Mr. Ward now own tents No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

“It’s fairly rare for one to change hands. It’s only when a family inherits a tent, and the next generation doesn’t have an interest. They will let somebody use it, which is happening now in a couple of cases, or they will sell it,” Mr. Ward said. “We had the fortune of No. 1 coming on the market. (Ms. Smith) and I bought tent No. 1 … then, she decided she take No. 1, and since No. 2 was historically the Ward Tent, and I was the Ward, I would take tent No. 2.”

Ms. Smith’s No. 1 has some limitations, however.

“If I had known how tall my grandsons were going to get — they are like 6-7, 6-5. And people who originally did the tent must not have been over 5-5. I can’t even stand up in it,” she said.

She notes that it may also be original. “It actually has the cypress shingles, and I have been told it is the only tent out here that still has the cypress …, tent No. 1,” Ms. Smith said.

But Tent No. 2, inherited by Mr. Ward’s father from his father, has been replaced.

“The (original) ceiling was about 5-10, and I grew to be about 6-2. We have two sons, one is 6-4, and one is 6-7. So there was no reason to keep avoiding that ceiling. So we built this new tent in the 1990s,” Mr. Ward said.

At the other end of the spectrum is No. 47, owned by Mildred Jones, a camper for 64 years.

“We had Tent 10. (But now,) we’ve had this tent (No. 47) three years,” said Ms. Jones. “We needed more room for family growth. We were very lucky. The family had deceased, and the person that inherited it didn’t want it any longer. They called me to see if we wanted to buy it. I said, ‘Sure!’”

When a tent changes ownership, the price is negotiated privately, but approval must be given by the Carey’s Camp board of directors, Mr. Dukes said. And regardless of who owns a tent, they must pay a $100 fee to Carey’s Camp.

Changing times

“Services have changed over the years because society changes. Nothing quite remains the same,” Mr. Ward said. “Years ago, historically in my memory, after worship service, there were zealous Christians who would gather around the alter, and everybody would give their testimony. In between testimonies, there (would) be a cappella singing with songs everybody knew. But because of changes in culture and society, that doesn’t happen anymore.”

Also over the years, the tabernacle has sustained fire damage and vandalism.

“We have had fires around this old mourner’s bench. The old one was burned up, kids in here smoking,” said Ms. Smith.

Most tents have hinged boards that allow for secure closure. “Because of vandalism over the years, … we’ve had people living out here,” Mr. Ward said.

Historic tidbits

The 2021 Carey’s Camp, which wrapped up Sunday, marked the 132nd camp meeting.

“We’ve only had two years where we didn’t meet,” said Mr. Ward. “Last year, of course, and one year during (World War II). There was a restriction on lights. … The original camp was lighted by fire stands.”

The boarding tent was, at one point, a place to feast.

“A couple decades, people lined up here (to) get family-style chicken dumplings, beef dumplings, ham dumplings, fried chicken,” Ms. Smith said. “It was put out on a big table, and you’d just eat until you couldn’t get up and walk out.”

Parts of the boarding tent are original. However, upstairs rooms are now sealed off to keep squatters out. In the olden days, Mr. Ward said individuals could “get a room and three meals for 50 cents a day. Some people will tell you those were the good old days. Of course, there was no electricity here then.”

When electricity did arrive to the camp, it was initially provided by a generator.

“(Then,) in the late 1940s, the REA — Rural Electrification Administration — came through. Delaware Co-op has been providing electricity here ever since,” Mr. Ward said.

Ms. Smith estimates annual maintenance for the camp is about $12,000. That does include the cost for singing and preachers. Also, “we have dumpsters, port-a-potties. We have to clean those up.”

Those portable toilets come in handy during yearly camp meetings, as the tents have no running water and, therefore, no bathrooms.

However, the camp originated with a few outhouses, which have a history all their own.

“There were three outhouses,” Mr. Ward said. “The one for the preacher was locked.”

Ms. Smith added, “Two for the public and one for the preachers. We never could figure that one out. It is the same kind of hole cut in a board.”