My name is Taylor Agnew.
I grew up in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. I am the youngest of three siblings. Church was a big part of our family. My dad was a deacon, my siblings and I played on the worship team, my mom drove kids to and from youth group every Wednesday, and we all volunteered for Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and basically any need that had to be fulfilled (including running the ancient worship-lyric-projector machine before PowerPoint was in the church budget).
My Bible Camp Experience began in the summer of 2007
At the end of my junior year of high school, my parents said they were getting divorced. In a matter of weeks, I learned a lot about my family that I was never told about, and found myself living alone in our home. Felt like I had to maintain the persona that I still had it all together, but I was quickly losing faith in myself and my relationship with Jesus.
A criteria for graduating from Moose Lake High School was accruing 40 hours of community service during your senior year. A few friends of mine said they were going to knock their hours out by volunteering for a week at Covenant Park Bible Camp. I decided to follow suit because I needed to get out of the lonely house and maintain my “everything is fine” identity.
Although the project started as a high school graduation speed bump, that week of volunteering at camp opened my mind to, not only who I am in His eyes, but ultimately what I’m meant to do with the time I’ve been given on earth.
I returned to Covenant Park Bible Camp for numerous summers after my initial week of volunteering to “recharge my spiritual batteries.” I also didn’t have a home to return to after graduating high school, so CPBC was my summer housing. During these summer months, I filled lots of roles onsite. From Counselor, to lifeguard, to maintenance, I did it all. For four months out of the year, life made sense.
However, when Autumn came along, I knew that I would slide back into the worldly, independent lifestyle that I created for myself. In fact, for many years after the divorce, this was the schedule of my life. Live with girlfriend > party at college > go through the motions of a “heathen life” > finish spring semester > get fired up for Bible Camp and get right with God > Life makes sense and I have a purpose > summer ends and I’m back to a man with no identity.
I wish I could say that I broke this vicious cycle sooner than later, but my lifestyle choices and poor mental health care led me down a very dark road. A road that I plan on blogging about it the next few weeks.
Today, I am happily married and am lucky to have a very happy seven month old daughter. My wife, Megan, and I have both worked with students of all ages in public schools and ministry positions over the last ten years.
We are incredibly excited to announce that I have accepted the position of Program Director at Prairie River Camp in Bricelyn, Minnesota. We will be moving to a house onsite on June 1st.
We are looking forward to utilizing our personal experiences to have a focus on working with at-risk youth and teens alike.
We will be fundraising throughout the year and will have a monthly goal of $3,000 for our family’s ministry.
Please follow along with our story through this blog and learn how you can support our ministry.
Much more to come soon!
Taylor, Megan, and Kendall Agnew
Agnew Family Ministry 